Originally Posted by
ShyTorque
Looking at the photo evidence in post#983 above, a thought that crossed my mind - would a simple left handed thread on the shaft have prevented this tragedy?
Having recently changed a rear wheel bearing, even my old car has a left handed thread on the left hand side stub axle, to prevent the hub nut coming loose in service.
Interesting, but your hub nut still has a split pin? It was once the practice to use LH threads on the left of vehicles, including wheel nuts. I think it was all a bit theoretical and the fact it isn't done any more suggests it wasn't really necessary.
I don't know which way this tail rotor turns relative to the control shaft, but with similar threads the nut at one end would tend to loosen and the other would tighten. One LH and one RH would both try to tighten, or loosen - depending on the rotation.