Finally got everything together to start testing again. I'll talk about the last couple of details needed to get Goliath ready after the video. The tests had some hiccups, (nothing was damaged) but it looks like the wider belts are working out better.

One of the last things needed was new belt guards for the new frame dimensions. I cut a new set, making them 2 inches wide instead of 3 inches. This was because the rotors needed to be placed one notch closer to the engine, leaving a little less room for the belt guard. The second change was to add an extra fold to increase the stiffness.

The new belt guard is on the left and the old one is one the right. Below you can see the tab made with the extra fold to add stiffness.

Next, the throttle servo had to be redone. Previously when the servo was mounted, I had to reverse the servo direction on the RC transmitter. This time I mounted the servo with the linkage on the opposite side of the servo so the controls didn't have to be reversed.With that done it was time to get back to testing.

So the first test was the one with the hiccups. Since I was using the test props, I figured I wouldn't really need the guy lines to keep Goliath from twisting. The starter obviously provides a lot of torque and caused the vehicle to twist and rock back and forth. The second issue was that part way though the test was that the throttle servo got disconnected. When this happened the engine went to full throttle. Fortunately I was able to shut it off quickly. The culprit turned out to be a missing screw on the servo, (which was obviously missing in the above photo) and the control horn fell off during the test ( below).

I quickly screwed the control horn back on and added the guy lines and did the next test (#16). This time things went well. The exhaust is rattling around and I need to tighten some more screws, but the tensioner is doing what its supposed to be doing now. Since I now the wider belts help, I'm going to place the order for the second belt.

In the meantime I'll be checking things over, coming up with better mounts for the exhaust and likely the throttle servo as well. I'll also need to think about addressing a throttle linkage failure leading to the engine being stuck at full throttle. Seems like a spring or something else is needed to ensure that's not the case.