# You shouldn't lose your head over a toy helicopter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143 "2013-09-06T02:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/21 "2013-09-06T13:14:58Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Any way you slice it, this is a tragic loss of a young life. He was fortunate his parents weren’t costantly hovering over him, not allowing him to face risks head on. …with a nice chianti and some fava beans… :eek: No, I will not post a link to a pic of Ray Liotta at the end of ‘Hannibal’. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/22 "2013-09-06T13:30:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Forget the stupid puns. If the story is true and such helicopters are that dangerous, people should not be flying them in public parks. What if a bystander was injured instead of the operator? Here those types of models are restricted to fenced areas where spectators are kept several meters away to protect them from crashes. It’s not even just the helicopters, these are models that run on gas engines so they’re heavy and most parts of them are fairly sturdy. In the event of a crash anyone hit by it is going to be seriously injured. My husband is a fan and we’ve gone to a few demonstration days and some club practice days and most operators we’ve met are quite aware of the danger and very cautious about safety. It looks like the park he died at was the same one from the youtube videos he’d shot previously and despite the fact that it’s a park in NY it looks deserted. It really does sound like a skilled operator had a tragic mechanical failure which caused the accident. Witness reports talk about a sudden boomerang in the middle of a maneuver. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/23 "2013-09-06T13:44:05Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s also not a ‘toy helicopter’ that’s a ‘model helicopter’ > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Yeah, his helicopter was anything but a toy. I know. I was taking literary license. I debated whether to use ‘model’ or ‘toy’. Since the saying is ‘Don’t lose your head over [something inconsequential]’, I opted for the inconsequential noun. Still, a ‘toy’ is an object that is played with, and remote control models are played with; so they really are toys. When I was into r/c, I would have been offended if someone called them toys. Now, anything that is played with is a toy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/24 "2013-09-06T13:49:24Z")
As I was reading the story I kept wondering “Where is John Landis?” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/25 "2013-09-06T14:17:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > As I was reading the story I kept wondering “Where is John Landis?” DOH! :smack: Nobody gets this joke anymore: Remove a bill from your wallet and grasp the ends. Pull it and relax it with some rapidity, such that it sounds like rotor blades. ‘What’s this?’ ‘The last thing Vic Morrow ever heard.’ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/26 "2013-09-06T14:17:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Forget the stupid puns. If the story is true and such helicopters are that dangerous, people should not be flying them in public parks. What if a bystander was injured instead of the operator? We’d better ban cars from public highways too. Have you seen what happens to pedestrians in motor vehicle accidents? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/27 "2013-09-06T14:20:53Z")
Do pedestrians in public parks expect to get mowed down by cars? No, because parks aren’t public highways. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/28 "2013-09-06T14:42:47Z")
Should we ban bicycles from parks, then? Dogs? Frisbees? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/29 "2013-09-06T14:46:40Z")
Do bicycles, dogs or frisbees cause similar injuries? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/30 "2013-09-06T14:54:30Z")
For an idea of what kind of crazy maneuvers people perform with R/C choppers, [check out this video](http://www.rccoh.com/IMG/videos/insane.helicopter.html) which was highlighted in [a recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=698263) here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/31 "2013-09-06T14:56:46Z")
Bicycles and dogs have certainly killed more people than remote controlled helicopters. Hell, probably more than all helicopters. Maybe not frisbees. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/32 "2013-09-06T17:11:05Z")
I thought those blades were made from plastic and not that powerful. Guess I was wrong ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/33 "2013-09-06T17:39:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Bicycles and dogs have certainly killed more people than remote controlled helicopters. Hell, probably more than all helicopters. > > Maybe not frisbees. I’m sure bicycles have killed more people that shoving a running chainsaw up an asshole too, but that doesn’t mean that comparison is at all valid. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/34 "2013-09-06T17:40:54Z")
Feel free to explain why flying a toy helicopter is more like shoving a chainsaw up an asshole than it is like riding a bicycle. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/35 "2013-09-06T17:54:11Z")
What, in like, essay form? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/36 "2013-09-06T18:01:16Z")
Preferably in meter. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/37 "2013-09-06T18:12:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do pedestrians in public parks expect to get mowed down by cars? No, because parks aren’t public highways. And a spectator at a model aircraft field (which is what this was) ought to expect that there will be model aircraft flying. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/38 "2013-09-06T18:14:20Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I thought those blades were made from plastic and not that powerful. Guess I was wrong It’s not so much about the power; the engine/motor doesn’t have enough torque to push the blade through you in the same way that you push a kitchen knife blade through a potato. It’s the speed and momentum of the blade itself that makes it happen, like swinging a meat cleaver at a pot roast. Put two of these [carbon-fiber heli rotor blades](http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/ __13419__ 930mm_Carbon_Fiber_Professional_Heli_Blade.html) on the spindle, and you’ve got a rotor about six feet in diameter, weighing nearly two pounds and spinning at a couple thousand RPM. Carbon fiber is some tough stuff, and at that size, it has a lot of momentum; it’s pretty much like swinging a meat cleaver. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/39 "2013-09-06T18:21:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Bicycles and dogs have certainly killed more people than remote controlled helicopters. Hell, probably more than all helicopters. Are you including the Vietnam War in that estimate? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143/40 "2013-09-06T18:25:26Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Do pedestrians in public parks expect to get mowed down by cars? No, because parks aren’t public highways. > > And a spectator at a model aircraft field (which is what this was) ought to expect that there will be model aircraft flying. _What_ was a model aircraft field? The story in the OP took place at Calvert Vaux Park, which sounds like a public park to me. Are you saying it was a dedicated model aircraft field? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-shouldnt-lose-your-head-over-a-toy-helicopter/668143.md?page=3)