As reported by TagesAnzeiger.ch:
A 41 year old male was found with heavy injuries to head and arms by a walker in Mauensee Luzern Switzerland. The helicopter of type Gaui Formula X7 was found next to the body and collected as evidence by the police.
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On the upside, they did at least call it a Modellhelikopter, not a Drohne.
I'm still a relative newb to all these, and in the few meets I'm been to, it's the big heli's that actually make me nervous.
The planes are mostly light, made of foam, and their paths are predictable in event of failure. They also seem to fly further out in the field. Their props are behind them, and the nose is rounded foam.
The quads tend to be small, buzz around, but speeds tend to be slow, and the maneuvers not crazy - especially with a camera aboard. They tend to take long paths, with turns at either end of the field. The programs are 90% stablise-based ones (only the very skillful fly acro). When a fan lets go, the energy it has is low, and the trajectory of the quad mostly predictable (straight down! :-(). And if they have more than 4 rotors, crashes are not always inevitable.
The heli's are big, those blades are big, they're gas powered on occasion, they're close to the landing zone, and invariably someone is stunting them. And - having never flown them, of course - the stunts look extremely stressful on equipment. Of the instances I've read about, the injuries/deaths have been caused when a stunt goes wrong, or something lets go in a crucial maneuver.
As I said - I'm a newb, and know nothing. Just what I feel. I do know that this incident is close to home, and slightly alarming. Slightly dispicable that the owner was not nearby to claim responsibility. He could have saved the guys life - golden hour and all that.
I'm expecting a typically ruthless swiss response against the community.
You know, as adults, we all decide what risks we will take.
But this, this is a perfect example of extremely reckless behaviour. Check especially at 5:43!
Not to be too fear mongering...
2003, a heli flight instructor was killed in the US. Note the report states that he was hit in the neck, and died "almost instantly". Think about that.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165680
There was also a young girl killed not that long ago in the Philippines
I've seen a list where the total appears to be about 7 since 2003. All from large helicopters. There are a few reports from large planes too, including one that killed 2 and injured 4 in a single incident. No reports from multicopters.
I do remember there was a death about 10 years ago in Ontario from a small airplane. Well, it was a 40 size nitro, and the guy got hit right in the head and it killed him.
There were a few times at AVC where I ducked and covered due to airplanes being out of control right over the crowd. The whole thing was a bit ridiculous at times.
Jonathan, I support your criticism of that system. I also saw it and thought... well exactly what you thought. What exactly is the point of a flying keyboard?
Anyway...
Stefan, yes, we could do something like that, but it won't guarantee safety. The larger the machine, the more energy they have, and the longer they take to stop. You can't stop a large multirotor prop fast enough to prevent damage. And certainly not a large heli.
J.A.B., yes, exactly. It's the relative odds of getting killed by a large heli that make them so much more dangerous. I would put the odds for the large one at better than 1 in 10.
It's interesting to see the commentary on this story on the heli forums. The general line of thinking is "well, when it's your time, it's your time", and "if I want to risk my life by flying close, it's my right". These guys see this as a sport, similar to any other dangerous sport. I guess... whatever works for you.
The really scary thing is, one of the moderators claims to be an authority on the subject, drawing upon 25 years as a police officer. He says that you are at greater risk driving to the field than you are at the flying field.
Obviously they don't teach statistics in police school. I find it's an incredibly reckless statement to make. It's so wrong, and he is in a position of authority.
I was proud of my stance amongst all the other comments talking this project up to be a great idea. I could not disagree more due to the multiple areas of potential safety risks involved. You should see the responses I got with people calling me a leftist (haha) and a party-pooper and that I should just support the great design of something like this that can make an airframe out of random objects. I replied that just because something CAN fly absolutely does NOT correlate to whether the object SHOULD fly.
Bottom line is most types of stupid cannot be fixed. I tried but missed somehow.
"Intelligent motor control automatically stops the propellers upon impact with an object" from Blade 350 QX specs
Could APM not get the ability to cut power when a propellor blocks or hits an obstacle? Much like the new to be released RTF Quad from Blade (350 QX) or the AR.Drone?
Oliver. This is a pointless argument. If we are going to use the "might be able to kill you if.." argument then everything is deadly. Baseballs, tennis rackets and cute little puppies if they are allowed to gnaw on you long enough...
A multicopter strike would not kill you 999 out of 1000 times. A direct 700 helicopter strike would be deadly 1 out of 10 if not more.
@ R_Lefebvre: You ask,
"Who has said "that is dangerous, this isn't"?"
The comment (as I said "along the lines of" that) was:
"Multicopter = Shallow cuts. Painful but not deadly. Worst case you might lose an eye."
I didn't quote it earlier so as not to sound personal. But there it is, and there are a couple of others with similar implications. Sorry, but that's wrong and dangerous to anyone who believes it. I also didn't want to overemphasize the danger. But OK, here it is: A robust multicopter with thin composite or carbon blades can kill outright if if hits someone in the side of the neck. And lest anyone thinks that it's none of my business if someone chops themselves up, my concern isn't necessarily about the victim, it's about me and the rest of us being able to continue to buy and fly what we want. The bottom line is that it's in everyones' best interest to fly safely, and to encourage others to do the same which includes pointing out the hazards, unpopular and boring though that might be.
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