March n April 2ooo's
New Stuff
Menu
 UP Dated
March 10th, 20th,  28th, 29th, 30th,
Apr 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd,  28th, n 30th  2,ooo

 .......

---

Remember
Good Helicopters (even kits) Aren't Cheep.
More Important,
Cheep Helicopters Aren't Safe
and Can/HAVE KILLED

Before Buying Anything, New or Used
I strongly suggest you personally observe the designer and or manufacture (not just the company's test pilots) flying there product at altitude (not just hovering around) many many times before you invest your money n possibly your life in their helicopter...

If  the designer or manufacture comes up with ANY excuse why they don't personally fly there craft, the writing is on the wall, READ it n move on to another manufacture that has the confidence in there craft to fly it above 100 feet regularly.

And the same goes for used/experimental helicopters. If the owner/builder does NOT have the confidence in his craft to give you full flight demonstration (autos, hover autos, quick stops, flights at altitude) the writing is once again on the wall, READ it and move on.

I have personally seen the manufactures n used helicopter owners that fly there craft at altitude n I have also seen the ones that don't fly there craft more than a few feet off  the ground. Statistically, one is LOTS less likely to kill than the other.
Remember, the life you save is Yours....

---

A good book 4 U

Chicken Hawk is a story of a young boy that goes thru US Army  Warrant Officer Flight School becoming both a helicopter pilot and a man. The story starts in the late 60 in the USA, than onto VietNamand back. The author Bob Mason tells how he almost washed out of pre flight school but was allowed to take the "Hell Month" over again (6o days of Hell Month) and  almost a year later earned his wing as a Warrant Officer. He tells how he and many other set up one of the first Air Cavalry Divisions (perhaps the first, I can't remember). Any way, I  enjoyed Bob's book so much I have actually read 3 times so far and most likely will again. It is a great book for any one fascinated with the whirling wing/helicopter and or VietNam helicopter aviation. If you are forgetful like me, you can enjoy it 3 times for only $8.76 thru Amazon.com. Click here to order Chicken Hawk..........

Hello I was wondering if you have any info on flight schools in the erie,pa area. An hour drive would be the max for flight training.

I now commute to meadville(45mins) for my private rating in airplanes, but would like to start my helicopter training asap.

There was a helicopter forced landing (crash) in Minnesota last week.  The guy landed a 222 air ambulance (AIRWOLF) on a building. All us sling wingers thought it was dumb because there was all kinds of vacant land around the building.

I just found out from a Mn ARNG IP buddy of mine what happened.  The pilot (a MN ARNG pilot also) was flying with a medic in the other seat. He felt some feed back in the cyclic.  When he re-cycled the SCAS (or whatever they call it now), the cyclic went full back and the craft went over in a loop.  At the top of the loop it went directly nose down and did two rolls.  At some point  the push pull tubes broke and the 540 rotor system was free to do all it wanted.  They were just along for the ride.  For some unknown reason, the blades started feathering and
flapping and the aircraft levelled itself just before impact in a vertical descent.  The metal truss roof absorbed most of the impact as it depressed about a foot and a half.  The pilot shut the craft down and looked over at the medic. The medic said "it wasn't supposed to do that was it?", got out and puked over the side of the building.

I wanted to let you know, there was a crash at sun and fun on Saturday also.  I watched it!  It was a hiller.  I do not know the pilot but he did walk away.  It happened in chopper town about 12 noon or so, I really didn't check.  It appeared he had a tail rotor failure on landing approach. he came in and when the tail stopped spinning the torque took over and he stated spinning.  the pilot immediately dropped straight down from about 20' and the inertial of the blades spun the craft more and tipped it on its side shattering the blades which went flying all over- total scrapnel.  Two pieces landed by me, and I was about 250' feet away!  The authorities were immediately on the scene, they had a very good response time.  I was impressed.  A very interesting crash, I have never seen anythin like that before - at least the pilot walked away unscaved and no one else was hurt. The hiller was not so fortunate.

Have a good one and keep up the good work!
Tony Hill

I have it from a good source federal ... that Revolution is now in the hands of the SBA and is a
goner forever... The county is looking for fetters and the rumors of a buyer ... which have been varied and pretty... from taiwan to mexican to whatever is sounding impossible .... Seems that the feds own it now... and have for a while... so... don't look for a resurection.. so folks are not disappointed later or put out money for anything... I can't imagine it working out... The one thing i know is the S.B.A. has seized and is going to liquidate.. for real......................

News... Revolution Helicopter Liquidation The Small Business Admin. is auctioning off the remains and contents of the former factory within the next two to three weeks. Today a commercial auctioning company did a complete inventory of the former facility. Mr. John Walls of the SBA is very intrested in anyone with knowledge of missing assets, former employees with inside knowledge of RHCI and it's business practices and recent removal of assets etc. Or the Location of Dennis Fetters, or his former wife Laura Fetters.

From my Conversation with John Walls, S.B.A. administrator that: It is my understanding that this was a "rather substantial loan" and that SBA is suspecting Fraud and that Mr. and Mrs. Fetters left with company funds and just "walked away". Also if any "investors exist or existed" they would need deep pockets because of the large loan. The locks have been changed so please do not be foolish enough to forward any funds to Revolution. It seems impossible that the rumors of the factory moving or being purchased (and these varied and were pretty wild) is totally fabricated... Although Mr. Walls conceeded that there were intrested parties they would need more than the situation was worth to buy it except at auction.

I am going to attend the auction.. and will be looking for parts for several peoples needs... IF YOU HAVE INTREST IN HELPING WITH THIS.. POSSIBLY FORMING A GROUP PURCHASE (WHICH THE SBA WELCOMES) PLEASE CONTACT ME.... WITH YOUR IDEAS AND POSSIBLE DOLLARS... TAIL ROTOR BOXES ANYONE???
Note... I am not looking for a new business... i am retired from a successful one... but i would like to help those who have m5's keep them in the air or finish them... I already have two... so my motivation is not financial.. But i do love the m5 and hate to see it die..

So here is your chance to own a piece of the action... or get your missing stuff..

Katarina Arnoux-Connors

"The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by it's nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter."

This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to."

-Harry Reasoner, February 16, 1971

Three young fixed wing aviators were in the club and spotted an older rotary wing pilot. So, one of the brash young men  walked over to the fling wing dude, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Hey, I hear your Igor Sikorsky was a faggot."

"Oh really, hmm, didn't know that." said said the old helicopter pilot calmly

Puzzled at the lack of reaction to his insult, the intrepid birdman walked back to his buddies. "I told him Sikorsky was a faggot, and he didn't care." The second birdman (a twin engine feller) remarked, "You just don't know how to set him  off...watch and learn from the expert." So, the second  guy walked over to the calm, cool, collected rotary wing guy, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, I hear your Igor Sikorsky was a transvestite faggot!"

"Oh really, hmm, didn't know that either."

Shocked beyond belief, this now less intrepid "aviator" went back to his buddies. "You're right. He's unshakable this old helicopter dude is!"

The third starched wing youngster (an ASA type) remarked,  "Boys, watch the master, I'll really tick him off... just U  watch me."  So he walked over to our hero, tapped him on the shoulder
and said,    "I hear Igor Sikorsky was really a fixed wing aviator!"

"So, that's what your buddies were trying to tell me, get the F--k out of here you 3 transvestite faggot fixed wingers, it takes a real man to be a helicopter pilot not faggot fixed winger".

Please contact: Mrs. Katt Connors, 816 792 9910 or email helikatt@yahoo.com

Heli-Cycle On Schedule, On Market, On Target "There's no question that it (the Revolution debacle) will hurt the market for a while. But I know there was a big, pent-up demand for a single seat, homebuilt helicopter. He (Dennis Fetters) just tapped right into that big sump of people. It's too bad for the industry that it turned out the way it did. Once people have been burned, 99% of them are not going to go through that again in this life." ANN was talking with B. J. Schramm, the president and driving force behind the Heli-Cycle. An engineer who understands people better than he gives himself credit for, he is dedicated to his baby, what he calls "a quality-equivalent, handling-equivalent (Robinson) R-22 at 1/5 the price." He is building a single-seat helicopter that's going to be certifiable, with all the quality control and system logic he is building into the production process. For now, the Heli-Cycle is in the homebuilt market, but everything Schramm is doing is with an eye to certification. He is looking for the experienced helicopter pilot, someone who will appreciate the handling qualities of the Heli-Cycle, someone who won't get himself into trouble trying to teach himself how to fly. A lot of those potential customers already have helicopters, but the old birds are soon going to get expensive. "Their Schweitzer 300 or their Robinson, or their old Hughes may have just about timed-out, but to rebuild it, it's just too much money. It could be anywhere from $20,000 on up to $80,000, or even more. We are looking for the guys who have  experience, so they can start with a brand new helicopter and just fly it to their heart's content. This Heli-Cycle is a single seat quality-equivalent to the R-22; it's not part of the toy-helicopter market." Tomorrow's heli-commuters won't want a "toy." They will demand a machine that will take them to work whenever the weather will allow, and bring  them home, a machine that requires only periodic maintenance, that can be maintained quickly and cheaply by personnel who will cost under $100 an hour. They want a machine that will start easily, fly steadily, present no handling quirks or surprises (and thus require a minimum of flight training), and safely bring them home to their big back yards, day after day. Oh, yes -- they also want it to cost less than their new car. The problem B. J. Schramm sees for so many people like his target customers, is a problem with money -- or rather, a lack of it in their own personal-transportation budgets. "The common man can't afford that $250,000 (for his own helicopter). That's where the single-place quality-equivalent helicopter comes in. I realize there's very little market for the amateur-built; and that market gets even smaller as the price goes up. So, our customer profile is different from what it was years ago. This time around, what we want to give is the level of quality of the R-22 and the handling qualities, at 1/5 the price of the R-22, so those helicopter pilots will have something they can afford to purchase. There's only just so many people with enough money. A guy making $100,000 a year can just afford an R-22, with upkeep, insurance, and operating costs. There's a lot of guys who make less, who make $50,000, who could afford a Heli-Cycle." That hundred-grand guy could do just about the same thing with the Heli-Cycle as he can with the Robinson (except carry a passenger), and he'll have lower expenses everywhere. Schramm would rather put Heli-Cycle's, and the customers' money into the Heli-Cycle than into hype. "We used to have to spend 25% of our money on advertising. I just hate charging the customer 25% for advertising. You  have to let them know you're out there, but I'd rather give them 25% more helicopter. " With experienced helicopter pilots as the first lot of builders, Schramm thinks the word will get out fast, among the people who can appreciate the quality and handling of the new bird. The Heli-Cycle is powered by a special-built two-cycle engine of just under 800cc, which will turn 6000-6200 rpm, and give the homebuilt a loading of 7.5 lb/hp at gross (220-lb  seat load) -- virtually the same as a Hughes 500. It will burn 6-7gph, allowing a 180-mile range, with reserve. Building a Heli-Cycle as part of the first group of 28 (including one factory machine) will take about a year and a half. The factory has the production broken into nine phases (and has delivered over 60% to the first wave of customers, staying on schedule), which allows the factory time to build and document, and gives the customers time to complete the machine in a logical progression. Every month or two, another major module is shipped for assembly. Subsequent shipping schedules will be moved up, and lot sizes will increase. The next customer wave of fifty experienced helicopter pilots is nearly all signed up (a spot deposit is $500), and their Helicycles will begin shipping at the end of the year. Each time the factory builds for production, a quantity of spares is set aside, as well, for the inevitable emergency, shipping foul-up or builder mistake. As production increases, steady-state production of small quantities of quality parts will be achieved. Production tooling, worthy of certification, goes along with each step. In this first wave, the tooling is truly what takes the time. "We spent a year building major tooling, before we even started taking orders. We'll have over 180 programs in the turning center alone, and 60-80 in our vertical machining center," Schramm says. Using state-of-the-art Haas machining centers has greatly increased the capacity and accuracy of machining. Even ten years ago, these capabilities could not  have been dreamed of, for even five times the money. Can it be done? Can a single-seat helicopter as good as the R-22 be built, for 20 cents on the dollar?

 Here is one of mine......

 Crop-dusting with a helicopter sometimes requires that you be very resourceful. One day I was on my way back to the airport to meet my loading truck and get fuel when I realized that I was not going to make it. I  just did not have enough gas to get there. Knowing that most good size
farmers have their own gas pumps I started looking for one where I might get enough gas to get me to the airport. I spotted a large white wood-frame farm house with a gas pump behind it and landed. I knocked on the door and an elderly woman, probably in her early nineties, answered the door. I asked if she would sell me a couple of gallons of gas so I could get to the airport. She leaned around me and looked at the helicopter sitting in her backyard and said. "Can't sell you any gas BUT, if you will give me a ride around the farm I'll give it to you." As surprised as I was that a woman of her age would even think about flying, much less in a crop-duster's helicopter, I quickly agreed. I pumped the gas and then I helped her into the right seat which had no cushions, only a seat-belt. I strapped her in and off we went. I flew her all around her farm. She was like a kid in a candy store. I could not believe she was enjoying the flight as she was. After she had seen everything she wanted to see I dropped her off and headed for the airport wondering all the way just what her husband was going to say when he came home that evening and she told him a helicopter landed in the backyard and took her flying.

Butch Grafton or Butch Grafton

---

FYI
I have worked for a company that made a variaty of two stroke cycle engines from generators to big V-6 outboards. My experience is that it is cheaper to design and manufacture a larger crank bearing than to balance the crank. Built-up cranks also have a tendence to be misaligned or slip on their crank-pins. There are many other reasons that there will be vibration, but most are........ related to the crank. .........................................................................................Donald Lawrence

---

---

---

---

in the UK

---

FREE fone calls in the US using

Time to start collecting dollars for 2,000's expences
If after reading through
Sport Helicopter n Pilot Global Information Exchange
you feel it to be a worth wile web site and  are willing to contribute 1 dollar to insure it's continued existence on the InterNet by helping pay SHnPGIE's out of  pocket expenses,
please click the button below

---

Beam to:

March n April 2ooo's New Stuff

February 2ooo's New Stuff

January 2ooo's New Stuff

December 1999's New Stuff

November 1999's New Stuff

September n October 1999's New Stuff

August 1999's New Stuff

July 1999's New Stuff

June 1999's New Stuff

May 1999's New Stuff

April 1999's New Stuff

March 1999's New Stuff

February 1999's New Stuff
.
January 1999's  New Stuff

Old New Stuff Page 1
.
Old New Stuff Page 2
.
Old New Stuff Page 3
.
Old New Stuff Page 4
.
Old New Stuff Page 5
or
Sport Helicopter n Pilot Global Information Exchange's
Main page
or
My Personal Stuff Menu

---

Honestly speaking, SHnPGIE's contributions have dropped of tremendously in the last 6 months, if this means there is no longer much interest in this WWWeb site, well I'm sad to say that one day the "law of  the jungle" will likely take over n SHnPGIE will die.

Until than, please realize, I already contribute 10/20 hours a week hosting/editing SHnPGIE n I personally feel it only fair that the people that enjoy n profit from this site should also contribute something to help pay SHnPGIE's out of pocket expenses. So, needing cash for SHnPGIE  I  started selling a few things to help supplement SHnPGIE's contributions.

So, if  you're purchasing a book from Amazon, now or in the future, by clicking thru SHnPGIE, we will get a small (about $0.50) commission. Or if you use telephone cards, by purchasing from SHnPGIE, you will save a buck n SHnPGIE will make a buck since (we sell them for a dollar less than at your local convenience store). So if you have the need for one of the two for mentioned items, please click on the icon above.

It all adds up n will help maintain n perhaps allow me to cover additional helicoptering events, thus giving YOU more good stuff on helicopters to read n quality fotos to dream on n help SHnPGIE be on the WWWeb one more year.

It's all up to you, the reader  if  SHnPGIE is on the WWWeb after September 1999.
Right now I feel like the beggars we C on the PBS TV channels from time to time, they are annoying aren't they, sorry.

THANK YOU

---

A Few
Good Helicopter n Aviation
...Related Books...
You may like to read
.

---

Chicken Hawk is a story of a young boy that goes thru US Army  Warrant Officer Flight School becoming both a helicopter pilot and a man. The story starts in the late 60 in the USA, than onto VietNamand back. The author Bob Mason tells how he almost washed out of pre flight school but was allowed to take the "Hell Month" over again (6o days of Hell Month) and  almost a year later earned his wing as a Warrant Officer. He tells how he and many other set up one of the first Air Cavalry Divisions (perhaps the first, I can't remember). Any way, I  enjoyed Bob's book so much I have actually read 3 times so far and most likely will again. It is a great book for any one fascinated with the whirling wing/helicopter and or VietNam helicopter aviation. If you are forgetful like me, you can enjoy it 3 times for only $8.76 thru Amazon.com. Click here to order Chicken Hawk..........

Almost every one knows Chuck Yeager was the first human to break the sound barrier. But the story that leads up to him being in the right place at the right time and having "the Right Stuff" is equally as interesting as his mach 1 story. If I remember correctly (I read this one a few years back n only once) this book also starts out when Chuck was a young man on a farm, following him thru Army flight school, a W.W.II P51 pilot in Europe and back to Murrock/Eedwards AF Base, retiring a Air Force Brig. General....... Great human aviation story, great W.W.II story and great aviation history story all rapped up in one book for just 6 bucks thru Amazon.com. Click here to order eager......

.
You may have seen the movie or perhaps the segment on 6o minuets or 2o/2o type TV show recently. What a story that starts with a grope of young soccer players on a twin engine turbo prop plane flying thru the Andes in Chili South America and does not make it. I do not want to give it a way, but is is a great story and just keeps on coming and coming as you turn the page. Once again, I read this one a few years ago and with my memory, I will take it with me on my next long airline flight and read/enjoy it all over. Alive is also a bargain at $5.59 thru Amazon.com. Click here to order here to order Alive..........