What a way to go....

[ImBroken]

Man Dies In Radio-Controlled Helicopter Accident
Mini-Aircraft Goes Out Of Student's Control, Strikes Man In Throat

POSTED: 3:47 p.m. EST November 3, 2003
UPDATED: 3:53 p.m. EST November 3, 2003

HOUSTON -- A Houston man is dead after a freak accident involving a radio-controlled model helicopter on Sunday.

Authorities say it appears Ronald Kyle had been doing flight maneuvers with a model helicopter when he turned the controls over to a student who owns the mini-aircraft.

Authorities say the helicopter apparently went out of control and ended up flying toward the two. They say Kyle was struck in the throat area. Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[robriguez]

Death by RC!!!!

Wholey Krapola! I dont know whether to laugh or ROFL.
1) you DO NOT give the controls of an RC Heli to a kid.
2) you DO NOT give the controls of an RC Heli to a kid.
3) I'm buying a nek-protek-tah before I get my heli.

 

[Error401]

Didn't say it was a kid, only a "student". I'm not saying it wasn't a kid, but I've seen some real old guys that never could fly a fixed wing worth a crap.

Here's what I see wrong:
1) Kyle should have had the guy on a buddy box.
2) The "student" didn't plant the heli, he flew it into Kyle.
3) The heli was probably set up for advanced performance since Kyle was putting it thru mauvers before the accident.

I fly helis, and they're no joke. They will kill you dead if they get a hold of you.

 

[Candyman]

Great, the day after I order an electric micro-heli (my first heli) I hear this on the news. Now I'm going to be all paranoid. Time to go buy a catcher's mask just to make sure. And I guess I'll have to wear a cup, too...

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Thus, the reason my Heli still sits and has never been flown. 30 class at that.

I always put the kids in the car when at the flight field as well when they are up.

Man that sucks. Someone else bit it last year almost the exact same way. Except his chest cavity was ripped open. Lost the heli in the sun.

 

[Error401]

If ya think a 30 class is dangerous, try flying a G23 class gas burner (last page in my gallery). That thing is about 12 lbs and has a rotorspan over 50". I can hardly touch the head when it's spooling down. I loved flying that heli, but I was also afraid of it at the same time.

Candyman, a micro will cut ya up a little, but they are the "safest" ones to fly. Anything larger than a picolo, hornet, or other micro will inflict some major damage. Just take your time, be careful and stay focussed. They are alot of fun.

 

[FastEddy]

Hmmm.
3-4 foot aluminum or graphite swords spinning around 10,000 - 30,000 RPM held on by a screw with a little lock-tight being controlled by a radio susceptible to interference and human stupidity.

Sounds like my kind of fun.

 

[Error401]

Other things to do for fun:

Base Jumping.
Swimming with sharks.
Picking up hookers in the seedy side of town.

Seriously, heli flying is a blast, but you can't consider them to be toys. When I flew my larger helis (30, 46, and 60 sized), I would fly for an hour and be about brain dead from concentrating. Then I would work on them for 2 hours (per hour of flight time), to make sure that nothing was wearing out and all things were adjusted right. I've seen a heli come apart in flight from one wore out ball link end. Not pretty. The two things that are most likely to cause mishaps with helis is stupidity and carelessness. That guy Kyle was careless, and kind of stupid. Unfortunate, but he screwed up. I never had a trainer, never had a buddy box, but I kept things simple and didn't take risks when I was learning to fly. Nose out, low hovering till I could keep it in one spot. Then when I was learning to do foreward flight, always return to nose out when coming in to hover and land. I was starting to learn nose in, but got into the savage. I was doing some 3D also, and that is a trip. Inverted hovers, tumbles, rolls, loops to inverted flight, cuban 8's. With a heli it's pretty cool.