Enstrom 480B

Hi - I'm looking at buying a helicopter and am looking at an R44 for reasons
of its popularity, low entry costs and the fact that that is all I am
licensed to fly.

However if I could get a second hand turbine reasonably cheaply, I would be
interested.

What is the group's views of the Enstrom 480B? On paper it looks a good
proposition. Can anyone comment on maintenance costs, operating costs,
reliability etc?

Thanks
Andrew

Andrew:

What do you mean by "all I am Licensed to fly"? Are you rated in the
US?.

thanks,
~R

"~R" wrote in message
oups.com...
Andrew:

What do you mean by "all I am Licensed to fly"? Are you rated in the
US?.

No - what made you think that?

Regards
Andrew

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:33:07 +0100, "Andrew Crane"
wrote:


"~R" wrote in message
roups.com...
Andrew:

What do you mean by "all I am Licensed to fly"? Are you rated in the
US?.

No - what made you think that?

I think it was an innocent question.. he may not have seen (or been
aware of) your UK loacation.

As for the Enstrom, contact Sharkey's Heclicopters (www.sharkeys.com)
and speak to Roger. He's a very knowledgable Enstrom guy and can
probably answer all your questions.

Thanks
Andrew

The OTHER Kevin in San Diego wrote:
On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:33:07 +0100, "Andrew Crane"
wrote:


"~R" wrote in message
roups.com...
Andrew:

What do you mean by "all I am Licensed to fly"? Are you rated in the
US?.

No - what made you think that?

I think it was an innocent question.. he may not have seen (or been
aware of) your UK loacation.

Sorry, I had your e-mail address hidden while I was viewing your post....didn't realize you were in the UK....I'm not very familiar with the limitations on ratings over there. Your comment peeked my curiosity. A US PPL or CPL in helicopters will allow you to fly a helicopter up to 12,500 lbs. as long as it doesn't require a "Type" rating....and provided you meet any aircraft specific criteria...

Can you provide a link to Uk aviation regs?...I haven't surfed yet to
find them...just curious
thanks,
~R

As an former employee of Enstrom, I can tell you their 480 was an
awesome machine. Now that they have the load rating up and the
elastomeric dampers are tuned it is a nice machine. You can fit real
sized people in the Enstrom too. The R44 is a big R22.

Lorin

Andrew Crane wrote:
Hi - I'm looking at buying a helicopter and am looking at an R44 for reasons
of its popularity, low entry costs and the fact that that is all I am
licensed to fly.

However if I could get a second hand turbine reasonably cheaply, I would be
interested.

What is the group's views of the Enstrom 480B? On paper it looks a good
proposition. Can anyone comment on maintenance costs, operating costs,
reliability etc?

Thanks
Andrew