Thanks to imabell
I help run one of the Robbie safety courses in Oz and NZ. One thing I have noticed over the past 13 years (1,500 studnets) is that we are all reluctant to report defects.
Being out in the bush, or away from our friendly man with the spanners in the workshop. Maybe we don't know how to?
Sometimes a class will tell us all about a series of problems, unknown away from their hangar floor. If CASA, CAA NZ, ATSB, Robinson, etc are not told about bugs that appear from time to time, then we tend to find out in a fatal.
The saga of the R22 blade failures was known well in advance, it took some fatals to bring it into focus. No one talked to each other, and the vital clues slipped away as simply a "one off" fault.
Half the Oz fleet are Robinsons. Mustering drivers fly more hours than anyone else. Beef prices have never been better, according to some, so we cannot afford to have our fleet grounded just as the mustering seasons starts, being delayed by the four cyclones.
I congratule imabell for bringing this to our attention. If any one else is finding a recurring problem, just PM me and I will try and pass it onto to someone who may be able to help.
We must work together, there are too many jobs at risk - let alone lives. Apart from my these problems, the Robbies are very safe if flown to their limits - and no more!
Maybe whacking a 360 cubic inch (180HP) into the airframe to relace the 320 (160HP) rubber band without beefing up the airframe has caused these problems?
It is even more importnat than ever to not overload the hard working and reliable machine.
Thanks again to imabell.