to teather or not to teather
I completely agree with the advice given by Gaseous. Do not teather. If the main rotor and tail rotor react as expected while light on skids then hovering will not be a problem. Also, don't be afraid to slam that collective down if any rolling starts to occur. The landing gear won't mind. I have about 900 hours in Rotorways and what Gaseous posted is excactly what all the Rotorway pilots are instructed to do with their own helicopters. Also, the belt driven tail rotor was very reliable. I would not have any problems with the belts whatsoever for as you mentioned they last hundreds of thousands of miles and are even used on farm equipment with far more stress. Easy to inspect and replace, they are a great choice.