Rotorway Questions
(Matt Steele)
I'm considering buying one.
What's this I hear about belt driven tail rotors? Comments on safety
anyone.
Also, anyone familiar with the accident reports and stats
Matt
Fred Stewart
I USED to own a Rotorway, If you want to now what makes a Rotorway
tick email me at fste...@mini500.com.
Fred Stewart
Mid-American Helicopter Inc.
http://www.mini500.com
fste...@mini500.com
314-464-7534
R. Gary Allen, M.D.
(Matt Steele) <wep...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<5atgpd$r...@sjx-ixn7.ix.netcom.com>...
> I'm considering buying one.
>
> What's this I hear about belt driven tail rotors? Comments on safety
> anyone.
>
> Also, anyone familiar with the accident reports and stats
>
> Matt
>
I can't give you a copy of the accident report, but I remember one of the
recent fatalities where that tail rotor belt broke, jamming the system and
resulting in the augering-in of the helicopter. I really considered buying
one until I heard about that tail rotor system.
RHCI
Dear Gary and Matt,
If your talking about the Rotorway that crashed in Sacramento, I last
heard that it was not a belt failure. Apparently the pilot/builder
thought the teeter in the tail rotor system needed more travel, so he
modified it and machined away the stops. This allowed the tail rotor to
strike the boom, destroying it and loosing control.
I believe that Rotorway claims to never have had a belt failure if the
system was installed and maintained properly. Again, I have only heard
this.
Dennis Fetters,
Revolution Helicopter Corp.
Mark H. Bowden
On 7 Jan 1997 12:49:49 GMT, wep...@ix.netcom.com((Matt Steele)) wrote:
>I'm considering buying one.
>
>What's this I hear about belt driven tail rotors? Comments on safety
>anyone.
>
>Also, anyone familiar with the accident reports and stats
>
>Matt
I've been reading NTSB accident summaries involving helicopters. I
have yet to run across any tail rotor belt failures in the 120 or so
I've read so far. In small private helicopters, the typical accident
occurs during autorotation or hover practice. Misjudging the height
above water and flying into lakes is another favorite that happens
surprisingly often.
Check out http://www.rotor.com/safety/pars/intro.htm for the latest
summaries involving helicopters.
R. Gary Allen, M.D.
> Dear Gary and Matt,
>
> If your talking about the Rotorway that crashed in Sacramento, I last
> heard that it was not a belt failure. Apparently the pilot/builder
> thought the teeter in the tail rotor system needed more travel, so he
> modified it and machined away the stops. This allowed the tail rotor to
> strike the boom, destroying it and loosing control.
>
> I believe that Rotorway claims to never have had a belt failure if the
> system was installed and maintained properly. Again, I have only heard
> this.
>
> Dennis Fetters,
> Revolution Helicopter Corp.
>
Thanks! I stand corrected.
Gary
EGELSONE
Dennis wrote:
Dennis,
Isn't there some sort of FAA inspection require before flight? Should the
unauthorized mod been caught?
Ed
LghtngHelo
You won't see any accident reports on the Exec because you very rarely
will ever see one with more than break in time on it!!
Tim
RHCI
EGELSONE wrote:
> Dennis,
>
> Isn't there some sort of FAA inspection require before flight? Should the
> unauthorized mod been caught?
Dear Ed,
No, there is no rules that prevent a customer from making modifications
to his kit. The FAA considers that the customer is the Manufacturer.
Although, RHCI makes a contract with each customer that he aggress not
no make modifications that could change the flight characteristics, or
his warranty is void, and we will no longer sell him parts, or service
him in any way. This may seem harsh, but not during those last few
seconds before impact.
Dennis Fetters,
RHCI
b. wood
This seems to be true more often than not. Anyone have an opinion about
this?
Jim Lewis
I used to think that way but now I know from the guys in that local club
that quite a few have lots of cross country hours on them. They just
require a lot of wrenching more often than your factory certified types.
Hey you have to make some sacrifices to enjoy life. As people who fly
know you sometimes sacrifice more than you plan to. Its a risk known to
pilots and builders alike.
--
Just an opinion mindya
Starduster SA-100 O-320E2D
Rally 2B (2B restored)
Ultra-Light helicopter 50% (still)
Using Vortech blades(Adams-Wilson Variant)
Want a Tailwind
le...@pacbell.net
__________|__________
\ \_0_/ /
__\___(_+_)___/__
|/ \|
|...........................|
Jim Lewis
EGELSONE wrote:
>
> Isn't there some sort of FAA inspection require before flight? Should the
> unauthorized mod been caught?
>
> Ed
I don't think so! What is a "unauthorized mod"?
Larry Durocher
Jim Lewis wrote:
>
> b. wood wrote:
> >
> > LghtngHelo wrote:
> > >
> > > You won't see any accident reports on the Exec because you very rarely
> > > will ever see one with more than break in time on it!!
> > >
> > > Tim
> >
> > This seems to be true more often than not. Anyone have an opinion about
> > this?
>
> I used to think that way but now I know from the guys in that local club
> that quite a few have lots of cross country hours on them. They just
> require a lot of wrenching more often than your factory certified types.
> Hey you have to make some sacrifices to enjoy life. As people who fly
> know you sometimes sacrifice more than you plan to. Its a risk known to
> pilots and builders alike.
> Just an opinion mindya
>
> Starduster SA-100 O-320E2D
> Rally 2B (2B restored)
> Ultra-Light helicopter 50% (still)
> Using Vortech blades(Adams-Wilson Variant)
> Want a Tailwind
> le...@pacbell.net
> __________|__________
> \ \_0_/ /
> __\___(_+_)___/__
> |/ \|
accidents-two fatal. Three were a result of a mech/eng. failure.
Probably a much higher accident rate than most certificated helicopters
since they don't fly too much but still not a bad record for a kit
helicopter.