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Best injuries while building

AlpineYoda

Well Known Member
Patron
Spent some time at urgent care today. Thankfully, it was a covid-free urgent care.

I was match drilling holes in the tail cone skin of my RV-10 build with my son today. Did about 300 holes with a high speed pneumatic drill through the skin into some stiffening bars. I had to hold the pieces in place with a hand on the inside, while I drilled from the outside. My son then dropped Clecos into each hole to keep everything aligned.

For the first 300 holes, I thought about the location of my inside hand every single time before drilling. Around hole 301, my mind slipped a little. The pieces kept moving and I had to try hard to hold it all together. I doubled the tank regulator pressure to get a faster drill speed to avoid the bit ?walking? along the metal. I pressed down hard, went through both pieces of metal like warm butter, and then straight through my index finger that was holding the pieces in place on the inside. Clean entry and exit wounds on either side.

It bled like nothing I?ve seen before from a #40 size hole, but I had some crazy glue in the hangar and was able to stop the flow. X-rays at the hospital showed that I missed the bone, missed the ligaments, and left minimal aluminum inside my finger. I might have some nerve damage, and I got a new tetanus shot, but it seems like I may have been really, really lucky to avoid major damage. I will post a photo on my EAA blog (below, since I cannot figure out how to post here) tomorrow.

I can?t be the only one to hurt themselves building. Any good stories out there?
 
Welcome to the club. Hurts like he**, doesn?t it? I went well into my finger despite wearing work gloves. And I?m not the first.
 
Aarrgghh. I think you'd get a shorter list of mechanics who HAVEN'T drilled thru a finger. I think I've only done it once, and then not all the way thru. I've been bitten by band saws twice, fairly serious the second time but I'm OK. I stood up fast while working on a Pitts S2A once and banged my head on the trailing edge of a metal Hartzell aerobatic propeller blade. Went right to my knees and stayed there for a minute or two. Yeah that one really hurt. I'm not looking forward to more stories along this thread, it could get pretty gruesome if folks don't use a bit of restraint.
 
Been there, done that. Right thru the mail on my ring finger. Not to worry, the nerve will grow back in a couple of years.

This is why I don't walk in my shop without putting on safety glasses. Stuff happens. (I have had more than one cleco come out if the pliers and hit my glasses.)
 
Your right index finger will survive a trip through the pneumatic squeezer. Whilst riveting tank baffles, stopped to wipe wet pro seal off the squeezer dies. Rolled the squeezer on the bench for better access and BANG. Hurt like nothing else, bled all over but wrapped it up with blue masking tape to stop bleeding and continued riveting. Lost the nail and feeling for some time but all good now about 5 years later.
 
Probably not in the same league, but those cleco clamps can produce high pain levels and nasty blood blisters on those days when your not right on your game. Trust me.
An unplanned hole in your finger though....ouch. My sympathy.
The pain will subside with time, but I'm sure you'll still have the memory.:D
Cheers, DaveH
 
You only have to skin your shin on a low lying step weldment once before you wrap them in foam!
I?ve drilled a hole in myself too...:-(
 
I did a similar thing to the OP, but with me it was through the wing spar into the palm of my hand. It didnt go right through but stuck in my hand. I was kinda stuck until I realised it was a reversing drill.

Not too much blood but there was some other stuff kinda hangng out. Pushed it back in, added a bandaid and continued working.
 
I can't say that I've had any major injuries...yet, other than scratches and small cuts. However, I can share a story I heard about a guy getting his finger pinched by a pneumatic squeezer, resulting in bone damage and ultimately loosing the digit. Since then, I have a lot of respect for the squeezer. You were lucky with your injury, but I imagine it must hurt like ****.
 
Took some bark off the top of my head a couple of days ago

Was running wires down to fuselage on the weekend, on my way out, forgot about the end of the slider centre rail and took a gouge out of the top of my head. After cursing and pressure to stop the bleeding, wrapped the end of the rail up in a rag and tape. Much safer now:D
 
Welcome to the club.
I also drilled into my index finger.

My brilliant move included providing pressure from the inside as well just to get it started, then move finger and finish the drill.
Many holes prior it seemed to take quite a bit to get through the material, and was working well... I had no intention of actually drilling through until that one hole... Doh!
 
Accidents

The building of an experimental airplane requires a blood sacrifice of some degree to appease the aviation Gods. From a slice to a drill bit through a finger to something more. We all have our stories.

RV 14A flying Phase 1
 
Glad you're ok, could have been worse. Also thanks because I thought I got cut working on mine because I didn't know what I was doing. I guess it's a normal thing then :D
 
I learned after my first mishap with drill and finger to use a scrap piece of wood as a holder/backer instead of my finger. Yesterday I was in the hanger and on the 6' ladder to put a big box containing my RV-9A interior up on a high shelf. I was up on the last step before the top and lost my balance. I fell on my wing cradle, right between the two wings thankfully, and an upright 2X4 caught me where no man ever wants to be injured. A good amount pain and some blood, but it could have been worse. I should have been on an 8' ladder.
 
I was working in front of a 6" wire wheel, on a stand mounted bench grinder. One single wire flew up and stuck itself squarely in the end of my nose, sticking straight out like an arrow. I felt the impact, then stood there for a moment, extremely cross-eyed, trying to determine what the blurry thing might be.

Good case for eye protection.
 
Safety Glasses Aren't Perfect

I was using a combo belt/disc sander on a bench. I think I was cleaning up the end of a piece of angle that I had cut on the band saw. I swear I saw that chip the whole way, in slow motion. Off the sander, bouncing off the table, up UNDER my safety glasses and into my right eye.

Managed to drive myself to urgent care, where they flushed out my eye. Said they could see some scaring on my cornea, but have never had an issues with vision before or since.

Stay safe builders!
 
Got to close to the disc on my belt/disc sander reaching for something. Sanded off a bit of my inside forearm. Still have the scar to remind me. Also a friend nearly cut off a finger (18 stitches) getting careless cutting fabric with her sewing disc cutter. I used one a lot cutting fibreglass for layups on the RV. Be careful with them to.
 
My dad

When I was a kid building a model airplane, i was using a push drill. The bit snapped and the remaining bit went through my thumb and was sticking out the other side. I ran to my dad and asked him what to do. Without looking up from his newspaper, my dad said to pull it out and put peroxide on it.
 
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It was noted above that the aviation gods require a blood sacrifice of all builders. True. But we have to consider that jurisdiction may vary, with some of these gods greedier than others. I feel like I may have fallen under one of the more demanding ones...... Yes, I have drilled through my left index finger as well. But I think the most unpleasant injury I had was at the wrong end of an Everhard Porcupine Roller. For those unaware, it is like a mini rolling pin with sharp spikes on the drum - used to perforate bleeder ply for vacuum bagging layups. I was rolling out some aptly named "bleeder ply" with this tool (which always reminded me of some medieval torture device). I happened to be wearing latex gloves (bad idea). On a particularly aggressive roll, the spikes grabbed my glove and sucked my fingers in - leading a significant bloodletting and several lacerations. Fortunately, it all healed up nicely........eventually.

Fortunately, we heal. And learn. All part of the process.....

Procupine Roller Link:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/cata...GmHUFceHPCjN-3wr_gYeDlp84dMrfmPxoCbZAQAvD_BwE
 
Yep....

Drilled a finger (not deep, but its amazing how you know exactly what sized bit you used from the scab that forms), little fingertip burns from soldering, bumped my noggin on angle bracing for the wing stand, and a couple of blood blisters from cleco pliers & poor finger placement.

I can safely say however, that chainsaws do much more damage....(but that all healed up too).
 
Finger trick

Maybe I'm a slow learner.

You guys act like this was a one and done experience. Where are my fellow journeymen who've not stopped after the first whoops?

The longerons were particularly fun. I think I've punctured a digit at least 3 or 4 times. Just did it last week.

Don't judge.
 
I drilled through my finger exactly like this the very first time I used the pneumatic drill on the toolbox practice kit. Luckily it was just a glancing blow but I've since sliced and diced my hands at least half a dozen times and I still haven't started the empennage. I'm so wary of my own clumsiness that I'm looking for a good pair of work gloves that aren't too cumbersome. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
My biggest injury during our -9 build was to the bank account. OUCH! That hurt.

It wasn't until the later -8 project that I got to experience this "drill your finger" thing that I had heard about.
 
I'm so wary of my own clumsiness that I'm looking for a good pair of work gloves that aren't too cumbersome. Anyone have any suggestions?

I used Craftsman brand work gloves sold by Sears. Thin leather on palm side, breathable nylon on back side, snug fit. I think I went thru 2 or 3 pairs. As noted above, they will not stop a #40 bit for more than a tiny fraction of a second.
 
I drilled through my finger exactly like this the very first time I used the pneumatic drill on the toolbox practice kit. Luckily it was just a glancing blow but I've since sliced and diced my hands at least half a dozen times and I still haven't started the empennage. I'm so wary of my own clumsiness that I'm looking for a good pair of work gloves that aren't too cumbersome. Anyone have any suggestions?


I use Petzl K52 Cordex climbing gloves and highly recommend them. They are the only thing I have found that give me the feel for the work, and excellent protection. They are not cheap, but they last a long time.....
 
The real question is what new '4 letter' words did your son learn?

I'm glad to are okay, right now my left hand is healing, I sliced the heal open trying to open an antique seltzer bottle, stuck a stubborn cleko into my poster finger, and some how matched to 'paper cut' my pinky finger on the aluminum.

As I have heard some folks say, as soon as you buy the 'nice to have' toy, pneumatic drill, pneumatic squeezer, the first thing to do is drill through or squeeze your finger just to get it over with.
 
I have drilled into my finger a few times, but never through...ouch

My two worst:

1) Finished cutting a large hole using a fly cutter, decided the leftover circle was good useable scrap. But I couldn't just dump that razor-sharp frisbee in my scrap bin, decided to hit it with the deburr wheel first. Well of course I held it at a bad angle and the wheel launched it across the garage, passing through most of my thumb on the way.

2) My fixture for the wings was double sided with the horizontal supports made out of angle-iron. When I had one wing off, I was doing something over in that area and stood up under the angle and caught my back on the corners of the angle, left two deep scratches all the way down my back, hurt like heck, but not terrible. About 30min later I did the same thing again, but at the opposite angle. Had a big X on my back for a few weeks...haha
 
No, I have never hurt myself while building, I didn't even drill in my finger. It makes me jeaulous of you all lucky guys!
I do remember one day the pneumatic squeezer was lying on the table, and by magic somebody pulled the trigger. It missed my finger but made a beautifull dent in my engagement ring in the form of a partial dimple. Very decorative!
Even my girlfriend loves it. Speaking of her, she did break her small toe kicking a chair during some building discussion. Can't remember we were discussing primers or nosewheel vs tailwheel :D
 
No, I have never hurt myself while building, I didn't even drill in my finger. It makes me jeaulous of you all lucky guys!
I do remember one day the pneumatic squeezer was lying on the table, and by magic somebody pulled the trigger. It missed my finger but made a beautifull dent in my engagement ring in the form of a partial dimple. Very decorative!
Even my girlfriend loves it. Speaking of her, she did break her small toe kicking a chair during some building discussion. Can't remember we were discussing primers or nosewheel vs tailwheel :D

OK I'll be the one to ask. Men in the Netherlands wear engagement rings???:D
 
OK I'll be the one to ask. Men in the Netherlands wear engagement rings???:D

Yep...sort of. It is made of gold anyway. Never got to the stage of marriage, although we are together more than 28 years. 16 Years ago she asked me: "Shall we have kids together?". I am not sure, but I think I misunderstood her at that time, my reply was: "OK, let's do a kit, a 7A."

We have never regret it, both of us.
 
Nose

Yea, the finger drills are quite painful. Fortunately, I haven?t done that one for some time. My head always seems to be a fair target and lack of hair protection doesn?t help. My worst injury was when I was building my -6 way back in the day. The old kits that weren?t match drilled required a substantial floor mounted jig. The jig used two 2x6 vertical boards which held the firewall. The base of those boards were attached to the floor with Bondo. One day I was kneeling down in front of those boards, probably looking for something I dropped on the floor. As I stood up, I twisted to the right. I was a bit too close as I caught one of those boards with the edge of my nose. I heard a distinctive crack during contact. When I inspected my face in front of the bathroom mirror it was quite apparent my nose had relocated to the left side of my face. The end result was nasal reconstruction surgery. That was all and good but even today, my nose still favors the left side of my face.
 
Yep...sort of. It is made of gold anyway. Never got to the stage of marriage, although we are together more than 28 years. 16 Years ago she asked me: "Shall we have kids together?". I am not sure, but I think I misunderstood her at that time, my reply was: "OK, let's do a kit, a 7A."

We have never regret it, both of us.

Always learning here on VAF!! Kids, kits I could understand how you could misinterpret. Although the procedures to make the 2 are vastly different:D. Very nice build site and aircraft you have!! Just to keep with the topic of this post I believe my worst injury was when I first started building and was using the manual pop rivet puller. As the rivet set the tool pinched my abdomen. I bled and it was painful for about 3 days. Still haven't drilled a finger though.
 
Yep...sort of. It is made of gold anyway. Never got to the stage of marriage, although we are together more than 28 years. 16 Years ago she asked me: "Shall we have kids together?". I am not sure, but I think I misunderstood her at that time, my reply was: "OK, let's do a kit, a 7A."

We have never regret it, both of us.



Big mistake.......

Should have been a 7 ;)
 
The interesting thing is when you drill down the line of the nail.... under it, straight down the finger, it doesn't hurt at all.

But when you realise what you have done.....

Then you realise it needs to be withdrawn.....

:confused:

Then when you withdraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhh

Yup, It hurts :mad:
 
Drilling.

I drilled through my left hand middle fingernail....from the underside. Brand new bit, third hole on it, might have been on my third beer of the evening. Still hurt. It bled for three days. My brother in law MD provided me with sage medical advice “all bleeding stops eventually”. It was similar to all the stupid moves you’ve read before. It’s my second airplane, a moments carelessness....shoulda known....and the nine year old in me still thinks is was cool as can be!

I’m pretty happy to not have required professional medical attention yet, at least for the the airplane projects. Rugby and dog toys, that’s another story!
 
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Mine sounds similar to Mike's, though perhaps inverted. Was match-drilling the corner of the baffle inlet ramps. Everything cleceoed together, but holding the corner from the top with the left fingertips, and drilling upwards. Bit went right up the middle of the index finger, just between the nail and the nail-bed.

Seems the delay in pain Mike described was not present when inverted...left hand went straight up, pneumatic drill hit the floor, and my boys learned that Dad spoke several languages that day.

And if you do it just right, it leaves this little perfect tubular tunnel, resulting in the fountain of goof! Sacrifice made!

Cheers,
Bob


The interesting thing is when you drill down the line of the nail.... under it, straight down the finger, it doesn't hurt at all.

But when you realise what you have done.....

Then you realise it needs to be withdrawn.....

:confused:

Then when you withdraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhh

Yup, It hurts :mad:
 
I was drilling the fabric to the carbed airbox snout with a 90 degree air drill with a stubby #30, things slipped and I ended up with the stubby #30 through the quick of my left thumbnail. Luckily I had a pair of pliers handy to back it out as I was temporarily attached the the front of the airplane....
 
I was drilling the fabric to the carbed airbox snout with a 90 degree air drill with a stubby #30, things slipped and I ended up with the stubby #30 through the quick of my left thumbnail. Luckily I had a pair of pliers handy to back it out as I was temporarily attached the the front of the airplane....
 
Most everyone has drilled into a finger. I am surprised that there have been a few exit wounds! Hope I don't join that club.

For those that pine after a high-wing RV, just think of what it is like to walk into the trailing edge of a Cessna 182 wing, with the diamond-shaped stiffening voids in the trailing edge. You have to be about 6 ft to get the full effect. Taller and you just get a lump on your forehead. Shorter, and the trailing edge will just brush your hair. With a Cessna 180, the optimum height is probably more like 5'9".

If you are the right height, you get to find out what a V-shaped trench in your scalp feels like. And it is unbelievable how much blood you have in your scalp.
 
Liver stress..

Aside from the described cuts and contusions that are pretty typical in aircraft maintenance, my liver sustained some abuse during the think,ponder and social brainstorming with neighbors who distracted me..the beer fridge was emptying quicker than the rivet bins on all too many occasions! maybe that's why it took me 15 years to build mine..
 
Injury

Does it have to be sustained while building? I've had the usual drilled fingers, smashed fingers and cuts but the one that I'll never forget was a broken leg.
I broke my Tibia and Fibula slipping off an icey step. Ended up with a 12mm titanium pin from knee to ankle. After a couple weeks recovery, doc put me in a boot and I went back i to the factory building tanks.
 
I've been keeping a tally on the back of my time log for every time I draw blood. I'm somewhere between 5 and 10, but I'm only halfway through the wings...

I'm currently building a 1200 sqft workshop to build my RV in (almost entirely by myself), however, and I've had some good injuries doing that. The title of this is "injuries while building" which doesn't specify airplanes, so I'm counting it. The "best" was right before Christmas, I was attaching the rafters to the ridge beam. I lifted each beam (2" x 8" x 16') into place and against the ridge beam, then used a speed square to square the beam vertically to the ridge. I then blindly reached around the ridge beam with my framing nailer and end nailed the rafter into place. All while standing 12' in the air on a ladder, above the rung you're supposed to stand on.

Well, on one instance I missed the rafter with the nailer and instead hit the framing square that was still in place. The nailer launched the framing square directly at my face at what must have been Mach 2. It hit me directly on the bridge of the nose hard enough that it bent the framing square. So now I'm 12' in the air dangerously high on a ladder, unable to see because my eyes teared up, framing nailer in one hand, the other hand quickly filling with blood. Lucky I didn't fall or break my nose. Then I got to explain my black and blue nose to 100 people over Christmas.

Needless to say I changed my rafter attachment strategy after that.
 
I've been keeping a tally on the back of my time log for every time I draw blood. I'm somewhere between 5 and 10, but I'm only halfway through the wings...

I'm currently building a 1200 sqft workshop to build my RV in (almost entirely by myself), however, and I've had some good injuries doing that. The title of this is "injuries while building" which doesn't specify airplanes, so I'm counting it. The "best" was right before Christmas, I was attaching the rafters to the ridge beam. I lifted each beam (2" x 8" x 16') into place and against the ridge beam, then used a speed square to square the beam vertically to the ridge. I then blindly reached around the ridge beam with my framing nailer and end nailed the rafter into place. All while standing 12' in the air on a ladder, above the rung you're supposed to stand on.

Well, on one instance I missed the rafter with the nailer and instead hit the framing square that was still in place. The nailer launched the framing square directly at my face at what must have been Mach 2. It hit me directly on the bridge of the nose hard enough that it bent the framing square. So now I'm 12' in the air dangerously high on a ladder, unable to see because my eyes teared up, framing nailer in one hand, the other hand quickly filling with blood. Lucky I didn't fall or break my nose. Then I got to explain my black and blue nose to 100 people over Christmas.

Needless to say I changed my rafter attachment strategy after that.

I own a few nail guns. My 3 inch framing gun manual has the warning, ?do not press nail gun against head and pull trigger.? Now I know why they include that warning.
 
I saw a long chip sticking out of a half-drilled hole so I tried to pull it out with my fingers.

If it was an aluminum chip, it would break off. Unfortunately, this time I was drilling through a steel engine mount, and the chip was still firmly attached to the hole. It sliced right through my finger. Ouch.

Chip in question:

5-nasty-steel-chip.jpg
 
Not building but when I was volunteering at a warbird museum learning to turn wrenches I bumped my head on the underwing pylon of the Skyraider and scrambled my inner ear. Things deteroriated until by 5 days later I had vertigo so bad that I rolled over in bed and thought I was going to fall onto the ceiling. Ended up grounded until I was able to go to physical therapy and was diagnosed with BPPV and they were able to reset my inner ear via a series of Eply Manuvers. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vertigo/symptoms-causes/syc-20370055 It turns out that BPPV is not uncommon among the new extreme aerobatic pilots doing heavy duty 3D manuvering.

I got a Special Issuance waiver for a year, when I went back for the recheck there was a shadow on the MRI and they thought I had an inoperable brain aneurysm. A cranial angiogram and a s*** load of paperwork later I was finally back in the 77 cockpit with a very nice letter from the regional FAA aeromedical office congratuling me and wishing me the best of luck. And a warning that if it happened again.... Thank you, ALPA Aeromedical!

Working on the SeaRey one day I accidentally triggered the gear retraction mechanism and almost got my hand caught in the system. There is no override clutch for the electric motor and I would have broken my fingers if I had not been able to stop it very quickly. As it was they were crunched pretty good, luckily I was wearing leather gloves. It was a very close call.
 
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I’ve left my DNA on every plane I’ve built or modified. In fact, if I didn’t draw blood during a work session, it meant I wasn’t trying. I have more stitches on my head than Frankenstein. Fortunately my hair hasn’t fallen out…….yet.
 
A drilled out rivet head on a drill bit makes a dandy miniature buzz saw. It’s amazing how how a few cc’s of blood can make a shop look like a crime scene.
 
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