Vario Starwood Lama Project Build

Use a hopper tank and tubing per the supplied schematic supplied with the Jakadorfsky manual. I had substituted a bubble tank which caused improper flow and shut down in flight. Nothing against bubble tanks, it just didn’t work in this application.

Horizontal stabilizers build up pressure due to the turbine exhaust heat which in turn created a split in a seam. I drilled a small vent hole for pressure relief.

During flight, I had one link come off of one of three tail rotor blades loosing, you guessed it, 33% of tail rotor effectiveness. This caused the heli to pirouette out of control. I was able to land it, cutting power at the last minute for a rough landing. See modified links and bolts. I used a solid steel rod to straighten the landing gear (thanks Dan for the advice).

I fabricated a bracket to prevent the tail rotor control rod link from ever coming off at the tail rotor gear box.

I safety wired the tail rotor housing bolts to prevent them from working loose. This had happened on another Lama flyer.

The location of my fuel tank vent seeped fuel ruining my bottom navigation light. I stuffed the light with absorbent material and check it often.