Safety First: Ensuring That Your Aircraft are Flight Ready
By Jay Smith and Greg Gimlick
Photos by Greg Gimlick, Matt Ruddick, and Rachelle Haughn
Originally seen in Park Pilot Spring 2019
Safety is an important part of our lives. That importance carries over to working with and flying our model aircraft. As we get ready to enjoy the spring weather and get back to flying, let’s first remind ourselves of some precautions that we should take.
It’s time to look over your hangar and start preflighting for the upcoming flying season.
Batteries: Visually inspect your batteries for damage and confirm that no cells are puffed. Cycle the good packs on your charger for a couple of charge/discharge cycles.
These batteries have been sorted and are ready for cycling and testing.
Check the voltages of your battery packs with a battery checker or charger.
Control linkages: Carefully examine each one to ensure that it is secure. If your clevis uses a rubber keeper, check to see that it’s still firm and not dry rotted. A thin slice of fuel tubing works well as a replacement. If they are attached with screws, make sure that they are still firmly attached.
Servos: Check each servo mount and servo horn to ensure that they are still secure. Check the gear train by moving the servo, and check for binding. Check the servo wire to see that it is still in good shape—not chafed or cracked—and firmly attached to the receiver. If you have servo extensions, ensure that they are secured with tape or shrink-wrap material.
The bottom of a T-28 wing shows servos and controls for preflight. It is time to dress some things up here and better secure them.
Receiver: Check to see that it’s securely mounted and the antenna wires aren’t cracked or rubbing against anything. If your airplane uses a switch harness, check it for proper operation. If the switch feels odd, replace it.
Battery mount: Check the attachment point for your battery. If you use Velcro, ensure that it is still usable. Don’t forget to also look at the battery deck to make sure that it is secure. If you access your battery through a hatch, ensure that the magnets or hold- down method still work.
Motor/ESC mounts: Confirm that the motor is firmly attached to the mount/firewall then ensure that the firewall is securely attached to the rest of the airplane. Also confirm that the motor wires are secured and not rubbing on anything.
Propellers/rotors: Look carefully at each propeller or rotor blade. Tip damage is usually easy to spot, but also check near the blade’s root. Stress fractures often appear there and are hard to find. Sometimes slightly flexing a blade beneath a bright light will you help see any fractures. Don’t bend them so far that you break them! Never repair a propeller or rotor blade. Always replace it!
Landing gear: Check the attachment point where the landing gear mounts to the fuselage. Inspect any setscrews or other equipment used to attach the wheels and confirm that the wheels are still serviceable.
Wing attachment: Most of our airplanes use either rubber bands or screws to hold the wing on. Don’t use old rubber bands! They will dry rot in time and wear out. The sun wears on them and degrades the compound. Start with all fresh rubber bands and use enough of them. If your wing is held on with nylon bolts, check the threads for signs that they’ve been cross-threaded or “stretched.” Replace anything that’s questionable. Check the mount points to see if they’re still securely glued to the fuselage.
Wiring: Our aircraft have a lot of wires. Examine all of them. Neatness really counts here and can save your aircraft. Ensure that nothing is chafing, kinked, pinched, or damaged. Check the condition of all of the connectors and replace if necessary. Look for pitted contacts in connectors and replace them.
Covering/canopies: Look for cracks or holes and inspect the security of the covering or your canopy. Seal the edges of any loose covering and shrink any wrinkles that might have occurred while in storage. On multirotors and helicopters, check the rubber grommets holding the canopies on the mounting posts. Replace any that appear loose or degraded. Look for any stress fractures in the fiberglass and repair them with CA glue or epoxy.
Radio check: After everything has been checked and repaired, examine each airplane’s radio. Ensure that nothing has changed, nothing has been accidentally reversed, etc. If you haven’t set up a throttle-kill switch for each aircraft, do so now. Always perform a range check on aircraft before flight.
Resources: The AMA Safety Code (modelaircraft.org/files/105.pdf) is a great resource to get you started thinking about safety. Online resources, such as
AMA Flight School (amaflightschool.org) and model aircraft forums, can also be places to reach out to others and learn more.
It is also a good habit to refrain from flying alone. In the unlikely event that you become injured while working on or flying your model, it’s best to have help available. >>
Aircraft Checklists
