"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:05:22 -0700, "Stuart & Kathryn Fields"
wrote:

Kevin: You are not to far from the Legal Ultralite empty weight. I doubt
if
you will see one that can lift double its empty weight and still not cost
a
bundle. There are arguments about intermeshing rotors being able to pick
up
quite a load but the cost and complexity goes up. Extreme dieting may be
the only way; while certainly less desirable, the bang for the buck seems
to
be there. I say that and I've been trying to drop from 186 to 170 for
awhile.

I can't even go the Rotorway route.. I physically don't fit in the
cockpit of an Exec - I'm too tall in the torso..

The Hummingbird 260L would work, but it's kinda pricey for a homebuilt
at $170k for the kit sans engine. I got sit in one at Heli Expo last
year in Orlando and there's plenty of room inside for me and the
useful load means I could carry a couple buddies for a couple hours.

Of course, I'd have to ditch the Lycoming recip engine and bolt up a
300-ish HP Allison turbine.
Kevin: The Allison project is underway. I met the guy at Sun'n Fun who is
in the process of finding the engine. Should be ahead of the R-66 with all
the time life history already verified.

Stu