Another RC heli fatality

[helimadness]

Can I have your 700's than?
unfortunetly a 500 can and will be as dangerous as a 700 if flown close.

best practice is keep it at a safe distance and know your limits, even than accidents can happen.
it is a tragic loss to the heli comunity and I am sad for that, but this accident should be an eye opener not a reason to give up on things...

Absolutely. I would like to really hear what happened. Mechanical failure? Dumb Thumb? Just got too close. Has to be one of these.
If we look after the things that might bite us they will look after us.
Certainly a very real reminder of what we are playing with.
No one needs to give up they just need to take the care and respect required to fly large RC helis.

[old gimmer]

What difference does that make ?

The difference is we have not had such an accident if we do the elf an safety army will raise their heads then god knows what will happen then

[FuturaSE]

Can I have your 700's than?
unfortunetly a 500 can and will be as dangerous as a 700 if flown close.

best practice is keep it at a safe distance and know your limits, even than accidents can happen.
it is a tragic loss to the heli comunity and I am sad for that, but this accident should be an eye opener not a reason to give up on things...

you may buy my 700's no problem

!agree a 500 is also very dangerous however my opinion its a little less dangerous
the less the better for me currently

[daz700]

So so sad my thoughts go out to all his family and friends as has been stated many times this is a potentionaly a very dangerous hobby we ALL should be more careful and he was such a good pilot by what i have seen maybe a mechanical problem ..who knows...

[Gavalar]

Size doesn't matter, I've seen fingers nearly cut off and bad gashed leg with a 450.. Also seen the blades fly off when thead lock hasn't been used in a 450 head. That was at an indoor club so there wasn't any grass to slow the blades flying across the floor.

[FuturaSE]

Also seen the blades fly off when thead lock hasn't been used in a 450 head

you did it man!
now im also affraid of my 500

tx

[Gavalar]

Nothing to be scared of, just saying it doesn't matter what size heli it is, carbon fibre blades spinning at 1800 - 3000 will do damage if it hits something soft. Hopefully the ground before any persons.

[FuturaSE]

Nothing to be scared of, just saying it doesn't matter what size heli it is, carbon fibre blades spinning at 1800 - 3000 will do damage if it hits something soft.

your not helping m8

[ChrisB]

Rob, I was in the pub with, let's say " a top competition pilot " before the evening flying at Zone village. I watched him knock back 3 double-vodka redbulls plus several beers before he ventured out to join that flying session that we all watched.

That's why I stood right at the back the whole time ....

Ive a word for people like that but will keep it to myself as its not fitting to mention it here.

Very sad news,people have to give themselves leeway when flying,there is just too much close in,low in your face flying with watchers egging them on even more,its downright dangerous IMHO.

[AndyThilo]

Exactly, a 450's carbon blades will kill you as easily as a 700's if they hit your throat. But lets get real, not many of us are capable of flying that close for them to be a danger. And with regards to mechanical failures, who is it more likely to affect? beginners or pros? My money is on beginners who may had not thread-locked that one important screw, or over-reamed a ball link. Pro's check their machines to the n'th degree (well they should anyway). They are meticulous. Beginners? Not so much.

I can understand your fear Futura, but is it really warranted? 700 size machines are more stable, easier to see and unless you build a monster on 14S with ultra fast servos, they are very tame. No one should have a 700 unless they are competent to fly it. Mind you, I doubt anyone would buy one unless they were competent to fly one.

It is a tragedy what has happened and my heart goes out the family and also the other flyers who witnessed this horrible accident as it will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Oh and I remember the annunciator at AIR egging on Bert Kammerer to do a nose down wall or something like that. Flying a Goblin straight towards Bert (and a few others standing next to him) then going nose down, full neg pitch right in front of them. Can you imagine the casualties if that went wrong? I'm glad I was behind the fence!

[Idleup95]

This is why the idea of RTF models frightens me..

Now any numpty can get there hands on a heli and cause damage.

[FuturaSE]

Oh and I remember the annunciator at AIR egging on Bert Kammerer to do a nose down wall or something like that. Flying a Goblin straight towards Bert (and a few others standing next to him) then going nose down, full neg pitch right in front of them. Can you imagine the casualties if that went wrong? I'm glad I was behind the fence!

madness 8)

[Gavalar]

your not helping m8

Your be fine, if your scared of it your more likely to make a wrong move.
Don't be scared and keep flying, if you are worried fly further away you can still see a 500 when its little further away.

[trillian]

To put things in perspective, 150 people a year die while scuba diving, 21 a year sky diving, 25 a year mountain climbing (these stats are just from the USA and are a few years old). The point being a lot more deaths and injuries occur in other sports / hobbies.

I agree that some guys fly too close to themselves but another way to look at the danger element is to keep in mind that we're not wearing any protective gear. If you were out there in full motocross attire, leathers, full chest and shoulder pads, boots and helmet you'd have a much more difficult time getting injured but obviously no one wants to wear all that stuff.

[buzzbird]

If you were out there in full motocross attire, leathers, full chest and shoulder pads, boots and helmet you'd have a much more difficult time getting injured but obviously no one wants to wear all that stuff.

So you wrap up in leathers. What about bystanders?
Far simpler just not to fly in a dangerous manner in the first place. Flying a 700 within two metres of yourself is just suicide.

("the heli is in the final stages of an auto-rotation in that shot - so NO POWER, and about 2 metres in front of Roman." Tomatwalden)
Two metres still doesn't make it okay.