Tetley's Tease

Steve Tetley, a pilot with a lot of varying experience on different types of helicopter, asked me if I would like to fly the RotorWay 162 he built. Curious as ever, I naturally jumped at the chance. However, when I told other pilots I was going to fly the RotorWay 162, most immediately looked horrified and muttered about “driven by belts,” referring to the three pulley and belt system between the main shaft and the tail rotor. Dylan Collins, the RotorWay instructor and test pilot, explained, “a lot of people dislike the RotorWay without ever having flown one, the belts, which have never caused at an accident that I have heard about.”

With this in mind I looked closely at the belts on one of the half built machines. The belts actually appear extremely strong, even if rather slim, and their ability is proven, having been used in the RotorWay since the early days of the kit. Jonathan Bull, of Southern Helicopters, Street Farm Takeley, the British RotorWay centre said: “The tail belts have a life of 250 hours or two years. Made of Aramid fibre they will tighten up slightly with the heat of running.  Many people are wary of these but they are relatively cheap, easy to maintain and will not let you down as long as they are run in for about 5 hours...

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