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11-12-2005, 02:55 PM
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Quick save
Averted disaster again yesterday. On my fourth flight of the day I was alone at the flying field and standing in the middle of the field which is something you normally can't do. I was shooting autos from various different angles. Deliberately flying over and near obstacles, (trees, field house, perimeter fence, etc). Its fun to see if you can properly judge where your going to touch down in relation to different perspectives. Well on my fifth or sixth auto the unplanned happened. I had just picked up and flown out to about 150' altitude and turned down wind in prep for setting up the next auto. The engine started to rev and then grab and rev and grab. I instinctively thought I had a gear letting go. Flipped the hold and down I come and settle in nice and soft. Flipped the hold off and give it some juice and nothing. Just the engine revving up. Shut it down and took it back to the work table. Took about 10 seconds to find the trouble. Gears were fine but it spit the grub screw out of the pinion gear and the counter shaft was just spinning happily but no rotor. A 10 cent set screw almost cost a helicopter. If you fly enough these little things will eventually get you it seems? I'm pretty careful about checking these things, especially after a rebuild. But it happens and a person has to be ready at a moments notice to deal with these unplanned failures. Being able to do consistent autos has proven over the years to be the single biggest heli saver for me. Sooner or later everyone will have a flameout or a mechanical glitch and coming down in some type of controlled crash is better than just piling it in. In any case I was glad to just put in a new locktighted screw and I was up and going in 15 min or less. Don't ya just love this hobby? LOL
11-21-2005, 05:23 PM
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RE: Quick save
Absolutely! Not going to set around all day waiting for locktight to cure. Its like watching it rain. 
I view locktight as being the "long term" solution to keeping things together. In the short run its got to be snugged up good in the first place. If a screw immediately falls out after an install, you got far worse problems then what locktight was meant to cure.
I view locktight as being the "long term" solution to keeping things together. In the short run its got to be snugged up good in the first place. If a screw immediately falls out after an install, you got far worse problems then what locktight was meant to cure.
