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Advantage Hobby . Revolution Models . CarbonXtreme

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Audacity Models Pantera 50 - Tiger 50 > Tough Ol' Bird
 
 
Futura57
Senior Heliman
Location: UK

Had about about 50 flights on my Pantera to date, but something let go bigtime today when pulling out of a backwards dive into a backwards loop. After pulling through the horizontal it just felt like a mechanical failure by the way she suddenly and violently pitched back and sideways when I was pitching forwards. All happened a bit quick for me to hit throttle hold and she hit tera firma on full throttle. Luckily the throttle linkage remained intact and I shut her down. My first thought was a failure of one of the rear eCCPM servos. Fortunately she came down well away from the pits and any spectators.

When I went over I noticed;
1- Front eCCPM servo arm broken
2 - Right rear eCCPM servo gears stripped
3 - Missing short linkage between main blade holder and upper seesaw arm.

Difficult to tell if any of these were the cause of the crash or were caused by the crash. Maybe I was pushing my luck using 3 x JR591 servos (ouch!), so draw your own conclusions.

I really thought she was toast when she went in, but on close inspection on the bench, only the "usual suspects" were damaged;
Main blades
Main mast
Feathering spindle
Flybar (can be straightened)
Boom
Oh, and that missing link

Quite a cheap crash really, and my first in a while. She really is a tough ol' bird

Hardware eventually fails - Software eventually works!
04-15-2008 10:41 PM
 
 
billm
Key Veteran
Location: Liberty Lake, WA

OUCH!
Did you check the servo gears? Don't wiggle the servo, do a tear down.
You typed that you had a missing pitch linkage.
Do you remember during flight one of the blades going out of track before the crash? A real out of track deal?
Nice to know that the damage was the normal suspects.
How is the rebuild going?

My name is Billm. Cough, and I'm a Heli Holic
04-16-2008 02:08 AM
 
 
Futura57
Senior Heliman
Location: UK

I have stripped down the heli but not the servos, yet. The rear right eCCPM servo arm turns easily and it sounds like gear teeth are grinding.

Heli was about 75 yards away at the time and I certainly didn't notice any bad tracking from that distance, so I'm inclined to think the link popped off on impact. My money's on the servo failing. After all, they are only JR591s.

I already have a spare boom and feathering spindle so the tail is back on. I have ordered the other bits plus some additional linkages and will replace a very slightly notchy bearing for a little over £20 in total. I have some Raptor 50 wooden blades I will fit and plenty of spare servos I can swap in as needed.

After setting her up again and test flying, hopefully next week, I plan to remove the engine and electronics and sell the airframe for a song. The engine and electronics will go into a scale ship with Century hawk based mechanics.

Quite amazing considering the Pantera came down extremely hard on the undercarriage without anything major breaking.

Hardware eventually fails - Software eventually works!
04-16-2008 02:09 PM
 
 
jbeech
rrAdvertiser
Location: Sanford, FL (Orlando area)

I get a lot of criticism for offerng a heavy duty model helicoper. A Pantera weighs a tad over an ounce more than a Raptor, and she's lighter than a Sceadu, but the lightweight champ is the TRex600N. However I've also had customers who switched to a Pantera from one of those who said they're light duty because they're fragile when they crash. Nobody could ever say a Pantera is light duty! In retrospect I really wouldn't have it any other way because the inherent toughness you've mentioned is an integral part of our product philosophy, i.e. simple to build, inexpensive to maintain, and fly great! I hope we've exceeded your expectations.


John Beech - GM (and janitor)
Audacity Models
04-17-2008 02:01 AM
 
 
flyingquisinart
Senior Heliman
Location: Detroit Area

I crashed my Tiger last year hitting the ground at about a 30 degree angle, going at very high speed. It was one of those the peanut gallery really liked. The sucker looked like it exploded when it cartwheeled about 75 feet, but when all was said and done, it was the usual stuff you mentioned, blades, landing gear and the front platform broke in half, launching the battery still strapped onto the plastic through the windshield, unfortunately resulting in the chicken dance, since there was no power to shut down the motor. The clutch is still going to this day, although I pulled it all apart to get any dust away from the motor to avoid ingesting any more. That's definitely a plus for the Pantera with the filter.
Anyway, it's a beefy and tough bird too, those frames are really strong.
I'm still using the same canopy and windshield, I just have the little screws through different places, and have a crease in the windshield. I always think my aircraft should look comfortably worn-in. It seems to protect them, same way a new car gets it's first ding.

must have been a downdraft
04-17-2008 03:01 AM
 
 
billm
Key Veteran
Location: Liberty Lake, WA

A strong ship that comes back for more.
Please don't sell the Pantera. The UK needs a few Panteras.
Do what us yanks do. Buy more electronics and motors for the next ship and not strip and ship the old one.

My name is Billm. Cough, and I'm a Heli Holic
04-17-2008 03:27 AM
 
 
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Midland Helicopters . HeliProz . ZoomsHobbies

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Audacity Models Pantera 50 - Tiger 50 > Tough Ol' Bird
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