Stuff that wears out on a Pantera

[Mr.HillBilly]

I have LawnDarted my Pantera on more than a few times here is a good example (radio problems)

and I have only cracked 1 frame side in the last 3 years.

I have snapped the landing gear but never the mounts on the frame, something you can do to is use tiewraps on the landing gear so it takes some of the impact out of them, never trashed a swash due to a crash yet. I

On the above crash this is what I broke and I had the gear bolted on also.

Radio Tray
One Landing Gear strut
Main Shaft
Main Shaft Bearing one
Upper Mixing Arm
Mixing Arm to Grip Linkage
Tail Tube
Tail Support Rod one
Feather Shaft
Canopy with Windscreen
Fuel Tank mount rubbers two
Bent FlyBar

Blades
Mulit Gov. is toast
RX needs sent in for antenna replacement and check
some fuel tubing.

I have a Century Hawk but it did not hold up this well when I went in, it did not do too bad but I think the Pantera takes a harder beating.

The thing I see a good bit of wear on is the tail slider ring, but when it gets some slop you take it off and flip it over and use it again.

[rotormasher]

Well here we go,the other day got to the field and started having problems with engine tune( trying to go lean and overeving), after a close look wilst hovering I could see huge amounts of foaming and bubbles building inside my heathear tank...
Time to call it a day, I could tell that some how it was letting air into main tank from a split clunk line.

The problem and the rason am posting is that after removing the tank and the rubber it jsut felt apart on the inside bit that is away from view! I was really surprised has I have been flying planes for many years and never seen this. Any ideias?

Please advise.

[jbeech]

For rotornasher - you make a valid observation vis-a-vis deterioration of fuel tubing within the fuel tank in model helis versus model airplanes. Our supplied tubing is very thin and flexible but requires higher, e.g. frequent maintenace schedule of replacement, which is why I include a Pro Tip about using commercial grade fuel tubing (as available at hobby shops) instead because while more finicky to install (since it's thicker it also stiffer, e.g. less flexible so overall length becomes more critical to ensure the clunk follows the fuel and can completely empty the tank), it's also more durable. I wish I had a better answer.

For edd211 - Scott, I respect your viewpoint about the durability of the side frames where you express a desire for them to be thicker in places, specifically where the landing gear attaches. However in reviewing replacement sales of side frames, these continue to be something we don't sell many of (we now have several years of data), which leads us to think we have achieved a pretty good balance between durablity and strength. After all, we could make it from a soilid block of material so strong you could run it over with a truck as one extreme. Could it be you had a freak happenstance of breakage, which most other customers haven't experienced? I suspect the answer is yes based on two things, first the sales data for replacement side frames, and second, the anecdotal evidence of customer experience. With respect to this, if you poke around the forums, you will not find many people (I'd say any except you've expressed some disatisfaction) complaining about side frames being weak. In my experience, one data point is insufficient to draw too many conclusions but nevertheless, I will keep your thoughtful post in the back of my mind when next I revise the side frames. Thanks for taking time to share your observations.

[rotormasher]

Hi Mr Beech,

Thanks for your imput on this, it really is a bless to have the person that is behind the Panteras design to come in here and try to help with our issues.

I did not make my point across too well on my last post, sorry- what I was trying to point out was the blue bit of rubber that seals on the tank hole, the inside of it was really crumbly and just came apart has I pulled it out. The clunk line was still from factory has the kits that were sold here in the UK were pre assembled, I knew that it was just a case of when other than why...

Thanks for the insight.

Marco

[crash.n.dash05]

thats not fair... the UK's are prebuilt... hum.... I'll pre build em for ya John, but then that would make em $600 a kit lol

[rotormasher]

Originally Posted by crash.n.dash05

thats not fair... the UK's are prebuilt... hum.... I'll pre build em for ya John, but then that would make em $600 a kit lol

Well, they were... No longer for sale here! The people that use to sell then stopped. Shame. I bought one new, it was the last one in stock!!! And now I managed to find another 2 on ebay for next to nothing, ready built- love it when I need a new head or something its all built, they also use to come with the pro pipe and a set of wood blades! Have one that cost me only £35 of a guy from ebay!

Love the pantera.