It is reasonably safe if you just hover it no more than 3 feet off the
ground. Hover time counts as flight time!! If however you fly it
more than 3 ft high there is about a 10% chance of dying. There has
been 11 deaths from this machine that I know of as of a few years ago.
It has dozens of major problems that are not readily apparent. Many
parts will wear out in less than 100 hours. The engine is under
powered if you weigh more than 150 lb.

The part that is most likely missing is the tail rotor gear box and
they are hard to find.
It is easy to build however there are problems:

1 Engine is underpowered and is a two stroke.
2 If you try to get enough power to hover and fly the carb tuning is
VERY repeat VERY VERY critical or the engine will seize up. This
tuning will change from day to day.
3 The main rotor shaft is KNURLED at a high stress point so it will
not spin in the top bearing. Big stress riser at a critical point.
4 The main drive belt can come off and wrap around the tail rotor
drive shaft causing an excessive drag so high that auto rotation is
impossible. I watched this happen during hover. The main rotor
completely stopped in 15 seconds even at full down collective.
5 The clutch will come apart in less than 50 hours.
6 The rotor pitch bearings are too tight and are brinnelled.
7 Make sure you get a new head for the engine with the new hot water
bypass or a cold seizure is in your future.
8 Replace the common copper wire thermocouple extension wires with
real thermocouple wire or your EGT temperature may be a hundred or
more degrees off. This temperature is CRITICAL if you want the have
the engine keep running.
9 The main gearbox eats itself. Make sure you have a chip detector
installed and believe it when the light comes on.
10 The main rotor blades will not stay in balance. The foam core
moves due to the G loads and or humidity.
11- 101 Even more of the same........

Did I say that it is easy to build and looks neat! It is.
John

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:37:42 GMT, "Jim Anglin"
wrote:

I have an opportunity to bring home a Mini 500 kit for no money or at the
least a couple thousand dollars. As far as I can tell it is all there and
has never been touched by the original purchaser. I have poked around in
cyberspace and learned a little about this airplane, some of which is not
good and some of which is really bad. I was wondering if the experts here
would know if this could be built by a competent rotorwing A&P to be a safe
airplane? If it is true that parts of the kit were never delivered, is
there a source of parts or plans to fabircate them? The one place on the
net I could have gotten some real info seems to have been deleted
(mini500.com)

Anybody?

jim