0 Safety Lesson

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.

Result of carelessness around a spinning prop

The tendon in my right hand index finger was nicked and the doctor had to repair it. Now I have very little strength in my right hand due to this injury. And my wife is really pissed at me. She suggested that I staple the hospital wrist bands to my flight box to remind me of my stupidity and carelessness. That I did the following day.

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!!!