SAFA Skysailor Magazine

7 July | August 2021 SKY SAILOR What about an engine that will not stop? I have also seen a number of incidents when the motor could not be stopped and got tangled in the lines or broke the prop – either because the button did not work, or it was not under the thumb and ready to push to abort a take-off. The lesson: Make sure the stop switch works and is easy to get to when things turn bad all of a sudden. Once, I was flying high above another pilot when I saw his propeller go fluttering down to earth in pieces. He landed and started jumping and dancing about on the ground like a Photos: Jeff Hoffmann When things go wrong, the kill switch needs to be very accessible! crazy fellow. His throttle cable had gone back into the prop and pulled the throttle on full (this can happen if you put your hand low and there is space for the cable to loop back through the cage). The motor went crazy with full throttle and no propeller. When he landed, it was still screaming and spitting out bits of red-hot metal, setting the grass on fire. The ‘dancing’ was actually stomping out the fires. Here is another one: I was doing my examination for my wheels endorsement. I had a short break and the other pilots told me to, ‘Get in, we will lay out your wing.’ With electric start and the motor warmed up, I sat on the throttle hand-piece. I managed to push both the starter button and the throttle with my bum. The reaction of those around me was instant and saved the day with no injury to anybody. One made a dive for the front wheel of the trike, two more grabbed my body. Their reaction could have put them into the propeller in trying to grab me if they had got it wrong, but if they had not made a grab for my body and the front of the wheelbase I would have headed off down the hill at full throttle with no wing attached and no way of getting to the hand-piece to stop the motor. It may have made a good video, but I would not have enjoyed the experience! The lesson from these two: Set up a second option for killing the motor that is easy to get at. I currently have two switches down the side of the frame. One isolates the electric start, the other is a secondary kill switch. Part of my landing procedure is to reach down and turn them off. They are easily checked visually. My old origi-