I should probably be wearing a helmet

[Rodney Kirstine]

The SK540 is alive!  Hopefully this starts a trend in the positive direction now.

[flyalan]

 

Alan

[Chris Sexton]

Your on it! Have fun with the re maiden man!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RichL]

Wow Rodney!  Glad to hear that YOU weren't harmed (at least physically).

Question?  Was the ESC armed prior to the removal of the servo lead?

The reason I ask is that I have always set up my electrics so that the ESC doesn't arm until I take it out of throttle hold that first time. I am on throttle hold when I connect the ESC battery.  My throttle hold point is slightly above zero throttle.   So until I come out of throttle hold with zero throttle on the collective stick the ESC doesn't arm.  I usually don't do that until the Heli is on the line and ready to fly.

This is the same setup used for Auto Bailout on the Castle ESC's.

No sure if this would have prevented this mishap but this is something you might want to look at if this is not your current setup.

Alan, I started using your method of arming.  I think this should me made into a "sticky".  I have seen a few helicopters spin up up on the bench and it always seems to be a surprise no matter the reason .  The latest was a friend who at the time was at the the field alone when his E7 did a bail out type spin up (i don't know all the details).  He required 20 stitches in the forehead, received a concussion from a Rail 696 breaking on his head.  Had the strike been 6 inches lower we would have likely seen this story on the evening news. Some of the motors in the larger helicopters we fly develop nearly 8HP.  That is more HP than most push mowers.  With a noisy nitro or gas engine we all seem to be a little more cautious but the electrics seem to lure us into a false sense of security and we become complacent. We definitely have to show electrics the respect they deserve and take all necessary precautions.  Thanks for a great Tip.

Rich       

[flyalan]

Rich,
Glad to hear your friend got away with only the stitches.  Flying alone is a practice I try to avoid. At least with anything larger than a 450. 

Cheers
Alan




Alan Butler
Team Synergy

[RichL]

Rich,
Glad to hear your friend got away with only the stitches.  Flying alone is a practice I try to avoid. At least with anything larger than a 450. 

Cheers
Alan

Alan, I try to avoid flying alone as well but, sometimes a blue sky and my love of flying get the better of me. 

Rich