Tail boom clamp bolts breaking

[Rob43]

For the second time this season, when I was cleaning my bird after the last flight today, I found that one of the bolts which fixes the boom clamp to the boom struts at the tail end was gone. I thought the first time I might have forgotten to tighten the nut. This time, I know better as I've been keeping a keen eye on it.

After some inspection, I believe I know the cause. Have any of you had one of these go away? It's my conclusion that when fixing the nut on the bottom, it meets up with the boom strut at an angle to the bolt. The clamp is machined at an angle to match the angle of the boom struts. The bolt then is at an angle to the bottom surface, and when tightening the nut and stressing it in flight, it can fracture. I believe this happened both times now.

Solution: My thought was to make a spacer to seat against the boom strut which has the angle to match it. The bottom will be perpendicular to the bolt. So the whole assembly is seated tightly and without any uneven seating. I've done mine up after I returned home. A pic is below if anyone is interested.

[Don S]

All my hardware there is plastic so it "flexes" into alignment.

[Rob43]

Okay, so it's because I have the R60 carbon struts with the big metal ends.... Funny...I still have my stock aluminum boom struts and plastic ends which came with the kit. Maybe I should run them instead.