Augusto Cicare, Cicare, Glenn
Ryerson, Helicopter, Kit helicopter, home built helicopter
Sport Helicopter & Pilot Global Information Exchange
An R22 vs HomeBuilt - Experimentals Created December 28th, 2oo1
SHnPGIE,
I just read your 2 cents on the CH-7 Kompress.
It's too bad some people (Fetters, Barberos, etc.) are unethical.
Fortunately there are those like B.J. Schram and Frank Robinson who help
offset the bad guys.
I am writing to suggest a possible ownership scenario you may not have
considered. I assume since you have been trying to sell your Angel
that you are looking for a two-place helicopter so you can take your lovely
bride and others for rides. I know I find it very enjoyable to be
able to give helicopter rides in my R22 Beta. It's really fun to give others
the fantastic floating feeling we know so well.
I don't know how much you know about the financial aspects of owning
an R22, so I'll give it to you from my perspective. First off, I
own 50% of an R22. By going 50-50 on a helicopter it obviously cuts
costs. We were able to get a nicer helicopter by pooling our money
than if we each had bought our own. We bought a 1989 timed-out (2200
hrs.) R22 and had it completely reconditioned at the factory in Torrance,
CA. It cost us $121,000 plus some sales tax on about
one-third of that. At $60,500+ each we have a factory-built,
FAA certified helicopter that we have a very high degree of faith in.
We have friends who have Rotorway Execs and they consider a 10 mile flight
to be a long trip. I think it's because they have a subconscious
feeling that something will go wrong and they don't want to be too far
away from their home base. I really don't know exactly what it is,
but they clearly are not as comfortable and trusting
about their helicopters as R22 owners are. We flew our R22 to
Oshkosh last summer and didn't have any maintenance or failure concerns
beforehand. I want to enjoy flying - not worry about what the next
failure might be. To me this is a very big deal and is a major consideration
about what helicopter I want to own. Now I know $60,500 is too much
for many to spend, but it's less than the Rotorway and Safari and these
aren't even built. An R22 comes ready to go. I'd rather be
flying than building.
Last March I was at the Robinson factory for their pilot safety course.
An absolutely excellent program that I'm sure has saved lives. Anyway,
there was a guy attending the course that flew his R22 from Dallas, TX
to Torrance, CA. He was almost at his 2200 hr. limit and was debating
what to do. He didn't have enough money to get a complete rebuild
like we did so he was considering a minimum rebuild at a much reduced price.
This was going to cost him about $22,000 (new rotor blades, bearings, critical
flight components, etc.). This didn't include engine work, so he
figured he would keep the engine going as long as it passed the required
tests. Maybe next year he would have to rebuild the engine for an
additional $12,000 or so. This
way he spreads out the cost over time. Roughly the whole thing
boils down to this: Approx. $35,000 for a timed-out R22, $22,000 for a
minimum required rebuild and your in the air if the engine passes.
Another $12,000 for an engine rebuild gets you a 2200 hr. full-life R22.
For $69,000 you have a helicopter you can trust! True, the maintenance
you can do is limited - spark plug, light bulb and oil changes, etc.; but
you have a much better chance of finding a mechanic willing to sign off
your more complex work on a factory-built helicopter. The other downside
(you may want to see if this is really true, I'm going by unofficial word
of mouth here) is that with a minimum rebuild it can't be used for commercial
purposes - only private ownership. This
limits your market when it's time to sell.
So far the partnership has gone extremely well since its inception
about a year and a half ago. We both love helicopters so much that
when we get cut, we bleed little tiny teensy weensy helicopters, not blood.
My partner is good at electronics and my strong point is mechanics, so
we compliment each other that way and help each other understand the respective
electrical and mechanical aspects of our prized flying machine. We
both have flexible schedules, so access has not been a problem. Most
importantly though, we trust each other. If we do dumb things or
have certain experiences, we talk about them and give each other the benefit
of our experience so the other guy can prevent doing the same thing.
You know the old saying "It's better to learn from the mistakes of others
than to make one's own mistakes." We have learned a lot from each
other.
When either of us gets a tidbit of information, we share it.
In talking to others it is clear that our partnership is somewhat rare.
We happen to live close enough so access isn't an issue. We both
have about the same amount of experience and flying hours (200+ each).
You may not have someone compatible enough and close enough geographically
to form such a partnership. If I didn't have a partner in the helicopter
I'd probably do what the guy from Dallas was going to do.
I have thought long and hard about all the homebuilt, but I just can't
get over the doubt factor. For me, reliability is where it's at!
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