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Spinewrecker · 07-02-2022, 08:59 PM

Here is a psa based on an experience I had today. I was at field and flying. Had my goblin 500 out for a few flights. Did a preflight before first lift off, all was well. Lifted off, first minute of flight was good too. 2 minutes in, something started to seem strange but I couldn’t put a finger on what. I landed and took off once more, seemed fine for 10 seconds then had a bad feeling, so I landed, pulled blades and did a bench run up. Seemed fine so I shut it down and did an ‘enhanced’ preflight check. Nothing turned up so I started pulling on every link, and one of my linkage rods pulled out of its ball end. I was extremely glad to find that on the ground since it was linkage for one of the main blade grips!

The psa from this is know how your heli sounds and behaves normally, do a good preflight check, and if you notice a change in flight, land and investigate. In my case, I can’t even put a finger on what caused me to land and check. This may have gone a few more flights before failing, but instead of a potential big crash and repair, I’ll replace $10 worth of ball link ends (will change all on the heli since they’re now suspect). Will be a good chance for a mid season deeper inspection while at it.

Thumbsy · 07-03-2022, 01:15 AM

Great catch!

Rob43 · 07-19-2022, 03:32 PM

Thanks for sharing. Good reminder. We get conditioned to trust the things we normally inspect as sufficient. But there are always things we overlook

sprzout · 08-29-2022, 10:14 AM

As a newbie to helis, let me ask:

What should we be doing as a preflight check?

I know that I need to check that all surfaces are moving in the correct orientation, but I'm finding that I can't do ALL of that on my heli compared to some of the larger ones.

For example, the Goblins and Align 500s that I saw at the field yesterday all had tail rotor assemblies that operated from a servo arm that rotated the tail blades. My Goosky S2, however, is direct drive on the tail, and has no ability to rotate the tail blades, so I can't really test that until it's out on the pad/in the air, short of doing something colossally stupid, like holding on to the bottom of the heli and checking thrust from the tail boom with blades spinning...

So, in the interest of safety, what would be a GOOD preflight checklist to go through so that I don't have to worry about something coming towards me like a flying guillotine?

07-02-2022, 08:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
Spinewrecker Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2011	PSA: good preflight and mid flight checks Here is a psa based on an experience I had today. I was at field and flying. Had my goblin 500 out for a few flights. Did a preflight before first lift off, all was well. Lifted off, first minute of flight was good too. 2 minutes in, something started to seem strange but I couldn’t put a finger on what. I landed and took off once more, seemed fine for 10 seconds then had a bad feeling, so I landed, pulled blades and did a bench run up. Seemed fine so I shut it down and did an ‘enhanced’ preflight check. Nothing turned up so I started pulling on every link, and one of my linkage rods pulled out of its ball end. I was extremely glad to find that on the ground since it was linkage for one of the main blade grips! The psa from this is know how your heli sounds and behaves normally, do a good preflight check, and if you notice a change in flight, land and investigate. In my case, I can’t even put a finger on what caused me to land and check. This may have gone a few more flights before failing, but instead of a potential big crash and repair, I’ll replace $10 worth of ball link ends (will change all on the heli since they’re now suspect). Will be a good chance for a mid season deeper inspection while at it. 3D Dave, bmwgofast, tsoebirk and 1 others like this. __________________ Logo 200, Oxy 3, Oxy 4 max, Goblin 500, Goblin 570, Logo 600, Logo 700, Raw 700 (building) Vcontrol with vbar neos

07-19-2022, 03:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
Rob43 Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Midland, Michigan	Thanks for sharing. Good reminder. We get conditioned to trust the things we normally inspect as sufficient. But there are always things we overlook 3D Dave and Egroeg like this. __________________ = Rb43 =

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07-03-2022, 01:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
Thumbsy Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: LaLaland Calif.	Great catch!

08-29-2022, 10:14 AM	#4 (permalink)
sprzout Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2022 Location: Vista	As a newbie to helis, let me ask: What should we be doing as a preflight check? I know that I need to check that all surfaces are moving in the correct orientation, but I'm finding that I can't do ALL of that on my heli compared to some of the larger ones. For example, the Goblins and Align 500s that I saw at the field yesterday all had tail rotor assemblies that operated from a servo arm that rotated the tail blades. My Goosky S2, however, is direct drive on the tail, and has no ability to rotate the tail blades, so I can't really test that until it's out on the pad/in the air, short of doing something colossally stupid, like holding on to the bottom of the heli and checking thrust from the tail boom with blades spinning... So, in the interest of safety, what would be a GOOD preflight checklist to go through so that I don't have to worry about something coming towards me like a flying guillotine?

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