{"id":3293,"date":"2015-03-27T14:19:45","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T21:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3293"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","slug":"126-the-deadly-propeller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/126-the-deadly-propeller\/","title":{"rendered":"#126 The Deadly Propeller"},"content":{"rendered":"

How often have you heard that old wheeze, \u201cFamiliarity breeds contempt\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s a good one.\u00a0 It warns us against the dangers of complacency.\u00a0 There used to be one giant sign on the wall of the huge hangar at the Coast Guard Air Station in San Francisco.\u00a0 The sign must have been 100 feet long.\u00a0 It warned, \u201cCOMPLACENCY KILLS\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s sure true.<\/h2>\n
\"Learning<\/a>
Hand-propping is a perfectly safe operation when done properly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That propeller which graces the front end of most of our aircraft is perhaps the greatest danger that we wield, sometimes unknowingly.\u00a0 Coupled with our own complacency, it is doubly deadly.<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m sure that virtually all of us have heard the story of Lauren Scruggs. Here’s a link to an interview<\/a><\/span> with her.\u00a0The young woman was given a ride in what appeared to be a Husky.\u00a0 The purpose of the flight was to look at Christmas lights in the Dallas, Texas area.\u00a0 Upon their return, Ms Scruggs got out of the airplane.\u00a0 Evidently, the pilot was momentarily concerned that she might approach the prop and he held her back.\u00a0 Then, satisfied that she was safely clear or at least aware of the propeller, he turned his attention to his next rider.\u00a0 The fact that he had an additional rider is evidently the reason that he did not stop his engine.<\/h2>\n

While the pilot was distracted, Lauren Scruggs walked into that propeller.\u00a0 Her injuries were nearly fatal.\u00a0 She lost an eye, had severe head injuries and the loss of limbs.<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s not let the suffering of this young woman or the agony her pilot must still feel go wasted.\u00a0 Let\u2019s learn from it.\u00a0 And whatever you do, don\u2019t for a minute automatically assume that you would never make such a mistake.<\/h2>\n

A lot of fliers will blame the pilot.\u00a0 I don\u2019t.\u00a0 Could he have prevented this accident?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 But one thing is sure:\u00a0 You and I can more easily prevent his misfortune from befalling us!\u00a0 How can we prevent prop\/people strikes?\u00a0 Naturally, shutting down the engine when people are either embarking, disembarking or simply near the airplane is certainly one possibility.\u00a0 Perhaps having a series of riders is not a good enough reason to leave an engine running.\u00a0 That\u2019s a decision every pilot will have to make.\u00a0 As a former ride-hopper, I can certainly understand the quandary in which this can put us. Perhaps the lesson of that accident in Texas will affect some of our decisions.<\/h2>\n

A passenger briefing is another measure we can take, but it is not nearly as effective.\u00a0 Many airmen have a rule about keeping people clear of the prop.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s to stay behind a strut; sometimes to keep a hand on a leading edge (that one\u2019s not too effective).<\/h2>\n

Vigilance is a good idea.\u00a0 The thinking is that if you are watching people outside the aircraft, you can be prepared to shut down if they approach the prop.\u00a0 That one often fails to pass the test of time.\u00a0 It simply takes too long for an engine to be stopped just by turning off the mags (forget about the mixture\u2026 too slow).<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve often stated that \u201cif you don\u2019t get in the arc of a prop, you can\u2019t get hit by a prop\u201d.\u00a0 That is true.\u00a0 What is also true is that a prop that is not turning will not present a major danger to anyone.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid that\u2019s the bottom line.\u00a0 Perhaps we simply need to shut \u2018em down.\u00a0 Those with starterless engines may have someone who can prop them AND serve as a ramp escort, keeping strangers to aviation clear of that whirling prop.<\/h2>\n

One of my readers once criticized me and some of my associates for certain pictures that featured pilots posed with a hand on a prop.\u00a0 Admittedly, they were in the arc.\u00a0 But when\u2019s the last time an engine spontaneously started and smacked someone?\u00a0 Such pics don\u2019t really present a real hazard.<\/h2>\n

I teach most of my students how to hand-prop an airplane.\u00a0 Symbolically, this operation would be fraught with hazard if we didn\u2019t do it intelligently and while exercising a few cautionary rules.<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ll all have to decide for ourselves how to handle this deadly danger we fly behind.\u00a0 I\u2019m convinced that, no matter what measures you take, you\u2019ll be more successful at keeping others safe by simply not falling victim to complacency.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“That propeller which graces the front end of most of our aircraft is perhaps the greatest danger that we wield, sometimes unknowingly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,67,134,174],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}