Ryan Posted February 14, 2005 Report Share Posted February 14, 2005 Was reading Helicopters today and liked the article with a good outlook for new pilots. One comment however got me thinking. It was stated that novice heli pilots could build hours in a amature-built helicopter. What are your thoughts on this? To me the words "amature-built" and "helicopter" do not mix well. And if one wishes to be a commercial pilot, what would an employer think of a resume with 1000 hours PIC of a Mini 500 or an Exec? If one were to buy a helicopter, wouldn't it be better to save for a real machine like a used R22 or a 300? Anyone out there ever use these little home-builts to build hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmac Posted February 14, 2005 Report Share Posted February 14, 2005 Ryan: Without sounding morose, what are the death stats on homebuilts????? Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Yeah, I've checked em all out....yikes! That's partly why I was wondering about the merit of using them for hour building. Some guy even managed to stuff a turbine into a Mini 500. Um.. no thanks! Gimme a well worn, yet maintained R-22 any day. Ryan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Then You better check out how the number of R22's that have bobos each week on the same site. :shock: :elvis: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transquebecniece Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Your Mama would be proud. That question even gave me the bebee jebees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnhopper Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 That sounds crazy Homebuilt :shock: :down: I think your right with picking the R22 ryan long live the double deuce :up: :up: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidz Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I did some searching in my area last year, trying to find a machine I could lease or rent for a few months either by the hour or otherwise, and I came up empty. It's a real drag that you can't join a flying club like the fix wingers do. Does anyone have any other options for time building ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Apparently there is a helicopter pilots club in Ontario somewhere. You fork out some $$ for a membership and get a certain amount of flying for it. No clue if this is for real or not, but remember seeing ad for it in Helicopters. Everyone else who doesn't have parents worth $10 million are s.o.l. And yes, my lil buddy the R-22 does have a rep as a widow maker, but that's mostly due to pilot error. They are pretty twitchy buggers as we all know. The Mini 500 is also a widow maker, but only because it falls apart after leaving contact with Earth. I'm trying to find the video of the Mini with the turbine in it....unreal! Wonder how far past the airport it could go before running out of fuel? Found it....HERE And maybe I'm missing something, but isn't it a very very bad thing to start with your blades tied down? Maybe not in a Mini... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helilog56 Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Hey there Ryan....The writer of that article is a bit of a homebuilt fanatic (K.A.) .Some of his past articles have managed to rub some of us the wrong way (anyone remember "Mr." Longline?), and sometimes his approach is a bit off base in the way of solutions. As homebuilt helicopters are more of a novelty, very few are available here in Canada. I'm sure a better solution to building air time can be sought.....Will have to think about that one........anyone got ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidz Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 As far as homebuilts go, I saw the Rotorway Exec 162F up close at HAI and was impressed by the quality, compared to some older Rotorway models and the Mini 500. But at 65 K USD, I can find far better ways to spend my money. I don't think I could ever trust a homebuilt unless I built it myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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