[Unified-mailman] electric propellers, safety incidents

[Pete Young]

We've had two recent incidents where, for 16.00 and Unified students, 
the    electric powerplants turned on inadvertently with propellers 
attached. Electric motors encountering a physical load will demand 
more power from the battery, i.e. the motors will apply more torque 
rather than less. The propellers are very sharp and can easily cut 
flesh.

In the instances cited, one student suffered minor cuts and in the 
other, several stitches were required to close a severe gash. The 
lesson here: be very careful around these battery powered devices any 
time power is applied, and when checking out the controls, remove 
propellers before applying power.

Col Young
-- 
Peter W. Young, Col., USAF (ret.)
Senior Lecturer
Director of CDIO Initiatives
phone: (617) 253-5340, fax (617) 253-4002

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
77 Massachusetts Ave., 33-240
Cambridge MA 02139
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