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Helipad in driveway


Noah Bales

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Good morning everyone! I am considering purchasing a Mosquito XE in the next year or so. I am looking to probably speak with an owner of any Mosquito brand helicopter to better understand the chopper. Anyways, I am wanting to build a helipad on my driveway. I have shared the photos of my driveway below with measurements. What I have outlined in RED are trees, the pad is marked and should be roughly 10' x 10' large.

 

Helipad gmaps.png

Helipad auditor.png

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18 hours ago, TomPPL said:

Do you have any helicopter flight experience? That helipad looks way too tight.

No I don't. I am do have my PPL and a Part 107. I am learning to fly heavy drones right now. Obviously I plan on learning how to land in tight areas out on my farm in Virginia before I attempt to land a Mosquito in my driveway. Keep in mind the Mosquito XE has a rotor diameter of 19.5 feet and a length of 16 feet. Maybe my question should be how much space do I need for a landing site.

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15 hours ago, Thedude said:

Nope. If you have a problem you have no outs and you're going to kill somebody or destroy their house. 

What should my size of "danger zone" look like. Following FAA 150/5390-2C, it looks to be like a suitable site as long as my neighbors are aware. What would a better solution be? Purchase open land or hangar at my local airport?

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Rotor diameter 19.5 feet and length 16 feet? From that I'm estimating the total length from the forward edge of the rotor disk to the aftermost edge of the tail rotor to be 24, 25 feet. Some operators I've worked for allow operation with 10 feet clearance all around, but most insist on 15 feet or better. That would mean minimum 19.5 disk plus 10 each side 40 feet wide 45 feet long. You will be very busy maintaining that 10 foot rotor clearance all around, but repeated operation and some useful landmarks, it can be done.

The tail rotor always worried me, it's behind and low, not easily viewed from the pilot seat. A significant strike and things could go sideways pretty quickly. You would probably find at that point that your neighbors' 'being aware' isn't real protection from complaints much less liability.

Traffic control is also a significant issue: who keeps the streets and driveways clear?

All in all, I would hangar it rather than operate from a populated area.

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Depending on the height of the trees, I see a few marginally suitable approaches to your proposed heli-pad.  However, most of them are over your neighbors houses and that probably won't go over well.  I take off/land over my house but it's MY house.

Wally's comment on the tailrotor would be my real concern.  But to me, the real danger is when you are starting up/shutting down.  Unless you fence in your area completely you have no way of stopping people, kids or dogs from running into it.

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First question you should ask your self is, is there any city, County or state ordinance on landing on a none airport area. Second are you creating a hazard to the public and property. Third you should have at least 1/2 to full rotors clearance to be in the safe side of safety. Fourth what are your approach and departure route. If you value your life be smart do all the research and don’t cut corners on training.

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On 10/27/2021 at 7:13 AM, Noah Bales said:

No I don't. I am do have my PPL and a Part 107. I am learning to fly heavy drones right now. Obviously I plan on learning how to land in tight areas out on my farm in Virginia before I attempt to land a Mosquito in my driveway. Keep in mind the Mosquito XE has a rotor diameter of 19.5 feet and a length of 16 feet. Maybe my question should be how much space do I need for a landing site.

More than that. And as for your neighbors, if you were to actually land a mosquito there, they might forgive you ONCE. If you make it a habit, you’re going to get real unpopular real quick. You’d be putting them their families their children their property in danger. They’d be justified in stopping you. 

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  • 2 months later...

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!

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