I'm not sure where this goes so I'll try it here.

I have been flying parkflyers for a while (Parkzone P-51/T-28/P-47 type planes) and also dabble in 450 size electric helis like the Blade 400. My wife recently got into a minor car accident (she called freaked out until she explained to me how it happened and I told her it wasn't her fault as confirmed by police) which got me thinking about how much liability we all play with every day. I'm curious what people's opinions are. How much more capable of property damage/injury are 450 size helis then the roughly 40-44 wingspan electric foamies like the T-28?

I would think that a between heli and a plane being flown in a park setting, the plane is more dangerous simply because it's much more likely to travel OUT of the park setting and into the surrounding area (presumably houses, industries, populated areas etc.).

If it's a crowded area, the heli is more dangerous because it's got two big knives on top whirling around at a few thousand RPMs.

Either one should be used with as much caution as possible, of course

To keep it simple let's just assume 3 general scenarios.

Scenario is that either the plane or heli looses control either by equipment or human error. Scenario 1 is a person is hit. Scenario 2 is a parked car is hit. Scenario 3 is a house is hit. Fill in the details as to how you see it. I understand there are myriad of other possibilities but these are the three I see ad being most likely to cause problems. Is it a big difference between them or is te heli significantly more dangerous.

Scenario 1 (person) = Heli wins hands-down. I'd take a plane to the body over a heli any day... Though between a Blade 400 and a T-28, there's no really great option

Scenario 2 (car) = Plane will probably do more damage, because it's got a hard/heavy motor and battery with a lot of forward momentum. Could dent/scratch/smash stuff. A heli could scratch paint, but the blades probably don't have enough energy to do any really serious damage.

Scenario 3 (house) = Plane is more dangerous. The only really damageable parts of a house are the windows (unless you live in a cardboard box under a bridge) and while the heli could break them, a plane is almost guaranteed to. And then, assuming it punched through all necessary panes of glass and the screen, the fuse could potentially enter the house, and then the lipo is a major threat in addition to anything indoors that's hit by the rampaging fuse

I'll buy that the heli is more dangerous... the heli may have less of a chance of actually hitting something, but the damage from a plane to a human is miniscule compared to the blades of a 450 sized heli. I wouldn't call it hitting a house or a parked car dangerous... possibly a cause of damage, but they are inanimate objects.

If we were talking about a smaller fixed pitch like my walkera 4# then it's no contest in favor of the plane. I've actually hit myself with it and all it did was give me a minor bruise on a finger when I blocked more... sensitive areas.

If we were talking about a smaller fixed pitch like my walkera 4# then it's no contest in favor of the plane. I've actually hit myself with it and all it did was give me a minor bruise on a finger when I blocked more... sensitive areas.

I'll drink to that, since I've done the same thing with the same heli and had basically the same result

Been hit with the tail blade and main blade (two separate incidents) of a T-Rex 450. No park flyer I can think of comes close. Unless that park flier is going 100 mph it's damage will be minuscule in comparison to a 450 sized helicopter. Considering MOST park fliers are made of foam, there's quite a bit of energy absorption built in.

I say helis are more dangerous, I have been hit by a super cub at full throttle in the back of the head (dont ask long story) and I just walked away with a headache.

Hey now,
Think about it this way. You're parkzone foamie is swinging a pair of five inch steak knives at around ten to fifteen K. The little Heli is swinging a pair of short swords (or long daggers) at around twenty for hundred, say 2.5K. If either one lays into a body it's going to hurt a lot and potentialy kill.

Say you lose control of your relatively light (one kilo?) Pzone foamie flying relatively slowly (45-55mph) and it hits a kid in the head, chest, or back. Mass times velocity that means the pointy prop nut is going to impact with a hundred and ten pounds of force. That could well be lethal to a kid or even an adult if it hits just right (er, wrong?). Heli prolly isn't going as fast but still with those long blades etc it could really tear a body up. Now if the Heli pilot is one of those folks who doesn't really keep on the maintainence or (shudder) uses the cheap-O composite blades from Hobby King then it could easily shed parts in mid flight. I lost a brand new pair of BDUs (and very nearly my leg) to a brand new pair of the HK composite blades. One of the shares pierced a steel pipe inca kid play structure.

I don't think it's about which is more dangerous. But more it's about they are both very dangerous and potentialy lethal. Please do all of your preflight checks. Make sure and check connector rods, nuts and bolts, bearing surfaces. Ezadjusters, wheel collars and all ever few flights. It's also good to test servos and even hinges regularly. And of course never fly close to or over the civilians.
Most of us flying in parks and school yards are only there because the mucky mucks don't realize how dangerous our toys can be. Let's work to keep it under the radar folks. Be smart and do the maintainence. One badly hurt civie and we lose our field (or much worse).
RobII

You be the judge....

Girl Injured by Mini Helicopter (FOX13 News items Tampa Bay) 20-4-2010 (3 min 21 sec)

If it's strictly limited to PZ foamies vs 400-450 helis, the heli will win all day long in pretty much every situation. http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=34727

Whats the point of this debate. I fly both, and everything from 10 oz foamies to 550 size helis, and they can all hurt you. I watched a spinning prop on a Parkzone T 28 tear up the back of somebodys car last week because they were careless, getting hit with an APC electric prop at full throttle is going to go to the bone. This hobby is dangerous, so just be careful no matter what you fly. Jim

The point of this is that it's a forum. Typically forums are places where different ideas and thoughts are kicked around. I was curious about this question (still am) and I know many in this forum have far more knowledge then I do so I was curious what their thoughts were. I appreciate what I've read, it's already given me a more healthy respect then I already had for these machines. Anyone have any similar accounts of injuries with parkzone type parkflyers??

I also wouldn't want anyone to feel compelled to participate in this conversation if they think it's pointless, rather I would suggest moving on to a topic that you do find interesting.

Let's test this. Volunteers?

Originally Posted by jedi391

The point of this is that it's a forum. Typically forums are places where different ideas and thoughts are kicked around. I was curious about this question (still am) and I know many in this forum have far more knowledge then I do so I was curious what their thoughts were. I appreciate what I've read, it's already given me a more healthy respect then I already had for these machines. Anyone have any similar accounts of injuries with parkzone type parkflyers??

I also wouldn't want anyone to feel compelled to participate in this conversation if they think it's pointless, rather I would suggest moving on to a topic that you do find interesting.

I know it's a forum, but pitting one discipline against another? Because one is more dangerous or seems so? Why? I gave you my opinion, whether you like it or not really doesn't matter. It's a forum, right?