Main Rotor Blade Straps

This part wasn't so easy and took a very long time

At this point we were just about to quit while we were ahead and call Homer

We finished the straps out grinding all 4 together so they were the same size and then filed the edges until we had them looking factory made. Next was sanding the blocks to the spec RotorWay called for.

While I was at Homer's Fly In that year, Homer said to make them a tad thicker than RotorWay called for because the wood will compress a bit when you bolt it all together. When we got that all done it was time to ream out the factory holes to match the holes in the straps. We used a level like the book said to set the distance from the leading edge to the center of the big bolt, using the bearing blocks to hold the position while we did it. Next we reamed the holes out. After that it was time to paint and then glue them to the blades with blade glue.

Now this part is where I screwed up.

I glued the straps on not using the level and bearing blocks to hold tension like I did when I reamed the holes out. This made the blades a little off center which I was pretty concerned about until I found out all you do is change the sweep of the blades a bit. Luckily they were both off the same amount and off by such a small amount it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Be sure when you glue your blade straps on
that you use the same method you did when you set them up and you can avoid this all together,
you may not be as lucky as we were.  

Tools! Tools! Tools!

Gotta Have Em!

END