Helicom Commuter H1B ,I restoration of a classic

[animal]

OK, as some may know for many months I was in negations to purchase a rare Rotor craft Classic. A Single seat Helicom Commuter H1B Helicopter.

This is the true grand daddy of the Home built Helicopter movement with the prototype first flown in the late 50's.

On Friday July 17th I sent the half down payment to the owner of the Helicopter,David Glassmeyer of Ohio, he has had this aircraft in storage since the early 1990's. ( Thanks again Tim O. aka Barnstorm2 for listing this on the forum last year before Mentone for David. )

He agreed to deliver the Helicopter to me for expenses ,as there was no way my car could make that long a trip and back. ( Just have to say David is a really great guy and worked with me a lot on this deal , Thanks David. )

On Tuesday July 21, I took delivery of the 1968 Commuter Jr. Helicopter s/n CWS-1

FAA reg. N814S.

Now, this Helicopter is a stepping stone to my ultimate goal of someday owning a Commuter B2, the last model of the Commuter,before the baby belle/Safari helicopter.

To be honest,I had told a few other people about this project, but none wanted to take on a project this big, but I asked one guy,if I buy it and rebuild it, would you be interested in buying it when completed.

So long story short, this helicopter will be up for sale when completed as I have located 2 of the 2 seat Commuters at a very good price.

After several requests from some members of the Forum.

I have decided I will go ahead and start a new restoration thread.

My goal is to do a complete restore and hopefully have it flying by ROC.

Now if that time frame will happen is anyone's guess. (limited funds,unknown engine ,lots of work.)

what I can say so far is that for a 41 year old home built aircraft,I am very happy to say it is in really great shape.

The Commuter is a 4130 steel tube and fabric helicopter,powered by and engine from 65 h.p. to 100 h.p. Cont. aircraft engine.

This one has a Cont. C90-12F that was sent to the Netherlands and rebuilt and converted to a Cont. 0-200 100 h.p.

This helicopter has a very rich history and even has log book endorsements from the designer himself Harold "POP" Emigh and also was at one time owned by the Company Tamarand int. that had taken over the Design rights from Helicom. this was before the days of the Baby Belle.

Anyway my helicopter N814S has been flown before as the early photo shows, went thru some ugly cosmetic changes,that I am now putting back to stock config. and has by far the most god awful ugly panel I have laid eyes on..lol needless to say that is already removed.

I have already done a lot of tear down and started the rebuild.

Honestly have been to busy to even care about starting a thread.

but figured if I was going to do it I better do it now as I already have 8 folders of photos of the work so far.

So I hope ya'll enjoy the restore thread and if you learn just a little of this true part of homebuilt rotorcraft history then thats great.

At any point I am enjoying and learning alot about the Commuter Helicopters design and needless to say makes me want a 2 seater even more now.

I guess as long as I am enjoying the rebuild and learning then thats all that really matters. Enjoy the Pics and with any luck this baby will run right with out much work and fly well.

first pic is how it looked when first built

#2 is how it was bastardized. who ever added pointy nose and rounded top had no clue about aircraft construction.

it had a 1/4" of bondo over both parts.

rest of the pics are the day it was delivered. yeah I was like a kid at Christmas waiting at the end of the drive way with camera and video camera.

pics show parts laying on the shop floor.

and yes matter of fact, it is bigger then I thought from the photos..lol

anyway more pics to be posted soon.

[RotoPlane]

No one can say you do not have the guts for new adventures. I hope this project will run smoothly for you Tim!

[animal]

Oh yes,I can say it is an Adventure for sure. but it is one I am enjoying so far. the real fun will be the first engine start after sitting since 1992. but the engine was pickled so maybe with any luck I will only have oil seal leaks.

[barnstorm2]

post regular photo updates please!

[animal]

Stan, Hope you enjoy the Thread, it is going to be interesting to see how well the engine runs. it has 15 h.r. TT. the helicopter has it's permanant cert. of airworthiness.

It had been requested and was granted an early test period.

Of course it will need a fully new Inspection,but since I am doing a frame up restore, that should not be a problem.

I have already been in contact with the local FSDO and the agent they assigned to me even knew the helicopter back when it was in Mayville N.y.
and even knew Bob Dart,one the the Commuter experts.

I also have a Local A&P supervising the rebuild.

here are more pics.

[animal]

here are some pics of the heavy top. it had a 1/4" of Bondo over the whole thing. it felt like it weighed 20 pounds.

I made a new top for it by forming 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum angle over a pattern of plywood. and covered it with some fiberglass roofing material I had laying around.

when I weighed it each side panel was just under 1 pound each. so I am figuring the whole top it now about 5 pounds when you figure the weight of the top sheet cross bars and rivets.

as you can see I also started on the nose.

what is cool about the nose is, it is designed to pull pins and it hinges to the side so you can work on the back of the panel.

[Minnesota_Mike]

Tim...
I'm really looking forward to this build...no doubt you've got a serious project on your hands...but I know from watching how you operate in the past your the man for this job. Your patient methodical step by step approach will see this through...no quick fix here...long steady progress will bring this back to mint condition. In your hands I can't wait to see you bring it back to pristine shape.
I'm rooting for you...and will be a frequent visitor to your thread.

Best to you...
Mike

[animal]

Hi Mike,yep it is going to be a challenge.

As long as I don't run into engine problems, things should go pretty fast.

one thing I have to do is buy new bolts, seems David misplaced them when he moved from one part of Ohio to another.

right now the tailboom is just temp. hanging on the frame for balance. it has a cool ground handling wheel set up.

you can rock it back on the tail skid and slide the wheels inplace, roll it where ya want it. drop it back down on the skids and go. as you can see in the pics it has storage mounts on the skids so you can fly with them on it so you can take them with you should you need to roll it or move it around when you get somewhere with it.

this helicopter was very well thought out. the control links are built like a tank. only thing I have seen so far that could be improved is the pivot points for the controls do not have grease fittings and they are welded to the frame,so no removing the flight controls. thankfully they all still move just fine.

[Brian]

dart airport is just down the road from me 1 1/2 hrs small world thanks for the pictures keep them coming good luck on your build hope to see it fly some day

[animal]

Originally Posted by Brian

dart airport is just down the road from me 1 1/2 hrs small world thanks for the pictures keep them coming good luck on your build hope to see it fly some day

Brian, could you check around and see if anyone around your area would have any info or pics of this helicopter from back around 1981 or 82, that is when it was around Mayville at the factory.

I did a ad on Barnstormers.com looking for pics, video or history of this helicopter.

the more I learn about it, the cooler the history is.

It was built in cali. been in N.Y. Tenn, La. Tex, and Or. and I got it from Ohio.

and I think it is wild that it was even flown by the Commuter designer.

[animal]

well I have it almost striped down to the bare airframe.

today I took out all the control rods and the stick.

removed the new top I had started to make.

removed the engine cooling cowls.

and removed the fire wall... man what a job that was.

here are a few pics.

this is truely being a frame up restoration.

more work then I first planed, but the end results should be a sweet looking and flying helicopter that i should be able to get top dollar for when I sell it.

as pointed out this is a stepping stone to buying the 2 seat Commuter 2B helicopter I want.

But I will be honest, it may turn out so nice, that this one may be my keeper.

I have a lot of plans that you will see take shape as I go along.

Still have not heard the engine run yet. but I will find that out soon enough.

hope you enjoy the pics and learn some of how this classic was built.

as you can see it has a very strong airframe.

[Fly Army]

So, Animal,
When you're all done are you gonna be looking for a test pilot.......??????

[animal]

Originally Posted by Fly Army

So, Animal,
When you're all done are you gonna be looking for a test pilot.......??????

Well my Business partner is a helicopter CFII, he has said he will test fly it for me.

Test flight should go ok since this machine still has it's permanent cert of airworthiness.

I talked to the local FAA yesterday and they said everything is still in order and no paper work issues, so once it is back together. get an A&P to do a inspection and we will be good to go.

once it is flown I plan to sell it to buy a 2 seater I have had my eye on. it has dual controls so my CFI can train me in my own machine.

that will then be the high light of a life time goal.

Of course, this one may turn out so nice I may keep it and sell my bike to go get training to fly it.

hope this week to get it stripped and repainted so I can then start the fun part, that is putting it back together and testing it.

I love just walking out to my shop and seeing it sitting there. can't wait to have it back together.

that Cont. C-90 12F is going to sounds sweet.

[animal]

Don't Worry Stan. the Fun is just starting. this week will be very interesting.

Oh and guess what I got in the mail today?

A copy of a complete set of the original single seat plans.

that will make life a lot easier.

[All_In]

Your having so much fun Tim!!!
It shows!
Thanks for sharing!