Brief Description: Main Rotor Blade Lead & Lag Adjustment
The lead / lag adjustment on the blades is critical for performance and vibration management. Tom brings with him significant experience from his own helicopter and the learning curve he went though for months of fine-tuning.
The idea is to lag the blades a ¼” so as the blades swing around, they will slice through the air rather than slapping as they rotate. The adjustment on a semi-ridged blade system such as this is very different than a fully articulated, three bladed main rotor. On this system, there is one pivot bolt that the blade is held with whole the remaining bolts are loose. Since the blade grips are actually glued and bolted to the blades, there doesn’t appear to be any opportunity for movement, however, you turn the adjustment screws on the side barrels and there is just enough play remaining in the assembly to affect movement down the length of the blade.
This was a heavy two-person operation with a laser and many metal rulers and strait edges. To add to the fun, the main light in the hanger lost its ballast and wouldn’t provide light for us to work with. I swear, we couldn’t catch a break, and tomorrow was just hours away!
