Guimbal Cabri G2 in the UK

[Paco]

I searched the forum and online and only came up with Cotswold Helicopter Centre at Kemble Field. Are there any Brits or Google guru’s that can point me to other flight schools operating this aircraft in England?

[TomPPL]

I think it will be a while before it is available throughout the UK, a quick search brought up some disappointing news (I'm sure you have seen this already):

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/bulletins/march_2012/guimbal_cabri_g2__g_uimb.cfm

 

Only one student pilot has so far achieved their first solo, that was on the 23rd March:

http://www.helihub.com/2012/03/27/first-uk-pilot-goes-solo-on-guimbal-cabri

 

My guess is that it'll be another year or so before they roll out to other training centres.

[lelebebbel]

Ok, so in October '11, G-UIMB had a hard landing due to pilot error (as admitted by the pilot, see report), is repaired, and 2 weeks ago in March 2012, a student solos in the same helicopter - why is that disappointing news?

Edited April 3, 2012 by lelebebbel

[TomPPL]

From a marketing perspective when I searched for "Guimbal Cabri G2 UK" out of the first five results, four of them were concerning this incident, I find it disappointing as for such a great looking and seemingly great performing ship I would not have expected to see such mishaps occur with so few of them on the market during their debut release in the UK.

[500E]

The fenestron can catch you out , but the worrying bit is the manufacturer also believes that prolonged yawing can cause the engine to stop through fuel sloshing. (starvation)

Perhaps this should be addressed, I can see this becoming a problem with students.

The good thing is both OK as was the factory pilot when he had his mishap

[Angry Palmtree]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm an instructor on the Cabri G2 at Cotswold Helicopter in UK.

The heavy landing that occurred with our Cabri at Kemble airfield last October was as result of a loss of yaw control whilst the aircraft was transitioning from forward flight to the hover.

There were (as always) a number of contributory factors, principal among them was the fact that the pilot had not flown the Cabri for 2 weeks since becoming qualified on type. During this period he had only flown American rotation helicopters with conventional tail rotors. (Currency is king!)

 

The Cabri has some unique features, in particular, it is the only helicopter in the world with a Fenestron tail and a piston engine which of course provides almost instant torque.

The pilot needs to apply considerable right pedal when transitioning from forward flight to the hover and this feels quite unorthodox to begin with but soon becomes second nature.

Our aircraft was easily repaired but due to the paperwork was not back in service until early March.

We have 6 new students learning on the Cabri and we have completed 4 type ratings so far.

It is a fantastic helicopter to fly!!

Please contact us if you are interested in a type rating or just want to know more.

 

Best regards,

 

Andy Moorhouse