Shocking!!!

[LipolyGone]

When mr szabo flies this way I'm sure safety is in his mind it is when someone down the club site tries to emulate his style & doesn't have half his skills or reaction times that this style of flying becomes dodgy.
I asked my wife yesterday why she doesn't like to come flying helis she openly admitted she thought they were dangerous & that she was afraid she might be hit by one so stays away.
Food for thought for me as up till now only one or two people ever get my nerves on edge

[Nick B]

That fence will not stop an out of control model if it goes over,I'm sorry but if you can't see any danger to the public here then you need to take of your DFC rose tinted glasses and look harder.

As pilots we all take risks to ourselves,that's part of the hobby.

[stocksy27]

If in honest that type pf flying bores me now just the same over and over again, plus id have to agree pretty dangerous really, especaily with it being align flown so close lol.

[PorscheBoy]

The man can fly, and yes on the odd occaision he went above the 8' fences, but really the only person/s at risk was himself and maybe the videographer. They certainly both know the risks and I'm sure have done what they can to reduce the risks to their acceptable level (such as noted in a previous post). I see no issue here at all.

What should you do, put every spectator in a bunker and wrap a plexiglass cabinet around the pilot? Yes, we should all take care, but for God's sake stop Health & Safety'ing everything into extinction, maybe you should stop rock climbers, motor cyclists, kids pulling wheelies on their pushbikes, windsurfing, kiteboarding all motor sports........ Rant over.

Sorry Guys, but I just get fed up with H&S becoming the block to everything and the stick to beat everyone.

I have to deal with H&S as part of my job everyday (including SAPO4 bio-security so I am fully aware of the rules, regs and risk management, and I am also a qualified risk assessor) and it is getting/got to the point that you cannot do anything without RAMS in place, which is why everything takes so long and is so expensive. This has been part of the reason we have such a sue/claim based society now.

Just be sensible, check your gear, check around you, weigh up the risks (would you be happy if someone was doing what you are doing near you?), listen to your flying mates, and if they are concerned then you are over-stepping the mark, and above all ENJOY YOURSELF, this is supposed to be a hobby and therefore enjoyable..........

[Nick B]

The people who are directly behind the fence are ok,it's the people who are 50 ft the other side i feel are in danger....my 'shocking' comment is concerning them.At our site you have to tell any people who are flying that your going out past the flight line,it's up to the flying pilots to allow them to go past,it's not H & S gone mad,it's common sense.

[Boggy]

We could apply your concerns to every single flight ever taken Nick! from profesional competition down to club fields.How long will it be before the only safe way to fly will be in a mesh bubble the size of the london eye,with spectators watching on live feed from a concrete bunker?Of course there is an element of risk here,but the " what ifs" work both ways. If any one of use truelly worried about a link giving way and a third party getting hurt we would not fly,yet every time we lift a heli off the ground we take that risk.

[milly0812]

Shocking!!!

Stuart please can we have the popcorn back

[Idleup95]

TBH This is not the most dangerous flight I have seen Szabo fly.

I've seen ones where hes flying a 500 on a Taiwan tv show in front of an audience with no fence....INDOORS

I agree with you Nick there was a few times watching this where I was a bit on edge and thinking he should stop now, but other times where you could not ignore the talent this guy has.

Either way its the risk the organizers of the event and Szabo him self have decided to take.

Just my opinion..

John

[steve_b]

Must admit I can't really see the major issue with this, he flew mainly in the centre of the fenced off area, so the heli will have had to travel a reasonable distance before it crossed the fence and compared to some of the stuff we've seen him do it was a tame flight.
It's certainly safer than the flying that Tariq was doing on videos last year where there was no fence and people were people 5ft away from a 700 / 90 size heli and yet he was a God for his skills!

[Nick B]

Remember d.Szabo's save after striking the tail,that landed in an area that could of been a club's pits?

Couple of years ago I had to run for cover when an 88" yak crashed in our pits,the area of safety!

If you think flying A 700 In a 100ft circle with members of the public walking around is acceptable then you are totally bonkers

[Nick B]

You are missing the point,its the flying site layout that's shocking,a small shock flyer is fine but a 700e!!!!

[Rotorhead]

At least at the club you know everyone is likely to be aware of the risks, unless you have members of the general public there for some reason, a show or something, so if they know the risks and are staying anyway then it's entirely their choice to stay, most sensible intelligent people can figure out the risk of a pair of 700mm blades doing 2k, but not all, and that's what you need to think about, when you have a situation where there may be people who are unaware or don't properly appreciate the risks, which a good case can be made for in an urban setting like that, then it's probably not a good idea to fly there.

[Gareth-71]

I use rainbows stopping in front of myself by a foot or so to cool down in front of my 90's - love that hit of air!

If I land and have not completely scared the sh1t out of myself then its a wasted flight - I learned piroflips 3 or 4m in front of myself - man was that a buzz!

My heli is a sh1tter and I fly it till it breaks and only clean it when it needs a complete rebuild, which, to be fair, is fairly often - if it breaks mid flight and hits me then hey ho I'll have another war wound to talk about!


...and you know what? I am, by far, one of the least dangerous people that I have flown with.

[Rotorhead]

...and you know what? I am, by far, one of the least dangerous people that I have flown with.

Is that because no one else will fly with you

[Gareth-71]

Nah! They only stopped flying with me after I hit a friends car, then accidently spooled up a friends 90 electric in his house - hahaha that was funny, his kids were eating dinner at the same table - I ran for my life but it worked out okay in the end: I told his kids that chicks dig scars!
What really stopped me flying with them is the H&S guy took exception to a little practical joke: I put a flat flight pack on his heli after saying it was full. Man we were all running around like that time my Tx went dead flat during close-in smack on a 700N. Now I know what failsafe is there for.