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Love the nose and I’m on the tall side. A 500C owner recommended that nose too because of my height. I guess there’s a 5 knot penalty but oh well. I was guessing around $50k for the Yehnert. Is that even in the right zip code?

Find a machine with the nose already on it...but they aren't really an "upgrade" unless you just like the look. If I recall they actually decrease cruise speed.

Does anybody have a swag on what a Yehnert nose is going for these day? The FAA guy I talked to said MD nows owns that STC.

I'm trying to get another physical done but not looking good. The flight surgeons aren't too keen on doing another one with 2 waiver denials in the books. Still hoping though.

22-09 for WOCS

Mine has wings so its still wagging/rocking the wings and usually involves a 60* pitch climb and a 120* roll.

Ahh that makes sense. What class you in?

I went when I was at Bragg in 2015, but I had to go as I am coming from PSYOP.

Thanks for the info!

Update. it’s been 6 years or so. The ag job was not what I thought it would be. Glad I got the opportunity to see the operation but it ended up not working out. I wound up taking the CFI job later that year and did get my time. Long story short i fly utility operations now and couldn’t be happier. I’ve often thought of this post and all the generous knowledge you guys shared. Thanks.

Just wave! LOL!

You can get into places you can’t get out of. Yes, even with helicopters! The LZ is quite confined and appears your landings and take offs will be mainly vertical for 50’ or more, I believe any experienced pilot might have some issues with this confined area, let alone a low time helicopter pilot. Flying helicopters is all about risk mitigation. Especially during off field landings. Safety options and usable power available. An experienced helicopter pilot would think twice about going into such a tight space before you add all the houses/neighbors. Looks like you might be inside city limits, check for any ordinance against such operations. Seems like once you hit a certain population point, there usually is some kind of prohibited ordinance. You mentioned you were interested in a Mosquito XE. I’m sure you are aware that the XE uses the MZ202 engine. The smallest engine option available for the XE Series line of helicopters as it was/is the only lightweight engine option to safely fly the XEL (ultralight) under part 103.7 requirements. The MZ202 has between 60hp and 65hp, depending on who you talk to. The XE series helicopters take approximately 48-50hp to hover. This only leaves you with 10hp to 15hp of performance at WOT on a standard day at sea level. And goes down quickly form there. In an XE, you will need room/space to safely get thru ETL from a standard hover before climbing above the tree’s, power lines and houses. Even if there were no houses, I would only consider flying out of this confined area with a XE290 (90hp) or XET (95hp). After I cut some trees down for normal operations. If you have more in-depth questions, please feel free to check out my website: storeyaviation.com. You can contact me directly from there. Good Luck!

Those are D’s , not C’s. Big difference.

The Army F and FF's are hardly just a C with a different nose and a bigger engine...I doubt there's a single interchangable part except perhaps the skid shoes. If you want to run cheap (fuel burn) then find a standard C model with a C-18, and then put a Yehnert nose on it. They are out there. Don't worry so much about TT, it's the component time and inspections that matter. I wouldn't buy Gov surplus anything...ask the UH-60 guys how that's working out...and how many machines they need to buy to keep just one airworthy.

500E brings up a couple good points. Getting MD pricing, so far, has not been easy to come by. That's why I wanted to get some real world pricing from some operators. Is it better to re-build vs. buy new from MD? Re: the Mexican 500, from what I've heard of Mexican maintenance, cannot even be compared to the Army's, but still, runout birds can be money pits. Has anyone here bought surplus? If so, what was the experience?

Oh yeah, the 160th (Night Stalkers) still have 48 500C's (essentially F's with a C nose) that will probably start retiring in within 5yrs. These are 650hp beasts with FADECs. Don't really need 650 ponies (and the associated fuel burn) but am wondering if they can be de-rated. I've only seen fairly high-time C's the $500k range. Truth be told, I really want an E (love the nose) but those are a bit pricier. So, again if acquisition cost is low enough, get the STC mod with the E glass. Just wanted to run the concept up the flag pole here and see what you all think. Thx

Does the military even use 500C's anymore? You can already buy nice standard category C's for under $500k pretty easily.

We bought an ex Mexican border patrol one 15+ years ago it then went back to states into private hands where work was done, everything was just ok it ate money. Have you priced parts MGB TGB how meany hours on blades & cost of replacements (I think $ 5k to just re fit dis-bonded erosion strips), shocks, hockey sticks, trim motors,

What makes you think the DoD has 500Cs they'd auction off? I can think of maybe 2 that will probably be flown into the ground (literally, by some staff officer) before they stop flying them.

So the Army sells run-out UH-60s for between $250-$500k (see GSA.com). So I'm thinking a run-out 500C would fetch $100k or less. It will be restricted category but don't really care about that. I'd love to hear some thoughts from people in the know about this. If (big if) acquisition cost is low enough, is it not reasonable to have ship with re-built running gear for around $300k?

seeing as how the E6 is sapper and ranger qualified he can speak being my old squad leader with competence and with a fairly high degree of credibility. so yes he wrote me a amazing LOR based on me as a person and not just what anyone on a board could see on paper.

I flew about 500 as an instructor and 200-250 in EMS. Don't know about the police.

Lol very close. About 3-4 classes before me was the first one to ever get it.

Trying to get a rough estimate on how many hours people fly per year as instructors? EMS? Law Enforcement? I’m sure it will greatly very based on location and many other factors, just looking for rough averages.

You're right, the CG has the F-14s with the 5 bladed rotor system. Top speed 135kts and not the Civil Air Patrol. CAP just acquired the new F-15EX fighter bomber with Mach 2 speed and nuclear delivery. Just what our future junior flyers need to train on.