So this Happened Yesterday - Mid Flite Nose Blender

endfim72

New member
Memorial Day, free afternoon, beautiful weather, and a box full of charged batteries. This is going to be great! I pull into a vertical and make it about two hundred feet up, and I hear a WHOMP! One of my wheels on my landing gear goes flying off, and my motor and prop appear to be dangling by a thread. I do manage to get a handle of the new flight characteristics just in time to land and mostly save the plane. Here's what happened mid flight.
IMG_2746.JPG
The prop, turned blender, definitely rearranged the nose and somehow sent a now lost wheel flying off my landing gear.
Lesson learned: I distinctly remember running out of reinforced packing tape when building this powerpod. I figured the regular tape would be enough for this powerful motor if I put in some extra layers.

NTM 35-36 (one) - Packing tape (zero)
FACEPALM!

EDIT: Added a video and some thoughts on why this occured in a post below
 
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Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
I always use regular tape but usually a few layers. I did have something similar happen on my bloody baron. The pod and battery landing in one place, the motor and firewall completely separated and landed somewhere else, and the body drifted down in a 3rd location. It all landed in a tall alfalfa field. I found the battery and plane right away but I didn't find the motor until the next week after the field was mowed. The motor has a bent mount but everything else was good.
 

endfim72

New member
Cut the tape? I think not!

So, after a little experimenting, I've got an idea. Take a look at the video. I've never had any such issues out of my smaller motor. Just this one time, so I don't think it will be a problem for a typical FT powerplant. It's a big motor, and I'm performing a lot of punch outs with it learning to fly 3D. That's putting a lot of stress on the joint. Not to mention a rough landing or two along the way.

I grabbed some tape and did a little experimenting. I typically cut the tape where I demonstrate in the video. I'll do something different from now on.

 

endfim72

New member
That stinks! I have had motor mounts pull out on many a flight. Not fun!

I did have something similar happen on my bloody baron. The pod and battery landing in one place, the motor and firewall completely separated and landed somewhere else, and the body drifted down in a 3rd location.


So maybe it's not necessarily the big motor. The more I think about it the more I am convincing myself that the cut in the tape is a serious error. It's not hard to imagine that, with all the vibration and forces, a tear in the tape beginning to translate it's way to a crash. Even with multiple layers. I usually wrap that pretty tight too putting some tension in that location.