The Dangers Of Remote Control Helicopters

A common question we get asked is "Has anyone been hit by a rc helicopter?" and we thought the replies might be of interest to people who think these are toys...

Although this page demonstrates the danger involved in RC Helicopters, they can be flown quite safely if you are careful and respectfull of these things. You should be in the habbit of doing a quick pre-flight checklist as well as ALWAYS holding on to the rotorhead tightly while starting.

Recently, we found a video clip of someone's leg having duked it out with a rotorblade spooling down post-flight. Kevin Forsyth's leg isn't looking so good, although it does seem to be smiling.

Before we begin though, lets take a look at some of the forces and velocities involved in a 30 size helicopter with average wood blades at 1800 rpm...

• Each spindle, blade holder and nylon nut screwed to it has to hold 270 pounds (122Kg) to keep the blades from flying away!
• The tip speed of each blade is about 250 MPH or 413 KPH!
• If your a person who can throw about 50mph (81 KPH) that's equivalent to hitting something with the tip of an 8 ft (2.5m) ruler as hard as you can. It would HURT!
• If one blade seperates and the other is still attatched, the helicopter will have to sustain the force of a somewhat large man jumping on it from every direction 30 times per second. It won't last the blink of an eye and peices will fly hundreds of feet in every directoin.
• Remember, these statistics are for 30 sized helicopter blades. 60 Sized helicopters are much more powerful, and they're blades are considerably longer and heavier.

RC Helicopter Horror Stories

These stories have been sent in by you. If you have a story yourself, then please send us your story at this email address. Please remember we love pictures!

What a coincidence that this thread starts. After flying helis for 7 years, I finally got wacked last Sunday AM. was autoing my Rappy 50 with MS600 blades which I have done hundreds of times but this time, I got a little sloppy.

It was hot, flared hard to bleed speed, got tail low with the ground approaching on a slight rise, no biggy, just a boom strike, right. 20ft away, the head still had plenty of speed. Broke the last 4 inch of one blade off (with lead intact). Got me right above the waist line. Luckily it was aerodynamically stable and hit me square leading edge on.

Three days after, here is a picture. Smarts a bit. Especially since its right where my belly overhangs my beltline!

(Goodyear's disease).... Henry

Well, this happened while I was trying to start it as I battled to get any life out of it. I had been flying earlier that day and used a throttle switch as engine cut off. I took the blades off and tuned the motor. I put the blades back on and tried to restart. I had reversed the throttle hold and as the engine kicked into life the chopper starred to scream. I put my leg on the hulla hoop to try to stop the chopper from taking off as it started to lift off the ground. It was to late as the angle of the chopper was 45 degrees. I didn't feel it until the chopper had stopped shaking. The conclusion of this Moral of the incident, check your radio settings before start the chopper, make sure your engine and throttle are responding to the inputs.

This is what your leg can look like if you don't understand your equipment. 10 internal stitches and 15 outside.The funny thing about this is that it happened on April fools day. I always wanted to see what the inside a of a persons leg looks like.

Regards Andrew M, Cape Town SA

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