Blade Tape Issues
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Langley, B.C. Canada
Posts: 162
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Soooo......that being said, having been through collective bounce, ground resonance, engine, tail rotor, structural, electrical, and hydraulic failures......why not just ban helicopters period .....??????
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Langley, B.C. Canada
Posts: 162
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And yes... I'm being a sarcastic prick!!!! Always consult the manufacturers Maintenance Manuals, S.B.'s, A.D.'s and RFM supplements with performance charts.
Due diligent on D.I.'s and preflights include knowing how to inspect blade tape, when it is installed.
Due diligent on D.I.'s and preflights include knowing how to inspect blade tape, when it is installed.
Last edited by Helilog56; 20th Oct 2012 at 07:07.
Surely the stories about the vibrations sound scary, but having operated in desert-environment with temperatures up to +50C, I've never seen bladetape "come off" in large pieces. Lifting and bubbles yes, but then we would change the section that was in question. One section being one meter and we used to have it for the whole lenght of the blade. In this way, we wouldn't need to change the whole length of the blade, as the wear is not equal along the blade.
The time these sections stayed on, varied but the outer sections usually didn't make it to 25 hrs. The tape was checked before each flight, and if we found sections that was in question, but not new tape available, we would remove the section and fit new at first possibility
Now, for the guys that want to ban bladetape: If you rather want to buy complete sets of new blades lets say every 150-200 hrs, then be my guest. It seems as you don't know what the result would be NOT using it. It comes down to proper preflight inspections being done!
If you operate in an environment which do not require the use of tape, then DON'T use it then....
The time these sections stayed on, varied but the outer sections usually didn't make it to 25 hrs. The tape was checked before each flight, and if we found sections that was in question, but not new tape available, we would remove the section and fit new at first possibility
Now, for the guys that want to ban bladetape: If you rather want to buy complete sets of new blades lets say every 150-200 hrs, then be my guest. It seems as you don't know what the result would be NOT using it. It comes down to proper preflight inspections being done!
If you operate in an environment which do not require the use of tape, then DON'T use it then....
