Maxwell: We publish the Experimental Helo magazine and as such attend some
13 events each year which have at least some kit built helicopters in
attendance. One of the most recent, Homer Bell's in Ohio had one single
seat kit built helicopter (Helicycle) fly in from Louisianna. At the end of
the event he jumped in his bird and flew home. The January issue of our
magazine has an article on that. In another example, Mark Richards flew a
Baby Belle two seat kit built helicopter from Ear Falls Ontario to the Sun'n
Fun Fly-In in Florida. Another example is Al Behuncik who has flown his
Rotorway Exec, a two seat kit built helicopter from Alberta Canada to
Oshkosh several times. Now I've got 240 hrs on my two seat Baby Belle and
while I haven't flown long cross countries, the 240 hrs have been just
almost maintenance free with the exception of oil and filter changes. BTW
another Baby Belle was flown from the Seattle area to Oshkosh and return.
Auto Rotations. With two of us up and 1/2 tank of fuel, Mark Richards did
an autorotation down to the 3' level where I counted to three before he
added the power back. Another example was John Snider at Oshkosh this year
was doing hovering autos in his two stroke Mosquito from as high as 18' agl.
I don't think that you will find anyone willing to do that in an R-22 or a
Schweitzer 300CB, or for that matter a D model Bell 47. Also operating an
ultralite, two stroke engined Mosquito, less than 254#, was a highly
experienced airline captain. While it is true I've never seen an AW-95
flying at any of the events that I attend, I do know of two highly reputable
people who have accumulated some hours in their version of the AW-95.
There are an increasing number of kit built helicopters ranging from single
seaters to and including a 4 -5 seater, co-axial, turbine powered etc. The
reason for this is the cost of maintenance and the ability to modify and fix
things that aren't done as well as changing technology will allow. Example:
Metal rotor blade replacement for Bell 47. $64,000. Not too long ago a
pair of brand new control links for a Bell 407 were on ebay listed for
$8,000. His comment was that the Bell price was $30,000 for the pair; just
two pieces of tubing with a rod end on one end and a control fork on the
other. I could make them in my shop in a couple of hours. I didn't believe
the $30,000 so I called Bell and indeed the price was $28,500!!! While I
can probably afford to pick up a used Bell 47, I refuse to pay for the
maintenance and operating costs when both Bell and FAA tell me where I have
to buy my parts. BTW the performance difference between my Baby Belle and a
D model Bell 47 is very small. It is my contention that it is not possible
to own a certified helicopter because of this relationship with Bell and
FAA.
With your background of welding and machining, you would be a more than
welcome addition to the Experimental Helo community.
I too dreamed of flying my own helicopter since the late 60's but in 1997 I
was in the air. Since then I've flown my Baby Belle in Ca, Ore, Wa. AZ, NM,
Tx, Ok, Ohio, IN, IOwa, WI, MI and Ontario Canada. Still having a blast.
Stu


"Maxwell" wrote in message
...

"ed" wrote in message
...
Is the A/W-95 Helicopter by A-B Helicopters a good design for what it
is ??? I'm thinking of building it but appreciate any advise .
Thanks ED

I have wanted to build an experimental helicopter most of my life, and
have read, visited and otherwise observed the situation for many years. I
should also add that I own a well equipped welding and machine shop, so I
would be a good bit more fearless than most people attempting to do so.
But so far a good, safe, reliable kit built helicopter is just not a
reality. From what I have seen at best, everyone that builds something
like A/W 95 winds up with something they are afraid to fly higher than
they are willing to fall, or something the hurts them. Notice a lot of
footage on the internet of people demonstrating designs, but seldom much
above 10'. I have only talked with 1 person, that claims to have profited
by building a kit build copter, and I have to doubt his success due to the
extreme failure of others.

The primary reasons seem to focus on the smaller crafts LIMITED ability to
enter and safely execute an auto rotation, and the less reliable light
weight engines required to make them successful. But this certainly isn't
the only reasons. Helicopters and light weight power plants are much more
complex than the inexperience could ever imagine. Although I feel
confident someone could in fact build one, I doubt it has been done yet.
And the time and money it would take to accomplish the task would quickly
out weigh the cost of just buying a good used helo. My experience tells me
that if I every commit to such a project, I will only be doing so because
I enjoy a good challenge, and that would be a good one. Certainly not
because I was hoping save some money on flying a sport helicopter.