rotorway 162 exec

dlo · October 18, 2006

hey guys, know this has been chatted about before, already searched, wanted to know if anyone has built one and do they really take five hundred to eight hundred hours.????? I was just watching "tactical to proactical" on discovery channel, talked about how safe this heli is and how it is only the price of a luxury car... question are they anywhere near safe, then they say after you build the heli, rotoryway will pay for you to get your " private license"" does that mean a private heli licence that costs around ten grand.

what do you all think about these, i know you cannot make any money with them, but are they cheap to fly and easy to maintain, like the show said???? would they be worth anything, do any of you have experience in them???

thanks jp

Gunner · October 18, 2006

what do you all think about these, i know you cannot make any money with them, but are they cheap to fly and easy to maintain, like the show said???? would they be worth anything, do any of you have experience in them???

To put this in perspective... I built a TV cabinet from Target once... The TV stand broke because of my handiwork and I'm usually pretty good at that stuff. Would you fly in my helicopter if I built it?

I doubt it...

This forum is mostlty pro pilots or students and wannabe's... Pretty anti-hombuilt around here...

I would try this forum for some answers:

http://www.rotorwayownersgroup.com/

Good luck and let us know what you find!

helimax · October 18, 2006

hey guys, know this has been chatted about before, already searched, wanted to know if anyone has built one and do they really take five hundred to eight hundred hours.????? I was just watching "tactical to proactical" on discovery channel, talked about how safe this heli is and how it is only the price of a luxury car... question are they anywhere near safe, then they say after you build the heli, rotoryway will pay for you to get your " private license"" does that mean a private heli licence that costs around ten grand.

what do you all think about these, i know you cannot make any money with them, but are they cheap to fly and easy to maintain, like the show said???? would they be worth anything, do any of you have experience in them???

thanks jp

The build time is probably not too far off if you are an inexperienced builder. The Rotorway drive belt tail rotor system has caught the attention of many, and may be a bit more unreliable. However with extra attention to this, it sounds like it is a great helicopter. I would turn my attention to the Helicycle with a real turbine and proper tail rotor system. Although it is a one seater, it is much cheaper and looks good too. It will give you cheap time, to get enough experience to take your family and friends up for a safe ride.

The resale issue is unfortunately the biggest problem for kit helicopters. You are probably going to be married to the kit forever, unless you take a big loss. Here the Helicycle sounds more appealing because of the much lower price. I am also a strong believer in having a purpose with your helicopter, or you are very likely to lose interest. Having your own helicopter is a great romantic dream, but you will have a lot of money and your life invested in the project.

The anti home built attitude is unfortunately something you will meet frequently. It is only ignorance. Unfortunately not all are fortunate enough to fly certified helicopters and will have to seek in a different direction. However if you are the right person to build an aircraft, you are the one who builds and the one who flies. This is the best type of quality control you can get. In the certified world you are forced to trust a stranger to have the same interest in keeping you alive as you would.

Kits are great for some a bad for others. It all depends on your technical skills, and you still have to get you helicopter approved and checked out by most of the factories.

October 18, 2006

The anti home built attitude is unfortunately something you will meet frequently. It is only ignorance.

Maybe a better choice of words would be "altered intelligence" ?

Dont get me wrong, i dont dislike homebuilts OR the ppls that fly them ( & i certainly wouldnt call them OR their owners ignorant)

I would like homebuilts a whole heck of a lot better tho IF the owner builder realised that this is "his/her" own creation and should never be allowed to be put up for sale to the general unsuspecting public,,,, in other words: "when you decide that you have grown tired of your homebuilt helicopter ( and hopefully that happens B4 it kills you OR someone else), you get yourself a few gallons of Av-Gas, pack of hot dogs & some loooooooong sticks" Get the picture? OH OH OH !!! & dont foreget the cold beer !!!

helimax · October 18, 2006

Maybe a better choice of words would be "altered intelligence" ?

Dont get me wrong, i dont dislike homebuilts OR the ppls that fly them ( & i certainly wouldnt call them OR their owners ignorant)

I would like homebuilts a whole heck of a lot better tho IF the owner builder realised that this is "his/her" own creation and should never be allowed to be put up for sale to the general unsuspecting public,,,, in other words: "when you decide that you have grown tired of your homebuilt helicopter ( and hopefully that happens B4 it kills you OR someone else), you get yourself a few gallons of Av-Gas, pack of hot dogs & some loooooooong sticks" Get the picture? OH OH OH !!! & dont foreget the cold beer !!!

This attitude really puzzles me, and I don't know if you could connect it with intelligence altered or not. Obviously you don't like home builds and that is sort of ok. Your aircraft has to be approved by the FAA and as mentioned before a factory checkout and test flight is mandatory. If you happen to be an unsuspecting buyer, you have not done your homework and should probably not be a pilot. In the fixed wing community home builds are frequently changing hands just check EAA. Certified or not somebody is building, they do not build themselves.

Gerhardt · October 18, 2006

Do a Google search on Rotorway and you'll trip across a blog by an enthusiast who started out asking the same questions. He talks about the factors entering into his decision and he eventually buys a kit and builds it. When all is said and done he expands on how the Rotorway owners group helped him along the way and the build time was pretty accurate. But he goes on to say that he puts in 3 hours maintenance for every flight hour, and that if he had to do it again he would buy an R22.

You'll probably find that most of the non-professional pilots here (like me) prefer to spend their time flying for fun and not worrying about the machine they are flying in. I'm fairly handy with a wrench but there is no way in hell I would trust my life (i.e. my childrens' father's life) in a helicopter kit that I put together.

October 20, 2006

This attitude really puzzles me, and I don't know if you could connect it with intelligence altered or not. Obviously you don't like home builds and that is sort of ok. Your aircraft has to be approved by the FAA and as mentioned before a factory checkout and test flight is mandatory. If you happen to be an unsuspecting buyer, you have not done your homework and should probably not be a pilot. In the fixed wing community home builds are frequently changing hands just check EAA. Certified or not somebody is building, they do not build themselves.

OK, the 1st time you said "ignorance" now its "not intelligent"----i have been called ALOT werse (but not by the same person AND in the same week )The fact that the FAA & the factory of said homebuilts are involved with a satisfactory test flight has nothing to do with the "time-proven" design of the ship,,, it is to show that "you the builder & pilot" are not going to kill yourself OR some innocent victim on the 1st flight.

I do give alot of credit to the EAA, they have a chapter here & do alot for promoting aviation & safety,,,,when they have fly-ins & give free rides to the kids?----ALL of the rides are done in certificated aircraft, & about all you see for experimentals is RV's & a glassaire here & there ( which are both on their way to "beginning" to be a "time proven" design)--but? the liability forever is still in the original builders concience/legality.

Once a homebuilt helicopter can boast a record like the 269's & the 206's ( BOTH BTW well time-proven designs by the military) i will consider looking further into one. Until then? i give advice to anyone looking to buying/building one----dont do it.

I probably get my "bad attitude" towards homebuilts from an old instructor i had long ago in A&P school, when a fellow student asked him about homebuilts he said "son, you are here to become a FAA certificated mechanic, and certificated mechanics ONLY work on certificated aircraft"

BTW? have a nice day & a safe flight

Gerhardt · October 20, 2006

It's been a couple of years so I went to the rotorway owners group website the other day. One one of the threads there's a link to NTSB accident database for rotorways. An incredible number of accidents. Oddly enough, most of the accidents involve engine failure. But considering how few of them are out there it's amazing how many accident reports there are for them.

FauxZ · October 20, 2006

Starting out as a fixed wing guy I'm not as "anti-homebuilt" as others, but I do always think about something an old instructor said to me about homebuilts.

"Their is absolutely nothing wrong with a homebuilt aircraft as long as you remember that you are the chief test pilot."

Heli's are far more complex than F/W, and there are just that many more things to go wrong. But no matter how well you build them, they aren't (generally speaking), going to have the same level of testing as a certified heli is going to have. You're paying for the thousands of man hours of testing and design required to certify that air craft. If you don't mind being some engineer's test pilot, then homebuilts are for you!!

As for the attitude twoards HB heli's over HB F/W, I think it has to do with the margin of error. When things go bad in F/W they go from Good, to bad, to worse, and normally give you some time to realize what's going on. Heli's can go from good to unrecoverable before you even realize what's going on.