Bulletins From RotorWay and Beyond

List Of Bulletins from Rotorway International

Secondary Units

Exec 90 A-13

Exec 162F A-34

Exec, Exec 90,162F
A-26

Exec 90, 162F M-11

Exec 90, 162F M-21

Drive Train Inspection

Engine Waterjacket casting cracks

Exec 90 and Exec owners with RI 162 Engine Conversions
A-14

Engine Electrical Grounding Problem

Exec 90 and Ships with Dual Electronic Ignition Systems
A-16

Throttle Mechanism

Exec 90, 162F M-16

Exec 90, 162F M-17

January 24, 05 Exec, Exec 90, 162F A-40

Valve Train

Exec 90
A-18

Fuel System

Exec, Exec 90, 162F
A-24

Carb Ice

Exec, Exec 90
A-33

Main Rotor Blades

Exec, Exec 90 A-15

ALL Exec, Exec 90, 162F A-27

All Exec 90, Exec 162 and Exec and Scorpion owners who purchased asymmetrical rotorblades from Rotorway after 9/90 M-09

Subj:  Rotorblade Delamination
Date: 1/13/01

We had a discussion a while back about rotor blades. We all know that RW tells us the only delamination is the guy in Sri Lanka but... check this out from the NTSB.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
NTSB Identification: FTW93FA002

 The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 48053.
Accident occurred Friday, October 02, 1992 at WIMBERLEY, TX
Aircraft:CLATANOFF ROTORWAY EXEC, registration: N41KC
Injuries: 1 Fatal

 
A PILOT WAS IN CRUISE FLIGHT IN HIS HOMEBUILT HELICOPTER WHEN AN INFLIGHT BREAKUP WAS INITIATED BY THE SKIN DELAMINATION OF ONE OF HIS MAIN ROTOR BLADES. THE DYNAMIC IMBALANCE AND DIVERGENT FLAPPING OF HIS ROTOR SYSTEM CAUSED THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES TO STRIKE THE TAILBOOM AND PORTIONS OF THE AIRFRAME. WITNESSES REPORTED AN EXPLOSION AND INFLIGHT FIRE PRIOR TO THE UNCONTROLLED DESCENT TO THE GROUND. THE WRECKAGE WAS DISPERSED FOR 750 YARDS.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident was:
THE DELAMINATION OF THE SKIN ON A MAIN ROTOR BLADE. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
I think I would take the rotorblade modification seriously.
 
Regards,
Ron Curry

Elastomeric Bearings

Exec, Exec 90, 162F
A-20

Landing Gear

Exec 90
A-17

Tail Rotor

All Exec, Exec 90,  162F A-20

A-21 page 2

All Exec, Exec 90,  162F A-25

All Exec, Exec 90,  162F A-27

Hard Landings and Roll Over Inspection

Avionics Installations

 
All Exec, Exec 90,  162F
A-29

Date	Name	N Number	Swing Arm Type
-	Ron Belliveau	C-FXOA	Factory 1st version
-	Ron Belliveau	C-FXOA	Factory  1st version
-	John Spurling	-	Chromed Factory 1st version
11/99	David Stewert	-	Factory 1st version
4/02	Chris Stevens	N162SP	Factory 2nd Version
-	-	-	-

There have been several clutch swingarm breaks in the past.

The 1st one known of outside of RotorWay to our knowledge is Ronnie's ship in Nova Scotia.

Exec

Factory Swing Arm

Hours

N-

Ronnie Nova Scotia

He said he called RotorWay when it happened and that Tom Smith told him they had a had some failures on the factory ships themselves and they were working on a better part but at the time they didn't have much to offer.

Ronnie has had 2 swingarm breaks

The 2nd
one was on a ship owned by John Spurling during one of Homer Bells fly ins.

11/96 Exec 90

Chromed Factory Swing Arm

---Hours

N-

John Spurling Oklahoma

John didn't think much about it at the time
because the swing arm that was installed on the ship
was chromed by the previous owner
which we all know is a dumb thing to do to a working structural part.

The 3rd
one belonged to a fellow named David Stewart in Texas.

 
I may be wrong but I think David's broke at the frame mount.

11/99

30mm spherical

---Hours

N-

David Stewart Texas

As time went on more ships began having this same trouble.

RotorWay, while not actually admitting there was a problem with the swing arms came out with an upgraded swing arm. But that swing arm didn't seem to solve the problem.

The latest finger pointing (Nov 2001) is directed toward John Spurling's Pro Drive Electric Clutch but that's going to be a pretty difficult item to nail down due to the fact that almost every ship out there flying has one installed on it.

Somehow folks are forgot this problem arose long ago and with factory setups before the Pro Drive Clutch was even thought of much less installed on anyones ships. Until someone takes the time and effort to hunt down and database the issue fact is it's all hearsay so Donna and I are in running in wait and see mode until it happens.

 There are all kinds of opinions going around and the only substantial information thus far to come of any of it is that the swing arms from RotorWay are made in a manner that allows them to easily fatigue. When there welded together at the Rotorway factory they weld it together in random steps that allows the welds and parts of the metal cool at different rates. At the end of that process its considered finished and put on the parts shelf ready for shipping. They omit a process that could make a substantial difference on the swingarm called Normalizing. That's a heat treating process that when (from what I gather) the complete arm is brought up to a certain temperature and then allowed to cool at a controlled rate.  There's also what they call an MR factor to be considered which is a measurement for the hardness of the metal being used.

John Spurling at Pro-Drive  addressed this problem and come up with what he feels is the best swingarm possible meaning its manufactured as good as it can be.

Its made from the correct metal, welded in the best format possible and at the end of that process its normalized under the proper conditions. Only time will tell if its a fix for sure but what we do know is John has made every effort possible so were putting our faith in him and his product.

There's alot more to this seemly simple item
and the best anyone can do is take a serious look at everyone's products with an open mind and
take YOUR best shot.

4/02 Exec 162F

Factory 2nd Version Swing Arm

30 Hours

N-

Chris Stevens

While at Sun 'N Fun in 2002 a ship owned by Chris Stevens from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
had one of RotorWays new improved swing arms fail during the fly in.

It had just under 30 hours on it and the fact that it and the entire drive train was correctly installed and aligned pointed the finger directly at the swing arm.

On June 2nd of 2002 we installed one of Pro-Drives new swingarms.

Pro-Drive Swing Arm

Cost $300

For more information contact:
John Spurling, Pres.
Route 3, Box 12 C
Cleveland, OK 74020, USA
Tel. (918) 243-7635
Fax: (918) 243-7882
Email:  flyapro@aol.com

https://www.flyapro.com

Last Update Feb 6th  2005

END

From: Orv  (Original Message) Sent: 8/12/2004 7:02 PM

This is a warning to all 162F builders and flyers.

Check your systems out to be sure that this condition does not exist on your helicopter.  Since I fly so many Rotorway helicopters in the course of training students in their own ships, I run accross a lot of problems that otherwise would most likely go unreported. I hope that this report is helpful to others with the same wiring configuration. A recent student and I were training in his 162f when we lost both FADEC computers, both ignitions, and both fuel pumps. The instrument panel just went out as did the engine. I had always thought that the 162F had redundant wiring to all critical systems but there is a flaw in the way it is wired (I hope that this is an isolated case and not standard from the factory) and unfortunately or fortunately we found it. The problem surfaced when one of the wires in his wire harness shorted out against a piece of metal as it ran along the frame. I often see wiring strapped to the aircraft frame and emphatically suggest that the student take the time to provide proper insulated stand offs to keep all wiring away from anything that it can short against. This helicopter's wiring was well done except for the fact that it was strapped to the frame. From now on I will not fly with wiring strapped directly to the frame, we will take the time to properly route it prior to any flights. There is one wire on the 162f that is so critical that the way it is wired allows one single short in that wire to take out the entire primary and back up engine systems. This wire is the one that comes off the positive side of the alternator, through a 30 amp fuse, then runs along the frame up to the overhead fuse panel.  It first goes to a (30 amp)battery fuse, then to Ignition 2 fuse, loops to Ignition 1 fuse, then to then to FADEC 2 fuse, and finally loops to FADEC 1 fuse, the final loop is back up to the second battery fuse(also 30 amp).  If you look at this routing you can see what happened. The short in this one wire blew all three 30 amp fuses which shut down all power to both FADEC computers, both ignitions, and even both fuel pumps went off. No power could get through the 2 blown 30 amp battery fuses or the blown 30 amp alternator fuse so it was like turning off all of the switches at once, no primary system and no back-up system to take over!!!  Once we found the problem we re-wired the fuse panel and provided a second 30 amp wire and fuse from the alternator to the Battery fuse. We then wired the fuse panel so that one 30 amp wire from the alternator goes to one battery fuse, then to Fadec 1 and Ignition 1 fuses. The other one goes from the alternator through it's own 30 amp fuse then to the second 30 amp battery fuse and then loops to the Fadec 2 and Ignition 2 fuses.  We separated the  systems so that any failure of one system would not pull the second system down also.  On this trip I soloed 2 more students and we had a blast except for the unexpected engine failure. The problem is now fixed on his helicopter and it is flying superbly.

 Don't let this electrical failure happen to you, check out your wiring.

 Be safe and fly happy.
 Orv Neisingh Helicopter CFI
osn@wpcs.net
www.whitedoveaviation.us

Acording to Orv Neisingh in his above post

 This has went way past the maybe stage on more then one occasion in his experences so it isn't something to take lightly and needs to adressed.

Orv has contacted the Rotorway factory and said he's is waiting for a responce from them, that was approximately July/04.   When and if they every do I'll post the answer here and in the bulletins from Rotorway and Beyond section.  Until they do it looks like we're on our own to decide weather to ride with it as is or take it in our own hands and take our best shot at it.

This is the current Rotorway wiring for the upper instrument panel

It's being said that it isn't wired correctly because if the wire coming from the alternator on "Plug 2 / wire 12" shorts that it will blow the fuse at the alternator plus blow out Fuse 7 and 8. This completely knocks out not only fadec 1 and 2 but it also both Ignition 1 and 2 plus Fuel pumps 1 and 2 since they're all powered by the same circuit.

Personely I never looked how it was wired before this and from what I'm seeing there is no seperation at all for the two seperate fadec ignition systems because there both powered by two seperately fused lines plus the alternator line that is ran ahead of the two main fuses which makes them the two fuses  "7 & 8 "ahead of it pretty usless as far as I can see.

Personely I can't understand why theres a feed directly from the alternator up there at all.  I asked Orv about it and he said he thought that if current was totaly lost from the battery it's self,  the alternator could run the ship on its own and get you back on the ground.

 
Thats a good theory but I feel the same thing can be accomplished by just leaving the alternator wire out of the overhead panel compleatly and just have the one existing line that already runs from the alternator to the battery.  Both existing lines to the overhead would have to have a major issue for them to loose power and the alternator wire joins the pair at the battery post already,  the only difference I can see is the lenght of wire running to the overhead wouldn't be there taking up space.  The hang up I have about doing this is the way Rotorway has the alternator ran in on the side of the fuse that makes it non fused up there.
Perhaps its a safty thing and they have a very good hard learned reason for it.

This is the solution Orv came up with as best as I can figure from his post about it on RotorwayFun/MSN and in a conversaition with him on the phone November 15th 04.

From: Orv Neisingh 

8/12/2002 

  Warning to all RotorWay flying pilots

Recently I have flown several RotorWay helicopters with backside idlers. The idea is good in that they help reduce the vibration from main drive belt resonance during run-up and low or power off conditions. I have one on mine and it has worked great for several hundred hours.

The last three installations that I have seen have the back side idler actually intruding past the tangent line that runs from the outside circumference of the secondary to the outside circumference of the main engine belt drive pulley.

This means that with the belts under tension by the engagement of the clutch, the idler actually forces all four drive belts to bend inwards toward the center of the helicopter and then back out to travel around the engine drive pulley.  As the engine fires each cylinder there is a power stroke that pulls the main drive belts around their intended path.  At full power there are over 8,000 power strokes per minute transferred to the main drive belts and into the secondary drive.

The backside IDLER should be just that, an IDLER that sits back from the belts and only engages them when they begin to resonate or vibrate from their intended straight path while traveling from the secondary pulley to the engine drive pulley.

On the last 3 installations that I have viewed on my students helicopters the backside idler intruded past the tangent line by approximately 5/16" and thereby were in constant tension against the belts. Each power pulse of the engine would apply outward pressure against the idler forcing it toward the frame tube that the idler is attached to. The frame on your helicopter was never designed to carry that load!!!!

My concern was that the frame of the RotorWay was not engineered to withstand these lateral power pulses and was subject to metal fatigue. I just yesterday returned from a flight instruction trip where the helicopter had this same backside idler condition present.  I voiced my concerns to the owner/builder and said that we needed to closely monitor the installation. This helicopter had around 75 hours of flight time on it with no problems when I arrived.  After 6 hours of flight instruction and during our post-flight inspection we noticed that the clutch pivot arm bracket support had broken. I told my student that I suspected the back side idler as the cause but he felt that it may have been due to trailering the helicopter.

We spent the entire next day tearing the helicopter down to the point that we could get to and safely repair the cracked bracket, this cost us a full day of planned flight instruction that was wasted as well as the lost time he took from his work. Once repaired and the rest of the frame closely inspected we planned to fly the next day. After only 2 hours of flight instruction the following day we discovered that the 1" frame tube itself had cracked at the point where it intersects the square drive tube that the lower secondary bearing attaches to.  This crack had traveled about 350 degrees around the circumference of the frame tube.  It did not show up initially most likely due to the tendency of the powder coat finish on the frame not cracking while the metal fractured beneath it.

This again required that we tear the helicopter down to get access to the frame for welding and cost us another full day of flight training while we worked on and repaired the helicopter. This was a very expensive idler in that it cost him two full days off from his work, my time, and frustration that his helicopter was falling apart on him.

Here is a photo of the idler with the frame tube crack to give a perspective on the location.

The backside idler was removed and we flew another 20 hours in the next 4 days with no further problems at all with the helicopter.  If you have a backside idler, take notice of this and take appropriate action before this happens to you while in flight. The RotorWay as designed is a very reliable helicopter. Nearly all of the failures that I have experienced I'm my students helicopters have been from building errors, or associated with after-market items. There are a number of proven after-market products available. Should you decide to install one of them, just be sure that you are aware of their safety history and that they are installed correctly.

Be careful
Orv Neisingh
R/H CFI

On a recent flight instructing trip last month my students 162F started running extrememly rich and started missing due to carbon fouling the spark plugs.

We had flown for 6 hours with no problem. It started raining and as we were getting ready to head back to the hangar the engine started to miss. We decided to park it where were were and cover it up as it was missing quite severely.
After the rain quit we towed the helicopter back to the hangar and dried it out thinking that water had gotten into a connection causing an eratic reading.
 
We tried everything that we could think of including unplugging and replugging all connections, removing the computers and reversing them, ect. Several calls to the factory were not helpful in solving the problem. No matter what we tried the spark plugs would foul within 10 minutes of engine start.
 
It turned out that the water temp sensor had failed and was giving the FADEC computers a reading of -49deg. C. The computers then apparently ran the engine rich until it warmed up but the temp sensor never indicated a warm up so the rich condition continued resulting in the spark plugs fouling.

 
When the water temp sensor was unplugged the engine would continue to run without fouling the plugs. A new sensor was ordered and the engine ran fine after that. Rotorway personell stated that they had not seen this happen before so I thought that I would post this in case anyone experienced the same problem, it might save you a few days of frustration.
 
Orv 

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