Legal Question and a question about servos

[Timmychanga]

Does anyone know if it is legal to drop firecrackers from an RC plane? I would be doing it on private (a friend's) property. Also, I have been wanting to build the P-40, but all I have at the moment are 5 gram servos. Will they work, or are they not strong enough?

Thanks for the help,
Tim

 

[Ketchup]

I’m not sure about the fireworks, but I don’t think that 5 grams would work.

 

[PsyBorg]

It has never been acceptable to drop live ordanance from rc models and has been covered in every safety manual and guidline in the hobby since shortly after the first rc flights.

Evidently humans have not evolved much in the last 100 + years in the realm of darwinian antics.

Guess laws of nature are set so someone invents cool stuff and someone else must come up with something destructive to do with it.

 

[Timmychanga]

Thanks. I was pretty sure that was the case, I just wanted to make sure. The Idea was to put it inside a dambusters bouncing bomb that I am making, so it would skip on the water and then explode. As far as the servos, They are what I use in my Mini Arrow, and they have survived many rough crashes (rough being an understatement), and they are fine, so I'm pretty sure they will work. I am just wondering if anyone has tried this before.

 

[Fyathyrio]

Timmy,

While it appears PsyBorg feels he is morally superior to you and must regulate your behavior, he did fail to answer the question despite his ad hominem attack. At some point, pretty much every RC related YouTube channel I follow, including FliteTest, has combined fireworks and RC aircraft. Review relevant safety concerns, plan in advace, do all you can to remove risk, then have fun! Legality depends upon location, for example, if you are in a high fire danger area such as California, then fireworks are illegal no matter the delivery system. You don't show a location, so your question cannot be answered without more information.

 

[JTarmstr]

Its probably illegal and most definitely frowned upon by all the people who say do everything by the rules. But what the heck rules are boring.

So if you do choose to do it, use common sense, dont handle the fireworks dangerously, do it in a remote location etc etc, if there is a wildfire hazard DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT do anything with fire, accidents can happen and it can lead to massive consequences.

 

[sprzout]

Timmy,

While it appears PsyBorg feels he is morally superior to you and must regulate your behavior, he did fail to answer the question despite his ad hominem attack. At some point, pretty much every RC related YouTube channel I follow, including FliteTest, has combined fireworks and RC aircraft. Review relevant safety concerns, plan in advace, do all you can to remove risk, then have fun! Legality depends upon location, for example, if you are in a high fire danger area such as California, then fireworks are illegal no matter the delivery system. You don't show a location, so your question cannot be answered without more information.

Fyathyrio, just because you see it on Flite Test or a YouTube channel doesn't mean it's legal. There are guys all the time that post up their videos of 2.5 mile drone flights, or flights over national parks and restricted airspace.

Per the AMA's Safety Handbook:

Your model aircraft should not carry any pyrotechnic devices that explode or burn, unless you are part of
an officially designated AMA Air Show Team (AST). ASTs are authorized to use such devices and practices as defined with the Team AMA Program document. Devices that propel projectiles or drop any object creating a hazard to persons or property are prohibited. Free Flight fuses or other devices that burn producing smoke and are securely attached to the model aircraft during the flight are acceptable. Rocket motors, up to a G-series size, may be used for propulsion, as long as they use solid propellants and remain attached to your model during the flight. Launching a rocket or any other missile from a model aircraft is prohibited.

And this is where the hate against the AMA will start, I'm sure. Ultimately, people do what they will do...know that it is not condoned and if you have an issue with a forum member, please, either take it up with them in private or report their post rather than taking it up publicly. We try to keep the FT forums friendly.

 

[JTarmstr]

Rocket motors, up to a G-series size, may be used for propulsion, as long as they use solid propellants and remain attached to your model during the flight.

Up to G series? Ohh boy I'm getting ideas now.

 

[Timmychanga]

That rule makes sense. So I'll just have to make the bomb without any explosion. Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[sprzout]

Up to G series? Ohh boy I'm getting ideas now.

Yeah, just be VERY careful - you could end up either making a lawn dart out of your plane VERY quickly, or shooting it up into the atmosphere out of sight VERY quickly. Me personally, I wouldn't do it, but that's more because I'd be too worried about hitting someone with the plane when I triggered the motor.

 

[sprzout]

That rule makes sense. So I'll just have to make the bomb without any explosion. Thanks for all your help guys.

No worries, man. There's a lot of guys who do "bomb drops" - one of the clubs does a candy drop for the kids at Halloween, and some of the warbird guys in my club will put in a baby powder bomb; you drop a spring loaded bomb casing, and when it hits, the casing opens up and the baby powder "explodes" out, creating a cloud. Looks pretty cool.

 

[Fluburtur]

It is less about laws than knowing if it dangerous. If you are doing that on private property and there is no risk of fire or hurting anyone besides yourself then I would have no issues.
The rule of thumb for modelers in France is basically "don't be a moron" and that was told to me by some jet guys.

 

[PsyBorg]

Timmy,

While it appears PsyBorg feels he is morally superior to you and must regulate your behavior, he did fail to answer the question despite his ad hominem attack. At some point, pretty much every RC related YouTube channel I follow, including FliteTest, has combined fireworks and RC aircraft. Review relevant safety concerns, plan in advace, do all you can to remove risk, then have fun! Legality depends upon location, for example, if you are in a high fire danger area such as California, then fireworks are illegal no matter the delivery system. You don't show a location, so your question cannot be answered without more information.

First of all dont ever tell someone what I may or may not mean because you had a sytem failure in reading comprehension.

Unlike a good portion of people on the internet I will directly interact with people by name so there is NO chance of confusion mr Fyathyario.

For the record I am only moraly superior to people who are too dumb to know they are dumb.

THOSE are the people that think they are not held to a minimum standard for being human.

The ones not unlike your self who think common sense is an option.

There is no need to reply as I am sure both of us will be put in time out for your failure to understand the english languages and its workings.

Blue skies and happy flying.

 

[JTarmstr]

Yeah, just be VERY careful - you could end up either making a lawn dart out of your plane VERY quickly, or shooting it up into the atmosphere out of sight VERY quickly. Me personally, I wouldn't do it, but that's more because I'd be too worried about hitting someone with the plane when I triggered the motor.

I appreciate your concern, I have some friends who own a cattle farm and they let me fly my rockets there (I was a model rocketeer way before I got into RC), I have found some nice fields where i could go way past G motors and no-one would even know i launched them. The closest airport is over 50 miles away and air traffic below 30,000 feet is not to common. So if i were to do something like that i can assure you that i would do it in a way to minimize the risks as much as possible

 

[Ketchup]

I agree with the idea of using fake bombs, but if you want you could drop some “cap bombs”, which are small toy bombs that make a bang when they hit the ground. Some issues are that they might be heavy since they are metal, and they use cap gun caps to make noise, so it still might be an explosive device. One way to avoid the weight issue is to make some of your own, but it might take a few tries to get it to work (I’ve tried it).

 

[Timmychanga]

I think the best way to go is non-explosive, because the main aim is to recreate the bouncing bomb, not to make something explode. Now I just have to get enough money for the electronics.

 

[Tronglodon]

Thanks. I was pretty sure that was the case, I just wanted to make sure. The Idea was to put it inside a dambusters bouncing bomb that I am making, so it would skip on the water and then explode. As far as the servos, They are what I use in my Mini Arrow, and they have survived many rough crashes (rough being an understatement), and they are fine, so I'm pretty sure they will work. I am just wondering if anyone has tried this before.

Maybe load up the dam with fireworks, fly over and drop a dummy bomb, then set off the dam with a remote detonator. All the visual pizzazz of dropping a live bomb without dropping a live bomb. Plus it won't matter if your aim's a little off, the explosion will still happen where you want it.

 

[sprzout]

It is less about laws than knowing if it dangerous. If you are doing that on private property and there is no risk of fire or hurting anyone besides yourself then I would have no issues.
The rule of thumb for modelers in France is basically "don't be a moron" and that was told to me by some jet guys.

Therein lies the problem - there are a lot of people in the world that don't have common sense. You know, the sense that says, "I shouldn't eat Tide pods," or "If I poke a bear with a stick, it's likely to attack me." LOL

So, for those people, we have to make a law to essentially tell them, "Don't do it because we said so."

 

[sprzout]

Maybe load up the dam with fireworks, fly over and drop a dummy bomb, then set off the dam with a remote detonator. All the visual pizzazz of dropping a live bomb without dropping a live bomb. Plus it won't matter if your aim's a little off, the explosion will still happen where you want it.

Ahh, now you're hitting on how most movie explosions are done by special effects people. Smarter, since you can control the environment where it goes off, thus minimizing fire dangers, having a safe area around the explosion, etc.

 

[sprzout]

I appreciate your concern, I have some friends who own a cattle farm and they let me fly my rockets there (I was a model rocketeer way before I got into RC), I have found some nice fields where i could go way past G motors and no-one would even know i launched them. The closest airport is over 50 miles away and air traffic below 30,000 feet is not to common. So if i were to do something like that i can assure you that i would do it in a way to minimize the risks as much as possible

No worries. I'm just thinking you'll be flying along level, and then touch off a rocket with tons of thrust, and all of a sudden it's out of sight, going on a climb, going horizontally, or going into pieces into the ground.