by G-ATLO » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:56 am
Hi All
The forum has gone quiet because some dickhead in New Zealand didn't change his hard Dampers, ripped his blade and grounded everyone else due to the over reaction of the FAA and the (seen to be doing something syndrome).On reading back the FAA comments I find they took absolutely no notice of any owners comments. This damage occurs due to fast starts or Hard dampers which harden with age.It is so well known that the UK importer in the 1970s BEAS had a minor mod drawn up to place a doubler around the affected area at the blade root because the students used to occasionally fast start their Brantlys .I believe they would also charge for damaged blades.It clearly says in the flight manual start with the Rotor brake on to avoid an over prime ,quick engine start, quick clutch engagement ,quick blade engagement .The energy has to be lost somewhere and that is the Damper or its attachment point.If the Damper is hard then its relatively immovable so the energy goes to the attachment and creases the blade. Nothing to do with bloody Glue and Bonding, simple laws of physics and poor Airmanship or maintenance. Rant over unfortunately when I need new blades so is my Brantly.