Broke my belt yesterday :(

[spootman]

Thirty seconds into my first pack yesterday heard a strange noise and started to bring it back in and then I lost the tail. Hit the throttle hold but couldn't save it. Toasted my blades, landing gear, main shaft, feathering shaft, flybar, r. tail plate and 1/2 battery .

[Corvette & Copter Guy]

How tight did you have the belt?

[dauste]

I check my belt tension every time I fly now. I don't need to adjust it every time, just check!

I've found it most loose if it's hot in the back of the car on the way to the field, but a cool day out. The boom expands a surprising amount in the heat.

Sorry to hear you couldn't get it down in time.

[ShankBones]

Ahh Man !! , It kills me to see this happen Spootman. I hope you can get'r put back together soon.

This belt issue was my only concern and delay in purchasing the Furion 6. I saw this happen to flyer back in March when I first seen the Furion in action. Since his belt incident, he has not had a single belt issue. He says that now he tightens the belt more than usual.

I even open a topic on the issue here on HF somewhere. There has been a few others with the same belt issue.

On the other hand, I called Miniature Aircraft about this and they claim not have been an issue at all with the tail belt and could have been an isolated case. They recommend not to adjust tension on the belt no more and or no less than you would a normal belt driven system.....So which one is it?

I'm not afraid of crashing, what I fear is when something can let loose (Like the Belt) at the wrong time and hurt someone. Now I just hope and pray that I haven't made a mistake on this heli.

Good luck and a speed recovery.

[RobertAbles]

They first Furion 6 I flew to get an idea of how the machine flies, the belt broke 3 minutes into the flight and crashed. It looked exactly like the pics above.

Several of the MA team guys can attest to the fact that you run the belt "banjo string" tight, and you won't have issues.

Keep it tight and replace at the first sign of wear and you should be good..

[ShankBones]

"Banjo String Tight" I like that!

The buddy that had the tail belt issues said it a different way "You tighten the living **** out of it!!". Since then, he has not had a single problem with it in 8 months and hundreds of flights later.

Looks to be the same remedy that seems to work. That's what I'll be doing as well.

[dpelletier]

@spoot... that sucks man! Where you at Holden over the bowl?

[DominicD]

While I don't have a MA bird atm I can attest to the fact that most belted helis need to run a pretty tight belt. The reason they usually fail is because they are too loose. Imagine what happens if the belt is so loose that during the flight the belt inside the boom flexes inwards enough for the teeth to engage eachother !

[spootman]

Thanks for the words everyone. I did run my belt on the tight side as I have read about this issue before. I believe it to be a coincidence or perhaps their supplier had a bad batch. When it happened, it was practically in a hover, after I hit the TH it had a slow rotation the whole way down. If it was in one orientation I think I could of saved it but I am still learning slow piros'.

One thing I'm going to change, is how my batteries are seccured. When it hit the strap holding my packs snapped and the top pack hit one of the thumb screws putting a few holes in it. From now on, I'm going to make sure the edges of the battery plate (where the straps run through) are nice and round and use at least two beefy straps.

[spootman]

Originally Posted by dpelletier

@spoot... that sucks man! Where you at Holden over the bowl?

Yep, even if I auto'd it in, I would have had some damage. When it hit, it was sideways on the hill and it definitely would have tipped.

[dpelletier]

You'll be backup in no time.

I haven't even finished putting mine together sooooo sloooooowwwwww!

[spootman]

Geez, still not done, gotta let me know when your gonna maiden it. Just put the order in, $150 with blades, not too bad. I wish the battery plates had a set of holes on each end instead of the one in the middle. Probably going to have to make some.

[dpelletier]

Originally Posted by spootman

gotta let me know when your gonna maiden it.

Oh you better believe I'll let you know, especially since its partly your fault I bought a Furion 6 by virtue of showing me yours! So when its time to you mine...

[Ace4]

Originally Posted by spootman

One thing I'm going to change, is how my batteries are seccured. When it hit the strap holding my packs snapped and the top pack hit one of the thumb screws putting a few holes in it. From now on, I'm going to make sure the edges of the battery plate (where the straps run through) are nice and round and use at least two beefy straps.

Are you running 2 strips of velcro on the bottom of each pack to the battery plate in addition to the strap?

[spootman]

Yes, two strips on each side with one strap around the bunch.

[spootman]

Finally back in the air again!!! Feels silky smooth again, almost like nothing ever happened. I did take the opportunity while it was down to give the edges of the battery plates a good sanding and I also upgraded my battery straps to something beefier.

[dpelletier]

I'll say those straps look beefier!

[Joe Bailey]

I was surprised how good the prices were when my 55 went in, cost me £140 including new blades, my 450 pro cost me £90 after it's first smack.

Joe

[heli21]

Where did you get those straps?

Rob

[spootman]

Originally Posted by heli21

Where did you get those straps?

Rob

Made them myself.