Originally Posted by
Bill Greenwood
Tony, I don't know if you ever handle guns or hunt, but if so would you consider it ok, just fine if someone pointed a gun at you and said "no problem, it's not loaded"? If you were out hunting with a group would you mind it someone was waving a gun around so that it was pointed at other people, but again "no problem it's not loaded"? Is it okay it the neighbor kids have a gun and point it at your family, and by the way, "its not loaded"?
How about if a cop stops you for a traffic ticket and points his gun at you, would you feel good, after all he is not firing, yet.
We form good and bad habits. If we treat props with contemp and not respect, then one day when they are turning we may walk or reach into the arc. It happened to a very experiences a & p at BJC, Jeffco, airport years ago who got out of the cabin of a running MU 2 he was working on and ducked under the wing and right into the prop arc.
Same to an experienced CFI at OFK, Norfolk, Neb years ago with a C150. Our first fatality with Young Eagles program was someone who walked up to a plane and was hit by a prop.
We set examples for others who may be new pilots or just on lookers. Showing the wrong way to do it, especially in our feature magazine is a bad practice. You can be just as cool a designer or pilot while standing next to the cockpit or wing, not the prop.
And yes, I am pretty old fashonioned and I want to emphasize safety on the easy things like staying out of the prop arc, before a molehill becomes a mountain.
Obviously, you might have to cross the prop arc to change an air filter, but I would say to myself , this is out of the ordinary, don't do this normally. Idon't see any reason to lean on a prop to drain the oil. Even if moving the prop like for a compression test, I would keep most of my body clear of the arc.
As for as you not believing that this is dangerous, you can believe anything you want. There are some folks who like to handle poisonous snakes.
I hand prop my J3 Cub, but I am not careless about the prop, don't lean on it for photos and I tie the tail and chock it when starting.