Actually the wind blowing in your face is a BIG cause of safety issues. It pushes the helicopter closer and closer to you and before you know it there are things you have to deal with immediately. If there is one thing i can advise beginners, and that is allways have the wind at your back. And another issue is, while you are flying - how do you know how far 10meters is? The helicopter can move back and forward (in the case of 3d) that fast and its just judgement, no line in the sky - only a guess..

 

Stephen. In an F3C competition, the judges are 6m behind the pilot/caller. This puts them 15m from the flags already.



The wind blowing in your face is the most undesired condition anyone would like to fly in. I will repeat myself and say that if you are uncomfortable with the conditions, don't fly. We hold competitions/funfly's to promote F3C style flying, but the important factor is to have fun. Sportsman and Advanced have tail in hovering maneuvers with Advanced having one side on one. This would be the one where the wind in your face would prove to be an issue, but the model is moving most of the time and should be controllable. By the time a pilot reaches Expert, he/she should be able to cope.

What we also need to remember is that there are seriously big differences between F3C hovering and 3D maneuvers on the 10m line. Because F3C is carried out at a controlled rate, it is much easier for the pilot to notice and correct any drift. I agree that for some of the 3D flying, moving the flightline out further would increase the safety margin. It is also up to the pilot to fly in a safe manner and not all pilots keep to the 10m rule.

 

Yes its true that alot of the safety in 3d is determined by how the pilot executes the moves. I am going to release a movie about safe 3d flying. IMO one of the most important things is to keep your finger on the kill switch ALL the time. When the kill switch is thrown, heli blades will depower quite quickly.

 

Most people would say I fly too far away from myself... That being said I fear helis when spotting I am very quick to point out the 9 metre rule.

 

So how close was my tail less heli on the weekend? After it lost the boom it came pretty close...

 

Probably 6 or so at it's closest. U regained control of a boom less heli and pushed it another 4 or 5 away. I got quite scared initially. A lesser skilled pilot wouldn't have done so well. In saying that you were flying at a safe distance away before the incident. Had it happened closer it could have been worse. You did everything right!

 

Except for stopping my heli from exploding....Didnt do that one so well....

 

U were pushing the limits and for that we salute you