Any new helicopters at Sun N Fun?

To anyone back from SunNFun: Were there any new ultralight copters?
A/W95's? Skytwisters?

A couple interesting machines at Choppertown. The Hummingbird was there. Its an S-53ish machine with a jetranger-like nose that is
pretty spiffy. From what I understand, the Hummingbird has a lot of s53 parts in it. Certainly the 45deg gearbox and the 90deg
gearbox looked factory. There was also a GPU turbine powered scorpionesque machine, I never saw it fly though. Other than that, it
was pretty much the standard cast of characters. Rotorway had a pretty big booth this year, I guess that guy on the Wings channel
helped sell a few extra machines for them.

The autogyro guys were having a blast. it was so windy the first two days that they were able to hover with no problem. ( I was
indicating 35kts at a 500ft hover).

I was kind of surprised that Robinson didnt have a booth there. It seems like the 22 would cater to the avg crowd demographic at
Sun-n-fun.

There were fewer choppers this year than the year b4, but I was there on the first couple days, and not over the weekend. It also
seemed like there were not as many Bell 47's as id seen before either.

One big difference from last year was the number of idiots in the sky seemed much higher. I had to deviate 3 times on the way in and
out because of airplanes at the wrong altitude (500ft agl) trying to kill me.

On the airplane front the hottest new E-ticket ride at the show is the Lancair Columbia 400. This 4 seat twin turbo stuck
wing-n-gear beast will break 300mph at cruise. The wiz-bang cockpit has more in common with a Gulfstream V than a piston plane, and
the interior is more like a sportscar than an airplane.

After seeing what's possible with glass cockpits now I'm starting to get a little beefed at Bell for not getting with the program
and at least updating their panels to be more like EC. I'd think once they overcame the engineering costs theyd save a ton of dough
on wiring and piping by going with a glass panel. (Plus theyd be able to offer an autopilot option for the cost of the servos which
could lead to SP-IFR status for the JR, LR, and 407).

Oh yeah, in answer to your question about ultralight-helos, I wasn't really looking specifcally for this department. I tend to only
pay attention to the things that are on the flight-line and not just a booth. I didnt see any ultralight choppers flying or on the
flightline at either choppertown or ultralight town.

Bart




"Chief McGee" wrote in message news:0TDgc.22816$ru4.20702@attbi_s52...
To anyone back from SunNFun: Were there any new ultralight copters?
A/W95's? Skytwisters?

"Bart" wrote in message ...
A couple interesting machines at Choppertown. The Hummingbird was there. Its an S-53ish machine with a jetranger-like nose that is

You mean, S-52. As in Sikorsky S-52-2 or HO5S-1. Yes, what vertical
aviation has done is built a new airframe around the drivetrain and
rotors of a 1952 Sikorsky. They've done a good job as they haven't
ventured far enough from the original (FAA certified) design to be
risky, but they fixed the obvious design flaws (like no door for the
left front seat). Also, they've properly engineered the installation
of a better than original engine. They've got tons of original
Sikorsky parts (gearboxes, rotors, etc) ready to be built into
Hummingbirds.

Ask any old timer that flew these in Korea. Once they end their rant
about how crappy the original engine was, they'll tell you that old
Sikorsky's were built tougher than trucks. One told me (in a gruff,
old marine kind of way) "it was an autorotating son-of-a-b*tch, could
put it anywhere I wanted. And, that was a good thing since that dang
'injun quit so often!"

I knew a Sikorsky test pilot who routinely looped the S-52. He never mentioned
engine problems however. Tom