Start them early

[quote="Oldenginerod"]... Hands on hips! I ain't goin' near that thing again

Oh but he will.

RknRusty wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:... Hands on hips! I ain't goin' near that thing again

Oh but he will.

OK.. aside from my previous rant.. That little fellow was definitely determined to start that engine and fly that model! I love how he grabbed the fuel bottle, topped-off the tank, gave it an exhaust prime, flipped-in the prime, put the fuel bottle down.. and proceeded to wipe his hand on his pant-leg. He's already got the basics down.. even with his prop-flipping style. He seemed to understand the glow-driver battery-box and switched it on/off in his troubleshooting sequence. Connecting the alligator-clip to the fuse made me laugh out loud! Still.. he's lucky he didn't get hurt. As bright as he is; he's too young to be starting engines by himself. I'd rather have seen someone with him on the handle-end. He's obviously interested. attentive (and patient..) enough to learn how to control a model.

I agree with Roddie. No way my boys or any kid that young would do that if i were around. First off, the propeller risk, and there is also the thing with methanol.

But I must admit, that reaction was a lot like mine when I started a Babe Bee for the first time in 30+ years I did leap sideways as the darned thing became alive, as I didn't expect it would start on the first attempt. And I also moved a couple of yards away thinking, "daaamn that thing is loud"

I envision a time when that kids nickname will be "lefty"

Ok, so you've gotta admit, there's both good and bad here. I know there are risks and I was a bit surprised at what he was freely permitted to do, but if we continue to tell our kids "don't touch that, you might get hurt", they're never going to do anything. We're already teaching them to clean their hands with hand sanitizer every time they touch something, so their bodies are never going to build up a resistance to germs. My son whines about the slightest little twinge or pain, wheras I tell him that every day old farts like me need to deal with pain, but you gotta keep going & do what needs to be done.
If this kid learns that there are consequences to his actions, that's great. He won't be afraid to give things a go. No need to be careless, but we can be way too cautious.
Most of us would like to see our hobby continue into the future. Without little guys like this, it has no future beyond our generation. I only wish my sons had the guts to give more things a shot when they were little, even if it meant nursing a sore finger or two. Sadly they've grown up a couple of wimps.

Rod, I totally agree with you!  No pain no gain. The good news is the wild hair does skip a generation. So, your grandkids will be on the wild side if your kids are on the mild side.  
Yeah, the little tike was being watched very closely by the photographer ( videographer) and the glow plug was not properly set until there was adult assistance. The kid was real observant to know how to do all the proper things, probability from just watching the other pilots.  Having  someone willing to LET him play with an airplane, fuel and battery with out slapping his hands and saying "No! Don't Touch that" will go a long way to his long term attachment to the hobby. ( well ya probably can't slap hands nowadays with out being charged with child abuse)

Oldenginerod wrote:...I tell him that every day old farts like me need to deal with pain...

I tell people it's how you can tell you're still alive.

He is probably a little young for that however, as Rod pointed out we can't excessively coddle our kids. I basically try and allow my kids to do the same things I was allowed to do. With a few exceptions. It's tough as you have to let them grow up, but at the same time you have to squash that overwhelming instinct to protect them all the time.

Ron

Did I see it correctly that at 5:31 when the big fella primed the engine and the kid flipped the prop the engine actually started up for more than  a few coughs but a short brrrrrrrrp? Then this was really dangerous ...and I have an idea with  which of his own bodypart the  big fella should have continued the engine start demonstration while the engine was primed an hot for him to learn a painful lesson.

Oldenginerod wrote:Ok, so you've gotta admit, there's both good and bad here.  I know there are risks and I was a bit surprised at what he was freely permitted to do, but if we continue to tell our kids "don't touch that, you might get hurt", they're never going to do anything.  We're already teaching them to clean their hands with hand sanitizer every time they touch something, so their bodies are never going to build up a resistance to germs.  My son whines about the slightest little twinge or pain, wheras I tell him that every day old farts like me need to deal with pain, but you gotta keep going & do what needs to be done.
If this kid learns that there are consequences to his actions, that's great.  He won't be afraid to give things a go.  No need to be careless, but we can be way too cautious.
Most of us would like to see our hobby continue into the future.  Without little guys like this, it has no future beyond our generation.  I only wish my sons had the guts to give more things a shot when they were little, even if it meant nursing a sore finger or two.  Sadly they've grown up a couple of wimps.

Well, yes, kids learn by watching, and are amazingly observant, so the little dude certainly had his moves down. Sort of a "monkey see, monkey do" situation, he did not necessarily know exactly what he was doing and what may happen.

I am a bit protective but I like to have my sons try stuff and actually secretly like it when they get hurt a little when they are looking for the limits (or, as I sometimes say, learning Newton's Laws in practice ). Their mom is even more protective, hence both of the boys learned to swim under MY supervision

One thing I am really paranoid though is the possibilities of permanent damage, be it a mechanical part or chemical stuff. That scene on the video was funny but there was a high risk for a severed finger, lost eye or methanol poisoning. Kids of that age have unbelievably tiny fingers, and serious damage in that age happens easily and is hard to repair.

I don't slap my sons' wrists off my stuff but to protect them (and sometimes the stuff too) I do explain the risks, trying not to scare them off, quite the opposite. When they know the risks they are glad to follow instructions. Neither has, for example, protested being strapped in seat belts, the older wears ear protection when he mows the lawn (I do too, that flathead B&S is loud), both of them ask for eye protection if they do stuff where it is required and so on.

Anyway, an amusing video, glad no one got hurt

I was already a 55+years old toddler to learn this lesson from professor TD051 that could have cost the small dude  in the video a finger in tuition fees..

The new generation just needs to know how to plug the battery in.

Clint Eastwood said during a recent interview regarding emphasis on being politically correct we are a p*ssy generation. I think the Dad was doing correct in teaching the child not to be afraid of a noisy engine. Kid was supervised. I've heard that with all the concerns of keeping kids germ free, that kids are now more susceptible to communicable diseases. I've watched 4 year olds ride small dirt bikes at a motocross track. Talking about cute, these kids have an opportunity not many other kids have, which they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Back in the mid 1960's when I was 12 years old, now I was old enough to buy cherry bombs, sky rockets and M-80's. Prior to that, I could only buy firecrackers and bottle rockets. I could buy model airplane cement both for balsa wood and for plastic models. The M-80s were too expensive for my allowance, and so I bought a half dozen cherry bombs. After lighting off one, I gained a very healthy respect for them, shot an inverted coffee can up 15 feet and split the rim.

Responsibility for one's actions was taken at an earlier age back then. Problem is today that we emphasize safety so much that the net result has been anything but safety. We have the highest cases of recreational drug use and abuse. We have children not respecting adults. Kids need to learn to take reasonable risks. There will be cuts and bruises along the way, but proper adult guidance, they won't have to lose fingers, learning how to take care of themselves in the process.

George's post reminds me of the movie "Demolition Man". Now that I think of it, Clint would have been a better and more believable choice for the main character instead of Stallone

I agree to an extent about the over-protectiveness, but on the other hand, in the '60s literally hundreds of kids in Finland died in accidents (traffic, drowning, weapons, farm work...), and that was out of population of 3-4 million or so. A lot of men of my dad's age (60-70) are missing a finger or two or an eye. Most of them also remember a classmate or a few that died as a kid, either by drowning or some other accident.

I AGREE with the todays generation are what Clint said ***** my son 17 is a bandage freak about every little cut but any way the video over here some women would have DSS (department of social services ) on your ass like stink on stuff it was all good in the vid. till the clip was hooked up and letting him fire that finger bitter up !! Yes my son was on dirt bikes at 6 but he had been on battery powered crap since he could stand up pretty much ... , Hell at 2 I strapped him to ME with a belt in front where he could see and rode him on my 250 YZ Not a whine one

The clip doesn't need to be on for the engine to fire up. Big or small it happens. That prop looked like a glass prop and while I'm not the protective type, it could certainly be detrimental to small hands.

I do not remember where I read about it.....BUT I do agree with the idea that young man children need to be allowed to experiment, and learn from mistakes, need to form their young minds and foster a desire to try more and more complex tasks

My own mom n dad, at age "crawling", started the "that's dangerous" hand slap training... later when I did things, the cause and effect "crap that hurts" training started

I am now 61, and recently fired a Green head Torp .35 that BIT me hard...NOW..... it is "SH-t THAT HURTS....!"

We never stop learning and some lessons take a very very long time to learn

PHRED... thinking I may be a P*ssy...after all

If the prop didn't break over your finger, you haven't lived yet.

What's most amazing to me.. are people who take their "eyesight" for granted. I am legally-blind in my left eye (since birth) and remember having an eye exam in my late 30's to see if there were any advancements in optometry that might correct my vision in that eye. After the exam, the eye-doctor confirmed that I had Amblyopia (originally diagnosed when I was a toddler). He had heard of cases where Amblyopia was corrected as late as age 12.. but very uncommon. It is a developmental condition of the brain not recognizing focused-sight from an otherwise perfectly healthy eye. He recommended that I wear non-prescription eyeglasses to protect the vision in my good eye.. and stated that; "if you lose your sight in your right eye.. your life will change dramatically"... I never forgot that.

I wear corrective lenses now.. but am always aware of possible risks and am extra careful when around machinery. A bench-grinder, power-saws etc. lawn mowing, weed-wacking.. using a leaf-blower.. Even using a common nail-hammer can be hazardous if a glancing-blow causes a nail to ricochet.. or the hammer's face or a cold-chisel to fracture. I'm always mindful of the safe-storage/orientation of pointed objects like music-wire, dowels, drill-rod etc. against accidental impaling by anyone including my pets. It's simply too late to take safety measures after an incident occurs.

What age would you guess that little boy was in the vid? Monkey see.. monkey do..? I'm guessing that with everything he's learned; by observing aero-modelling activities.. (and you've got admit.. he's learned quite a bit..) that he would understand eye and hearing protection if these measures were enforced. I believe that Mike Londke's young boy has had adequate safety equipment in the vids I've seen of him flying.

Sorry.. another rant.. Maybe I'm considered a p---y by some.. Sure; you learn by getting hurt, but the idea is.. learning to avoid getting hurt.

roddie wrote:Sorry.. another rant.. Maybe I'm considered a p---y by some.. Sure; you learn by getting hurt, but the idea is.. learning to avoid getting hurt.

I wouldn't call your protective actions being a P***Y. I would call it reasonable risk assessment. I gathered that which Clint Eastwood was referring to was nitpick stuff of concern over offending people waving the US flag, saying the pledge of allegiance, use of the word "God" in front of people and etc. This was stuff years ago that not even those of other religious and ethnic backgrounds would get perturbed over. Cowering down being ashamed of one's own background is the strangest thing I've ever heard, but I'm seeing more and more crazy stuff.

Somehow being a man about stuff is being wrongly promoted as the wrong thing to do.

Well, with total respect for my friends Roddie & Kari,    my intention in posting the video link was to give us all a bit of ammusement.  
Sure, we can find danger in anything.  I thought it was cute & got quite a chuckle from it.  I'd hoped everyone here would as well.  Obviously some have taken it as I intended, but others have looked at it from a different perspective.  If I hit a nerve, I'm sorry.  You've obviously seen the video in a completely different light to what I did.  

I hope the kid has continued his interest by attending more flying events with his Dad, and hopefully we'll be watching him flying before too long so that this hobby has a future.

Rod.

I for one took it for what is was entertainment and maybe a little bravado by the videographer, assuming he's the kids father. Filmed in 2010, any chance of a follow up on the Austrailan Champions advancement to 2016?

I was four when I started flying models, I was five when I began starting the engines. My dad taught me, I used Cox starter springs and Wen Mac Rotomatics on the 049's and on my Ringmaster Jr. I was given a chicken stick.

It was explained that it was easy to aviod the spinning prop by not putting your hand through it. A 5 year old gets it pretty quick.

Not much thought to eye protection back then except when using a grinder or wire wheel. I used glasses when cutting with a Moto Tool.

Same with hearing, I ran models starting when I was little, as a teen flew real airplanes with dad when headsets and intercoms were rare so we just yelled, played in rock and roll bands until 21, then began a career in aviation as a pilot so my tinitus is pretty pronounced but the hearing is actually good.

I cut myself, stabbed myself, dropped stuff on myself, smashed digits with hammers, almost walked through a turning prop of the airplane engine I had just hand propped, but never got under a car that wasn't on jackstands, never flew little airplanes in bad weather (until it was a job), chickened out many times at low level acro (even if it was a job), drove way too fast on the freeways and surface streets, learned to drift a car on neighborhood streets, only ran from the cops when I had an enormous lead, and was often escorted home when explaining the truth just made more sense and got the coppers to crack a grin.

Pussies, eh, maybe but I did a lot of dumb stuff as a kid I'm glad my kids didn't do so... but man the experiences were priceless.

Chris...