Lesson learned!!!
Last Sunday and I was enjoying a nice day of flying. Ed Vincent got after me for reaching over the running engine to remove the glow igniter. He said that made him nervous. On the next flight I got the Saito 65 started and tried to move the starter wires out of the way and my hand got too close to the spinning prop. The photo below shows the results after 17 stitches administered at the hospital emergency room.
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| Result of carelessness around a spinning prop |
I was fortunate that there were several club members at the field to help, especially Mark Sullivan who had emergency responder experience. He arranged a pad of paper towels to help stop the blood flow and then drove me to St. Thomas More's emergency room and spent the next three hours waiting with me. I also thank the guys at the field who put away all of Mark's and my flying stuff. Later we were able to retrieve it and get it home at the end of the ordeal.
Monday I returned to the ER because there was further bleeding through the dressing, and on Tuesday I saw Dr. Carlson, the hand surgeon. I described the APC 11 x 7 propeller as having very sharp tips, almost like scalpel blades turning at 4,000 RPM. I am fortunate that more damage wasn't done.
Lesson learned!!!
We are all in this together as fellow club members and safety liason's for each other......I am very glad of the fact that we all look out for each other in this group.
ReplyDeleteI also learned a hard lesson about spinning propellers a few years back when I was testing an engine on my test stand at my shop, and ended up in the same Emergency Room facility at the hospital in Canon City and ended up with 15 stitches in my right hand, including tendon damage internally also......a few weeks later it happened again, and I got nicked on the finger while running the engine on my Kadet Senior trainer plane and fortunately for me also I had Cloyce Mann there to help me with that injury at the field.
Folks it can and does happen at any moment so please be conscious of the prop ends at all times.....this goes for me too of course!!!..........I'm glad things weren't worse for you Marlowe and I also took a much deserved chewing out by Marlowe's wife for my injuries too.....it's a good reminder for all of us to keep in mind all the time........Let's stay safe everyone!!!