nappy99

My raptor 50 tail belt broke (expolded) in mid flight, see photos. What would cause this ? Only 4 gallons of fuel on it, and was recently adjusted (tightened) in the last 2 flights. I was just about to land, starting to spool down, then BANG, like a gun shot, peices everywhere ! Was my rotor speed to high, belt to tight ??

Druss

could be all those, did you lubricate the belt to keep it supple? or was it pretty dry and stiff?

nappy99

upon closer examination of the carniage, I think I had a really bad boom strike, the main blade hit the boom, bent it, then the belt jamed, and kaboom. Looks like my landing skills may the the problem

rcjon

I haven't heard of lubricating or treating the belt before.

badazzbusa

My Feedback: (1)

So did it break in mid flight or did you have a boom strike? I'm guessing boom strike and you left out that bit of rough landing info in the first post.

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

i can clearly see in the second pic where the boom strike happened... :-)

qwerty3

The belt does NOT need to be especially tight. My personal method is to lightly press on the belt with a finger between the mainshaft pulley and the frame - it should 'give' a little bit. As long as the belt doesn't 'catch' on itself, it is tight enough.
The only time I've broken a tail belt was in a crash, where I whacked the tail pretty hard.

1chibear

As far as lubing a belt, I read on the HeliFreak website a gent by the name of finless Bob uses food grade silicone to lube the belt. This guy has got his stuff together and goes the extra distance to help noob's, (like me) as well as seasoned pro's. Check the website when time permits!

Slingblade

archiebald

I have always lubricated my belt with tri-flow.

Especially on a new belt, there is a lot of resistance on the teeth of the main pulley. Autorotations are much easier with lube.