Wednesday, December 19, 2012

If It Leaves the Ground, a Gates Belt Can't be Found

The purpose of this blog post is to expand on a previous blog regarding Aircraft Applications.


The Gates Corporation has had a long standing policy of not recommending the use of our power transmission products on aircraft, including kit, home-built or ultra light aircraft.  Whether the aircraft is FAA certified does not change this policy. This policy applies to any application where the equipment leaves the ground. A recent request serves as a great example. A customer called to receive assistance for designing a belt drive on a pump. The pump itself didn't leave the ground, but it supplied water at a high pressure to a water powered jet pack. Clearly, we could not support this customer because the application goes against our safety policy.

Only automotive and industrial belts and belt drives are sold through Gates distributors or the open market. Those belts and drives are NOT designed or made for aircraft.  DO NOT purchase Gates belts or belt drives for use on aircraft. This is a safety issue. Airplanes and cars are quite different as far as belts and belt drives are concerned. 

To emphasize this important point, do not use any Gates belt, pulley, or sprocket on a propeller-driven or rotor drive aircraft, and not with any in-flight accessory drive application or other drive in an aircraft.  For all types of applications, belt drives must be properly designed, installed, tested, and maintained.  It is impossible to inspect a belt and predict the remaining belt life. A broken belt means immediate loss of power and ability to fly! 

Feel free to contact us at ptpasupport@gates.com or 303-744-5800 if you have any questions or comments.

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