Today's heli loss...UPDATE

[Whirly-Girl]

Well, I spent almost 60 days waiting for my husband to get home from overseas so that I could get some real flying in (besides my trip to Reno) and I ended up drlling my EB into the ground this afternoon.

Best guess right now is that I lost my T/R pushrod somehow. I was in FF and coming around to transition to hover when I piro'd fast to the right nonstop. After a whole second of that stunned oh crap thought process, I hit throttle hold but had no clue really how to react fast enough. The nose hit first in a slight bank...I'll post pics of the carnage later. I'm disgusted enough right now to just quit helis.

This stinks.

[WayneBrown]

oh no!
Take a deep breath, have a cocktail and a look-see.

[rjflyer]

Whirly-girl, I lost my pushrod during a hover 2 days ago and did not have much damage. I know the feeling, tomorrow it will be back to--
I have to get my parts, I need it by next weekend. I need to fly.
:D

[DebianDog]

I hate the 1 second "oh crap" delay. Sorry :( don't :bawl

[MarkWebber]

Jeanette

Sorry for your loss. :dontknow Just wondering if you had Malorie's velcro pushrod support mod? Sad as it is, the post mortem will help us all.

[peter84]

What is the mod that you refer too?

As for Whirly Girl - we understand, many of us have been there and done that, don't give up this is a greta hobby we sometimes need the 'downs' to fully appreciate the 'ups'.

Safe flying, Peter

[BobbySmith]

Sorry to hear that if makes you feel any better i forgot to put the screw in the servo horn on my new Magnum and reslluted in same issue :arggg: :arggg:

[MarkWebber]

Greg originally showed me this to add a bit of support on my EB. Doesn't need to be tight or it might cause drag on the servo.

[Whirly-Girl]

Yeah, I had the velcro support on. My husband and I are brewing a pot of coffee as I type this and we are going to sit down and do a full investigation. I just don't believe my pushrod popped off. That's going to be one of the first things I check out.

Well, time to get dirty...

Jeanette

[rkeith2]

Chin up - $hit happens...

Let me know if I can help get you back in the air :D

[Whirly-Girl]

Well, 1 cup of coffee later, the investigation is inconclusive.

The gyro operates correctly and is secured, T/R servo works, battery checked out to be 7.48V under a 1A load, receiver works, T/R pushrod fits both balls with one side (servo) being only slightly loose, but it takes considerable force to get it off. I can't see that being the cause and my PM always checks this fit thoroughly.

What else can I check? I don't want this happening again and I'm really starting to doubt my abilities! I don't put cheap equipment in my helicopters and I always babied this thing.

Big picture stuff: canopy is destroyed, front landing skid broke, battery tray broke, lower frames are toast, 1 T/R blade broke, 1 main rotor blade demolished (Hey, I now have one 810mm paddle!), gas tank punctured, vertical fin cracked...of course this probably isn't all but now comes the fun part of checking all this metal. :arggg: Anyone have a methodical way to check out a Bergen?

Here are some pictures:

[Brady Longmore]

Don't give up. I felt the same way when I turfed mine. It gets better.

Any idea what caused it yet?

Good Luck

[spork]

Whirly-Girl,

You do NOT title a thread "Today's Loss" and then start it with "Well, I spent almost 60 days waiting for my husband to get home from overseas..."

Crashing your heli is the best news I could've imagined. Life's good - right? :D

[Whirly-Girl]

Good point spork. I changed the title to reflect that it was a heli loss.

I'm past :bawl ...but I'm still stuck at :dontknow and :arggg: !!!

My husband isn't mad and didn't even jump down my throat when it happened. He was very supportive and even went out into the field to retrieve my mess. He just confessed to me now that he is glad I didn't spike our 9303 down on the paved runway where I was standing. I think we were both in shock.

[spork]

There we go. Now I can sleep easy! :mrgreen:


My husband isn't mad and didn't even jump down my throat when it happened.


C'mon - how lucky could the guy be. Helis are way more fun than shoes, and probably cheaper in the long run. Most guys probably have to make up some story about having an affair or something so they can sneak out to the field. :D

[DebianDog]

This is why you need (at least) 2 helicopters. Just take everything that looks broken off and make a pile. Order and put it back together before you forget.

Now the worse part. The maiden flight after a crash. What did I forget?

[MarkWebber]

Most guys probably have to make up some story about having an affair or something so they can sneak out to the field.


Too funny

The pics don't look as bad as I was expecting. Does the main rotate smoothly> I'd probably pull the main shaft and blade grip spindle to check for straightness. Maybe a dial indicator to check the t/r shaft in place.

But, like you said, the worst part is not knowing the 'why'. If nothing became detatched, that's a tough one. Best of luck, though!

[rkeith2]

Spork -

Thats a good one. To keep mine from finding out I fly helis I told her I play piano in the local cathouse on weekends :oops:

[SeaHawk]

did you look at the gyro and gyro amp connectors? I had one of those connectors come out once. As a result, I now install my radios and other elecdtronic gear so I can check it between each flying day. I would also consider sending the tail servo and gyro amp in just for piece of mind. An op check is cheap insurance. The elecronic stuff is the hardest possilbility to be sure of. The rest is mechanical and you can be very confident that you have eliminated all of that when you reassemble it. Of course, take a very good look at everything inside the tail boom.
The good news is, you can put it back together and it will be as good as new. All of us have gone through your experience.

[Gary Travis]

Whirly
If you lost the tail, I would check that the drive shaft did not slip. Check all the collors on the shaft and allso check that the gear on the tail output drive has not come loose. Sometimes they appear tight when in fact they are not. secure the front of the shaft and try to rotate the tail hub. I have done this in the past myself.
Gary

[MarkWebber]

Good call, Gary.

When I first had mine together, I hadn't drilled into the drive gear shaft quite enough and it would slip. Except, unlike Jeanette, mine gradually lost tail authority.

[Malorie]

Sorry to hear about your crash Jeanette. :(

Being that it piro'd hard right, I would think it was an electronic failure. Sounds like the 401 hard-over issue. I haven't been keeping up with the 401 lately, so I don't know if that could be it.

Did you have the output shaft and metal pitch links oiled?

I know that crashin' stinks, but don't let it get you down. It happens to ALL of us. It is how you repond to the crash that will determine how far you go with the hobby. So dig your heels in and do a good rebuild and approach the next flights with confidence in your building skills.

Things to check for damage and how...

1) Check the tail output shaft. This can be quickly checked in place by puttting a finger on the tail pitch slider and rotating the shaft. If you feel the pitch slider moveing as the shaft turns, the shaft is probably bent.

2) Chech the tail hub. This can be checked by removing it from the tail output shaft with the grips attached. Hold both grips in one hand and spin the hub in the grips. If the grips wobble in relation to eachother, the hub is bent. You can also hold a bladegrip in each hand and put a little sideload on the hub by giving a slight force as if your were trying to bend the hub. If the hub rotates in the grips as you do that, it is bent.

3) Check the tail input shaft. This can be checked easily by sliding the gearbox out of the tailboom and putting a slight bit of sideload on the torque tube connection (like the tail hub, as if you were trying to bend the torque tube) and look for any tendancy to rotate with the pressure.

4) Check the head axle. This can be checked in the bird. Just put a wrench in the bolt and turn the headaxle. Watch the blade grips for any sign of wobbling.

5) Check the mainshaft. Unfortunately, there is only one way I can think to check that. Remove it from the bird and roll it on a piece of clean glass.

6) Check the mainshaft bearings. Once the mainshaft is out, check the mainshaft bearings for any notchyness.

7) Check the head block. Look across the bottom of the headblock. If the sections to both sides of the split aren't lined up, the head is bent. You can also lay a straightedge on the bottom of the head across the split to check this.

Best of luck with the rebuild. We're here if you need us. :hug:
Malorie

[Malorie]

Oh, the boom supports can be repaired by drilling out the broken plastic end and running a 1/4-20 tap in the tube to clean out the last of the plastic. Then you only need the ends instead of the whole set.

Malorie

[Gyan]

I've lost the tail due to the slider binding then the slider tube broke, or the other way around it's kinda hard to tell after the fact. I keep my oiled all the time now, seems to help. So check the pitch slider assembly real good!

[Crjbenny]

Jeanette,
Did you accidentally flip the gyro HH off? If you were in a descent It might create a right piro. :dontknow

I accidentally hit the TH switch in a low hover when I was on the white knuckle sweaty palm learning curve. That's the only reason I ask. It cost me a pair of blades and an ever so slightly bent Main shaft that caused me allot of grief before I found it just as malorie said, by rolling it on the glass table.

Ben Cardon