This year was my first time attending Funflies, and I must say they were all awesome. The comradery was good, the pilots were the best.

The safety at my club and at Funflies seem to be a little different, pilot at Funflies take things to the edge and little beyond it seems. Flying within a few feet and inches sometimes, it seems to be the most entertaining factor when attending one. This year was a record for the amount of new underwear I had to purchase, because every funfly I have attended this year I had to jump back or run because helis went past flight lines towards the crown or debris got flung into our direction during a crash. I don't mind a little danger in my entertainment. I can not run as fast I used to like when I attended car rallying events.
Should we put up nets, like they do at some European events?

debris from heli at IRCHA 2012 flung behind flight line.

Watch at YouTube

This year was a record for the amount of new underwear I had to purchase

ahem!

  ▲
▲ ▲

Not a real fan of the close flying, sooner or later someone will get seriously hurt, Until it happens probably nothing will change! I will add that our club is safty first minded.

"Gotta Luv It". "HeliHobby Online Rep"

If this were an AMA sanctioned event, maintaining safety is the job of the Contest Director. Prior to the event, there should be a pilot's meeting where the flight line is clearly pointed out and it should be stated that no flying behind the flight line will be tolerated.

It is up to the CD to enforce those rules, and to ground anyone who fails to observe them.

If you see a problem, track down the CD and make it known.

That being said, safe flying is also the responsibility of anyone who flies.

-----
Dave

* Making the World Better -- One Helicopter at a time! *

Team Heliproz

No : Not until the Fire Hand Test

Then maybe :------- BUT most likely not

greyeagle

Last year

You should have seen the crazy amount of crashes at the Orlando heli blowout... I counted over FIFTY crashes and I'm not kidding. Not sure what was happening but on Friday there was like 22 crashes that I saw. On Saturday 19 out of the 23 demo pilots crashed, and on Sunday there was like 8 that I saw.

There were some crashes at night that I missed, which brought the total so high. Not sure why, I guess last funfly of the season people were pushing to the limit!!

-=>Raja.

1005-G G26 3D Max, 3329 flts
Spectra-G G270 3D Max, 2194 flts
Whiplash-G G270 3D Max, 270 flts

Threads like this get a lot of views. And I would assume from some that are not as much part of the hobby, but more so involved in regulation.

Be careful what you wish for. A lot of time, you get more than what you bargain for. Once you lose certain liberties and an open sense of fun, you rarely get it back. It's like a ratchet.

As a hobby we've been very lucky. No major incidents but what that tells me is that to keep the record we need to be vigilant. All this close in stuff is a recipe for an incident. Redneck night flying has to go, no more of that at any event. All it takes is one ball link, or one failed servo or electronics part and the model is a projectile. The Conga lines at the pilot stations don't work either.

TM

Flybarless - "Some silly gyro thingy for some whirlie birdie machine......."

We are going to pay for this sooner or later. From a personal safety standpoint I leave if someone is flying real close to themselves. I don't want to be a witness when the accident happens.
I don't care how good or how well known a pilot is, eventually we're going to see the "big one" when a heli comes apart and either lands in the crowd, takes out the pilot or someone else at the pilot station.

The first few years I attended some FF's I thought the same thing. The big events were a venue for immediate disaster. It's been 9 years and counting with no tragic outcomes at the big events. I don't know if I've become weathered or just got use to the close stuff but it doesn't bother me quite as much. It's always there and thankfully everyone always seems to go home in one piece. A lot of it still scares me though....a set of 710's doing fast aileron tic tocs a few feet out or fast hurricanes coming around blazing a few feet out are still very intimidating.

Again. Doesn't matter how good or how long we have been getting away with this. We are one tragic event away from a hobby altering situation. I have way too much respect for the kinetic energy built up in those carbon fiber knives to stand anywhere close to them. When debris lands BEHIND someone in a crash, that was way too close.

Attended one yesterday. A number of the club rules were "bent". Vehicles parked very close to flying areas, flying very close to being over the crowd a number of times, maneuvers that would have resulted in crowd hits if there were any pilot error or mechanical failure. It seems like the more experienced pilots from out of town were the worst violators and club officials chose to take the attitude that, "well they know the risks." I huddled up next to someone's new BMW so I knew I would be safe.

Once you lose certain liberties and an open sense of fun, you rarely get it back. It's like a ratchet.

The number one reason you loose your liberties is because you use them irresponsibly.

We are going to pay for this sooner or later. From a personal safety standpoint I leave if someone is flying real close to themselves. I don't want to be a witness when the accident happens.
I don't care how good or how well known a pilot is, eventually we're going to see the "big one" when a heli comes apart and either lands in the crowd, takes out the pilot or someone else at the pilot station.

+1! I couldn't agree more and do the same thing.

Safety set aside, I think that when you go to a flying field you are taking an inherent risk and should be heads up anyway. These machines can lose signal and go who knows which direction and not necessarily at the pilots fault. So nowhere is really safe and more rules will not change this.

Just sit right back and I'll tell a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this ...

Sure there are risks but when that heli flies apart and loses control...50 feet could be the difference in life or death.

HEY LOOK OUT!!! And then a few seconds to gather your wits and for the flyer to try and ground the heli.

When the heli flies apart five feet from a crowd....well,then it just hits them and the only screams or cries you'll hear are reactions of the injured people.

I don't know how to fix it....Move the flight line out a little?...Move the bystanders back a little?

It wouldn't take much to make it way safer.

There are two types of people in the world..#1.People who can extrapolate iinformation from context

So nowhere is really safe and more rules will not change this.

Therein lies the problem.

Living in Sweden, I know from experience that safety nets are a good idea. Of course, they do not solve all problems since safety is very much about pilot attitude. At meetings in northern Europe organizers have become very strict about safety lines and distances. If you cross a safety line you may be grounded for the day. IMHO this is a good thing and most of my fellow pilots agree.

Safety is very much about pilot attitude.

That's exactly the problem here, attitude. A few bad apples ruin it for everyone.

Since switching to flybarless my main mechanical failure has been swash links popping off for some reason. On several different manufacturers products I've had this happen, so I don't think I'd ever trust my heli close to people at a fun fly.