Just got back from the hospital, wow - the power in a 400 motor! I just posted a message to my thread on "what should I do after my TM" as well, happily enough, never knowing what was to follow shortly thereafter.

The carpet is ruined! The cats - we have three - were delighted, and the hospital made a mint of money.

You see, I made a "Mr. Stupid of the day" mistake.

My Tipsy Nipper is pretty much ready to fly, only thing left to do is end-point adjustment, check reverse servos - I knew the ailerons needed reversing, set up the travel on flaperons, set up dual rates, the usual stuff. So after posting my last message I turned on my Hitec Eclipse 7 and went to my new model, "TPSY 49," and off to the REV menu. I put the battery in the Tipsy and checked out all the channels. Yup, throttle okay, elevator okay, rudder okay, but ailerons were opposite, tsk! So I went to the aileron channel and hit the reverse button - only - oh me oh my - it was the throttle channel.

How could I DO THIS! WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!!

The plane just leaped into the air, I caught it, held it upside down, amazed at the power it was generating and trying to figure out what the hell I had done. I was aware of a considerable pain in my left arm, but I was more concerned about stopping this damn motor. I seemed to be unable to correct the reverse, confused, I did not know what I was doing holding this mad plane in one hand and the radio in the other, pretty much unable to press buttons or think clearly, and I was vaguely aware of this mess that was appearing all over the place. Then I thought maybe I had reversed the throttle and so I slammed the throttle stick to maximum, could hardly hurt under the circs! The motor stopped.

*Phew* I thought in true comic-book style. Thanks goodness that is corrected - and then I looked at my arm!

Oh deary me. On the top it looked like someone had taken a large knife and slashed me open. A wound was gaping wide open and the blood was just pouring out of it. On the underside of my arm there were about six or seven slashes, very much longer but not as deep, with one quite considerably more gruesome than its siblings. The one of the top was, well, wow, wide open. Then I looked at the carpet, then my Tipsy - blood everywhere, all over my clean white shorts, the work bench and the carpet. Oh mama mia!

I tottered to the kitchen, dripping blood like Niagara drips water, and told my wife - um, a wee accident here, I think I need a ride to the hospital and she, bless her heart, was all consternation and care, off we went, dinner on hold - but a quick last sup of the excellent chardonnay - off we went - nope, turn off the transmittor, turn it back on, remove the battery from Tipsy - a very difficult task as the arm was ceasing to be armerous - turn off the transmittor, THEN... Off we went.

So I am back here now, as much of the blood as possible cleared up but the carpet, and my shorts, ruined, doomed. Interesting to note that coagulated blood just peels off of the plastic covering of Tipsy! Cats all sleeping, well fed, the swine. Seven stitches which ain't that much, a tetanus shot which hurt like all blazes, and various sundry injections of this and that, ouch...

Morale - folks, do, please, remove the propellors before making EPA, REV and Sub-TRIM (STRM) adjustments on a computer radio...

Lawrence

Outch!!!
I hope you'll recover fast.
Good luck!

Wow, Lawrence, that's an awful story. Very sorry to hear about your arm.

That is not the kind of carnage report we want to see.

Get well soon,

BC

Wow I had no idea some of these motors were so powerful. My wimpy egull clone has barely managed to nick my finger.

Hopefully this will be a good lesson to all who read it, at your expense of course, but a good lesson in any case. Get well soon

Thats a lovely mental image you've given me right before bedtime... hurry up and get better so you can finish/fly that model! Wouldn't be fair to let it get off the hook

some people think that because its electric it can't hurt you, you've just done a good job of proving that wrong.

Oh, as painful as your experience sounds, i've seen a guys finger packed in ice for a trip to the hospital after a mistake with a .40 glow engine it was re-attached, but it's a sight I will NEVER forget, and makes me extreamly parinoid around props.

Don't feel bad, your mistake was'nt that obvious actually, i've done the same thing- but my esc saves me every time. We all make mistakes.

ERK! EK! UGH! That'a awful!

I had a similar thing happen (motor run on reverse - by accident) but was a little luckier. Junior birdman was holding the plane down on the bench (away/behind the prop) while I tried to set up the controls (reverse this, mix that, etc). Took about a minute to figure out what I had done and shut it down.
The unexpected can cause serious mental confusion.
Add an injury and things can get bad.

Rest up and let it heal.

Holy COW!!! Glad to hear you're patched up now, but that is one heck of a story. I will definitely keep that image in mind when programming my radio from now on!

As a sidebar, I've noticed something annoying about my Eclipse 7 with Spectra module. If I bump the module with my hand, knee, etc., the motor will burp on and off even though no throttle is being applied. It's like the module makes the radio temporarily lose contact. So whenever I plug in my batteries now, I always make sure to hold the plane with my hands clear of the prop until it's airborne. I try not to bump the module, but sometimes it's hard to avoid when you're trying to juggle a radio and plane, plus get everything turned on.

This is the reason why I ALWAYS treat the motor like it can start at ANY time as long as the battery is connected. Guys at the field rib me as I treat my electric just like glow. You proved without a doubt that the prop doesn't care what is turning it.

Accidents can happen ( that's why they call then accidents), and hopefully you saved a finger or two by telling your painful story.

I ensure in all my instructions that i mention setting throttle reverse before mounting the prop. I think 90% of all nasty electric accidents happen this way, i have done it myself.

hope it heals.

glad you got that teatnus shot, you never know where that prop has been.

Ouch! That's not a very pretty picture you've implanted in my imagination! Oh no, i'm gonna treat my motors like hand grenades from now on...
I guess that doesn teach us all a lesson...
Good to know that you didn't try to do that alone. gees, imagine trying to drive yourself to the hospital...
"I've been scarred for life!"
Toast

Connected pack = loaded gun, hammer cocked, safety off! That's the mental picture I have every time I plug up, and it keeps me on my toes.
I'm glad that, as bad as this story is, it wasn't worse! I want to commend you for sharing it here so we can all benefit from your misfortune. Any chance it can be made mandatory reading for all new E-fliers? A speedy recovery to you sir, and may this be your one and only mishap ever! Regards- thumbs

Lawrence
Sorry to hear about your accident.
We need to keep in mind the picture of a straight razor spinning at 5 to 10 thousand rpm at the front end of these things, because that is just what it's like with these sharp blades.

Speedy recovery,


Chuck

Sir,
May we all learn and never forget.
God bless and a speedy recovery
ben

Sorry to read of your accident.

Appreciate the heads up.

HH

Tres,

Open up your transmitter, and check if the antenna (sp?) contacts arent broken.

Paul