spectra crash new shaft failure

[r/c_outlaw]

waited all morning for Brian ( a well known heli pilot at our field) to get at the field to help me work out some spectra pitch curves and revlock rpms.....first flight was great all seam to be working fine...some small adjustments to the revlock and fresh tank of fuel and we was ready to try it again...about 2 minutes into the flight Brian lost control of the tail and was inverted and coming down too fast to do any kinda save or auto....after a quick look we found that the new tail shaft broke !!!!! I feel helpless to repair it again only to be so scared of the new parts ...just wanted to put a heads up on the new tail shaft...mine broke after only a few non 3D flights...i am just glad nobody was hurt or property damage was done...well i still have my raptor 50

[Freakinflyin]

Sorry to hear that...I caught my new one luckily before it broke and called Tim @ MA and had a long discussion regarding this...rest easy everyone as a new better fix is on the way!!! A whole new shaft with no hole in it! That means a new 7000 series aluminum collar to go on the gear with set screws to hold it on the shaft rather than a roll pin, this should be the end of the problem :D Tim tells me that this is the same type of shaft they have been running in there other gassers for years with no problems!

I've already sent mine in for repair, it should be getting there about the same time as the new shafts and collar get there next week.

Cheers all

[NolanManley]

Sorry for the crash, wild man. :(
Looks like it survived pretty good considering the situation it was in.

At least I know why my gearbox has not been returned yet. ;)

[fitenfyr]

Talked to Chris last week on some Ion questions and he told me about the new collar
He also suggested that I DON'T fly the Spectra I am building till it gets done.
Hopefully they do it soon.

I like MA stuff, but this new tailbox is not high on my "good ideas" list. :D
Then there is the Hatori muffler issue. :D
My Bergen is looking better everyday....course that one had a tail servo go bad for some reason....
Ah heck they are all prone to break huh??? :D

[NolanManley]

Ah heck they are all prone to break huh???


OH yeah, you got that right. :lol:

[psawya]

So what now? It would be nice if MA would post these issues in the product alert on their site. If they have a fix to the fix everyone should be able to go the the product alerts and find out what MA recommends to do.

Should we continue to fly with the new shaft and grey gears or stop flying send the box in again for the set screwed shaft?

[Freakinflyin]

Psawya,

Use your own judgment, personally I would send it in and not risk it! Sounds like he's up to his arse in alligators and he's trying to get this problem solved as quickly a possible for us! I don't want to speak for Tim but his words to me were that he would like to do all the repairs himself just to make sure that I/we all get a properly done factory repaired tail rotor!

One thing I will say to you Psawya, again I don't want to speak for Tim but...being as you are in Korea, maybe he'll send you the shaft and collar to save you time and shipping...? I would give him a call and speak to him about it and the install. Specifically about not to over tighten the set screws onto the shaft, there will be location dimples on the shaft so over-tightening should be avoided!


fitenfyr,

this tail box was one of the reasons I wanted this bird, maintenance free...so it's got a bug, no big deal what heli on the market doesn't , I wish they all had as few as this one... I have confidence MA will sort this out for us ASAP!

Cheers All

[WillJames]

Sorry to see the aftermath Outlaw. Looks like it held up very well in spite of the crash. MA will get this stuff solved. Hang in there, it is a great Heli. John Garst was ringing his out at the Sheep this past weekend, he still has all the original parts including the pushrod and no problems with it so far... He was flying it so hard he stripped a servo gear in flight and was still able to bring it back in one piece.

[NolanManley]

Probley some cheap old Futaba servos. (9252) :twisted: :lol:

[WillJames]

Nope Nolan, not sure which servos but John flys JR. It was the bottom gear that stripped to, not the usual one. We could hear the sound in the blades when it went. John was flying the crap oout of his Spectra! :shock:

It was a great Sat of flying. Weather was great, flying and friends were great to.

[NolanManley]

Glad somebody is getting to WRING one out! :lol:

Wonder if the unusual servo failure was vib related. What control related and mounting location?? ;)

[WillJames]

It was not Vib related. It was 100% THRASH Related. John was cranking onhis Spectra like I have never seen before and it happened on a super fast collective pump durning FFF and a tumble from the best I could follow. You could hear the blades when it went. Did not actually rip teeth off the gear, just bent them over to the side, like 4 or 5 teeth. Definitely not vib related. More like TX operator related. ;)

[fitenfyr]

Parts are the problem right now.
They are waiting on the collars and shafts to come in as of my last conversation..

I can say this.
IF I was building my own Spectra I would order one with the metal Extreme box on it.
I have gallons on mine without any issues. In fact this weekend I had to reset the mesh for the first time since I built it. Took all of 10 minutes at the field.
I don't like the idea of the gears being open to junk, but hey at least you can see it.
Our Bergen is basically the same box and it has no problems.

I'm with Will they will get the parts out soon as they get them. In the mean time the owner of this Spectra and I talked and I will fly it with the box as is, but then again I am not going to be slamming it around either.

[r/c_outlaw]

yeah it does look like not much is wrong in the pic....super size it an you will see the main frame is crack on both sides all the way back to the main shaft....blades, spindle,main shaft, servos, tank and the obvious broke items....even broke the throttle assembly off the carborator and the arm off my digital servo too....already have a list of 23 items that need replaced...the real pain in the but is with the main frames beeing busted up it had to be totaly disassembled for repair..all the way to the last inner spacer..woof as if the first time build wasnt time consumeing...have to clean all the lock tight off and start over...But good news is Tim is provideing parts and says new shafts will be out in about 2 weeks..no more hole....lets hope this is the long term fix....Dam it flys good when its not broke...

[WillJames]

OUCH! Yea the photo did not look that bad. That must have been a hard lick. Glad to hear that MA is standing behind you. Awesome!!

[NolanManley]

CRAP, Sorry dude. That is a big one. :(

[fitenfyr]

Way to step up there MA....
That would have been a $$$$ bounce if not for that. :D

[Fredrik aka. mrNoodles]

Wow another fix on the way... thats it..
Bye bye MA Im selling it..

Sorry about your crash! :(

[Gary O]

I'm not one to throw in the towel on something, usually. I am going to wait and see how the SS header does before I make my final decision on it though. If the header does not make it right then I'm pretty much done with it. I won't be down on MA, just on this one machine. I love my Tempests and plan to stick with MA for as long as I fly. This one has some problems and I think a lot of it is vibration related.

[Awesome]

But good news is Tim is provideing parts and says new shafts will be out in about 2 weeks........

O.K. someone had to point this out "two weeks" :wink: :bomb:

Awesome

[patet]

Anybody has some news about the new shafts?
It is now 2 months I am waiting mine and still have not receive it back yet :arggg:
I know that MA receives it 3-4 weeks ago now.
Maybe my Spectra will fly again for end of summer :shock:
I sent a e-mail last week to MA but they did not reply :!:

[WillJames]

Email is unreliable at best, depending on your provider and theirs.

I would go ahead and fly it if it were mine. WHat motor you running patet?

I am still waiting on QUK parts for my raptor that were sent a week ago last Friday, so I feel your pain.

[patet]

Hello William,

I run the Hanson modified 26cc on my spectra.
The problem is that I do not have my open tail. It has been sent to MA.
I got all the pieces 2 weeks ago to repair my spectra from the crash caused by the tail pushrod and I am still waiting for the open tail.
3 months that I am waiting for repairing it. It is very long :bomb:

[WillJames]

I know they are going to a set screw and no roll pins through the shaft setup for the spectra only. It will be worth the wait for the piece of mind when you get it. Rumours have it the new gears should be in stock very soon, but I have not heard any official word from MA about it.

[patet]

Thank's for info William.
I bought a raptor 50 the time my spectra will be repair.
But it is not the same :(

Patrick