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Crashed? Discussion and Photos > Fury Fires, is it normal or unique?
 
 
Ken B
Elite Veteran
Location: Phoenix, AZ

First off let me start by saying that I am NOT trying to start a flaming war nor am I trying to be cute by associating Fury's and fire.

I am serious on this discussion and have noted some things. In the past 2 years I have been flying these machines I never heard of some ones machine burning to a crisp. Well then the Fury came along.

I have heard of 3 machines burned to the ground, seen pictures of 2. I also came very close to loosing my Fury in a similar manner.

The apparent cause has been the clutch on at least 2 of the machines. Well that’s what has been posted anyway. I don’t know enough about the other to speak on it. I had my clutch assembly melt down and smolder as well. Fortunately I was able to realize the situation and never had it burn up.

From what I can tell the clutch lining has a tendency to melt down and under heat it can catch fire. I could be mistaken and the aluminum bell is melting down and burning too.

This is an area that Min Air might consider reworking to prevent such catastrophic loss of machines. It’s bad enough to crash but it doesn’t help to have it burn to a crisp too.

I have included pictures of MY clutch all discolored from heat. I am also showing pictures I found on RunRyder to show the results.

In the mean time I think I will always have a small fire extinguisher with me at the field.

Lastly, I could be 100% off base on this. My lack of experience in Helicopters burning up has allot to do with it Just some observations I have made.








Ken B
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
mongo
Veteran
Location: Midland, Republic of TEXAS

it does make ya wonder what is up. maby the bigger motors are to blame.
only heli burning i had heard of before this past week was a guy in florida, who shall remain nameless, that tossed his crashed remains in the back of his truck, and the battery lead shorted and set fire to the bed liner and the heli remains.

Copyright © 2001-2005 Mongo Consulting. All rights reserved.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Ken B
Elite Veteran
Location: Phoenix, AZ

For what it's worth, I have an OS 61 in my machine and you can see what it did to the clutch so who knows...

Ken B
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
JestRR
Senior Heliman
Location: Florence, Oregon

YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK, GOODBYE!!

Is there a 90 size motor in these things that are burning?? Sounds like the weakest link is trying to tell us something. It sounds like they need to make a bigger/stronger clutch to handle the RAW POWER that these motors are pumpin out. its just a matter of friction and there is more power than the clutch and liners can handle. And aluminium has a low melting point. somehting like 1200 degrees if i remember my firefighting right.
sounds like yall need a better widget!!!

Mike

Mike Spinner
Florence OR
NORTHWEST AERIALS/ SCALEWORKS
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Wayne
Senior Heliman
Location: Davidsonville, Maryland

I've know of several machines that have burned, or at least caught fire, before, and they were not Fury's.

The three that I know of which burned were caused by a short circuit in the electrical system (battery) which has a lot of stored energy in it. In one case it caught the guys trailer on fire (after he put it away at night) and he lost all his stuff.

I know of one famous pilot who lives in Florida who crashed once, tossed it in the back of his pick up, and noticed smoke coming out the back while driving home! This was again caused by shorted battery wires after the crash.

I'm not saying the 80/90 sized engines are not catching the clutch on fire when they wreck and do the chicken, but I'd make sure you remove the battery first thing after any crash.

Even before 9-11, many flights overseas would not let you purposely put nicad, NiMH or lithium batteries in checked baggage. The lithium batteries can actually explode with a reasonable level of violence if they short circuit. Fortunately, they usually just melt the wire.

Wayne
www.flymha.com
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
spincycl
Veteran
Location: Marietta, GA

power & fires

With a 61, the drag of the clutch will stall the engine, well, at least it did on mine EACH time it happened, and the clutch was OK. Now, I get an 80 size engine, and wow, after a crash it ate up that clutch in a second. The only reason it probally did not do any other damage is because I RAN out there, and killed the engine.

Is the heat and molten aluminum catching something on fire? Now, on my SE, the clutch is open on all 4 sides. Plenty of breathing room if it wants to smoke. But, on the Fury, it has G-10 on 2 sides, and just slits on the other.

Oh, one thing that some newbies may not know yet. (the vets. already know this) WHEN or if, you have a situation where the clutch overheats, like a crash without stall, or a hot-start on the bench, the bearings overheat too. This is particularly true of the bearings closest to the cluch itself. The lubricant is cooked out, and it's a dry bearing. If you run it, it will either wear out, lock up, or just make electrical noise. On the Fury, there are TWO bearings to check. At LEAST re-grease them, or better yet just replace them. I had a pesky radio glitch caused by this, and it was OK, but it could have been a disaster. Thank the good Lord for PCM RX's!
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Twobeers
Key Veteran
Location: Toronto, Canada

Anybody remember the British Navy's Sheffield. It got hit by a missile in the Faukland war. Aluminum will catch fire and burn when subjected to enough heat.

I lost my infamous tag line.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
mfendley
Senior Heliman
Location: Saint Marys, GA

Speaking for my Fury crash - the flames started shortly after I pulled the fuel line to the OS91. The flames erupted from the clutch bell area. Unfortunately it burn for about 5 minutes before a fire extinguisher was brought to bear on the fire, and the fire did not immediately go out - I pretty much emptied the bottle.

Mike
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Wayne
Senior Heliman
Location: Davidsonville, Maryland

TwoBEErs:

I'm not sure there is any oxidizer in our models which would generate enough heat to "burn" aluminum. The Sheffield had some help with HE rounds cooking off.

But, to be sure dumping well over 2 horse power into the mechanics will cause serious generation of friction and heat! Heck, my YS-80 has more horse power than our roto tiller!

Wayne
www.flymha.com
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Ken B
Elite Veteran
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Mike, Thanks for adding your comments on your fire, hope you don't mind me barrowing the picture from your other posting.

Ken B
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
mfendley
Senior Heliman
Location: Saint Marys, GA

No I don't mind. I've never brought an extinguisher with me to the field - I always associated that requirement with gassers or turbines. I was lucky to get the Fury to a paved portion while I waited for the extinguisher to arrive, so that minimized the possible fire damage to the field.

From now on I'll have an extinguisher in my truck.....
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
sluggo
Elite Veteran
Location: Kitchener Ont

Damn them fury's are one hot heli!

Sory about your fury Mike, Hope it doesn't take you long to be back in the air again.

Chris
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
FlyinBrian
Veteran
Location: Illinois

Hi,

The clutch really should be re-designed slightly to engauge at the lower rpm's of the 80's/90's but all your gonna end up with is a dead chicken dance instead of a slipping clutch. Will you be able to hold onto the heli during your next accidental hot start after the clutch is re-designed?

Why are the motors running at full throttle after the crash? I can understand a battery or switch going bad but all other cases should be taken care of by hitting throttle hold a few seconds before impact or the fail safe will kick in.

I'd be curious to hear what caused these 3 crashes that turned into fires? Some more details as to why the model went in, why was'nt the motor shut off, etc.......

Crunch all you want, they will make more. Please use rr's pm feature to contact me.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
mfendley
Senior Heliman
Location: Saint Marys, GA

Auger - here is an excerpt for my post on another thread--

First test flight after repairing a faulty servo -
performed range check - good to 75 feet
tested the fail-safe setting with engine running (no blades) by turning the radio off, throttle dropped to an idle, all other servos held their position.

Installed blades, ran it up, moved the cyclic stick noting the correct response from the swashplate.

Added a little collective, the heli rose about 18 inches - no control.

Hit throttle hold - nothing.

Turned tx off and back on - nothing.

Followed the heli about 80 feet until it finally crashed, and then it did that funkey chicken dance we all hate.

OS91 did not quit, I finally pinched off the fuel line when it quit moving.

Within 90 sec, the heli caught fire from the clutch area.

I took the heli to a paved area, called my wife and told her to bring the fire extinguisher. She arrived in less than 5 minutes - it took everything the extinguisher had to put it out.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
heliman41
Key Veteran
Location: Valparaiso IN. USA

I think C/F frames V all metal has a LOT to do W all the Furys burning up, once C/F starts burning its history. A burnt bell is 1 thing an entire frame is a whole diff story thats why they are toast if they burn.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
mfendley
Senior Heliman
Location: Saint Marys, GA

Here are some of the post-mortem pictures. Interestingly enough, the battery shows 5.215VDC - no load. I'm going to cycle the battery to see how many mah remain.


08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Will B
Veteran
Location: Bicester, Near Oxford, UK.

Smmmmmmmmmmmmokin!

Cheers, Will.
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
sluggo
Elite Veteran
Location: Kitchener Ont

Mike please tell me you trashed all that but the boom and tail!

I would not even use a bolt off that heli again after that.

Chris
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
mfendley
Senior Heliman
Location: Saint Marys, GA

The boom sheared right at the frame set, but the tail is okay. I might re-use the skid stops, they appear to be okay after I pried off the melted main gear residue!
08-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
sluggo
Elite Veteran
Location: Kitchener Ont

damn hehehehe I really hope this never happens to my heli. I think I would use it as a foot ball after it was all out lol!

Chris
08-24-2002 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
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Crashed? Discussion and Photos > Fury Fires, is it normal or unique?
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