Would a helicopter in every garage result in a lawyer in every driveway?

[Rotor Rooter]

......?.....

[jebthereb]

I doubt it. There will never be a helicopter in every garage. There are not enough people that have what it takes to fly one.

[bryancobb]

Well,
I HAD that for 6 years and I managed to avoid any legal stuff. It helped because all my neighbors are my cousins and I was fortunate to never have an accident.

And yes...it fit under there with the Camaro, with all 3 outer rotor blades installed. I could be airborne in 2 minutes to zip to the grocery store for a gallon of milk or a bolt at Lowes.

The red R-44 flew up from south of Atlanta for the buyer and his mechanic to go through the logs and get a test flight. It's nice to be able to do this kind of stuff without a 20 minute drive to the airport.

[Doug Riley]

Flying is a much more critical process than driving. It requires a discipline, focus and attention to detail that is not for everyone -- or even for most people.

Never mind lawyers; if everyone had a helo, the sky would be like a swarm of bees all the time. No fun in that.

[WaspAir]

No, the lawyers would be in helicopters, too.

Some of us already are.


I also vaguely recall that F. Lee Bailey once owned the Enstrom company . . .

[bryancobb]

No Wasp,

He owned Brantly. Well...he may have also owned Enstrom, I don't know?

[Vance]

Originally Posted by bryancobb

No Wasp,

He owned Brantly. Well...he may have also owned Enstrom, I don't know?

A simple search and cut and paste.

In October 1968, a controlling interest in Enstrom was bought by Purex Industries, who wanted to develop a turbine powered version, something that didn't happen until over 20 years later. The lack of success with this venture led the piston-engined variants to languish, and the Purex stake was bought by F. Lee Bailey in January 1971, changing to the current name.[6] Bailey was an enthusiastic entrepreneur, and soon had the factory producing over a hundred units per year. He also orchestrated the development and certification of the sleek 280 Shark, which came on the market in 1974. It was an immediate hit.[7] Bailey, encouraged by this success, embarked on a four-place stretch version of the Shark (designated 280L Hawk). But the combination of technical problems with this development and a cooling economy drained the company's reserves, and Bailey sold the company in 1979. Since then it has changed hands several times.


F Lee Baily also headed an investment group that bought Brantly.

Thank you, Vance

[bryancobb]

Thanks for the search. I knew he had SOME history with Brantly.

[Rotor Rooter]

Thanks for the replies.


Before starting a manufacturing company many, many moons ago, I listed the attributes that were necessary to assure its success. These objectives were;

1. The quality had to be the best.
2. The price had to be the lowest.
3. The delivery had to be the fastest.
4. and, the 'local' aspect of the company had to be made known.

The objectives were meet and the competition was eliminated.


Before starting the build and refining of the SynchroLite about ten years ago, I considered what would be the market for such a craft if someone [else] wanted to manufacture it at a fairly high volume.
After listening to others on the previous rotorcraft forum it became apparent that few if any people wanted an easy-to-fly Intermeshing helicopter, particularly if cost more then the conventional Mosquito etc.


A similar concern to that of the SynchroLite is bugging me now. Theoretically the Side-by-Side - Electrotor-SloMo should be as easy to control as is an electric scooter. Both involve weight-shifting and a throttle.
IF the Electrotor-Slomo was to become very popular and thereby have a low price, the buyers are likely to be the same people who buy Skidoos and SeeDoos etc. But, in the air these people will be eliminating themselves on wires, etc., etc. and the winners will be the lawyers who sue the manufacture for not producing a Darwinian-proof vehicle.



Any thoughts?


Dave

[hillberg]

In 1963 Enstrom had an AiResearch 36-55-1 in an airframe, Worked well but the price of the turbine was too costly.

[StanFoster]

You definitely have to be a good neighbor in this day and age with all the cellphones uploading videos and pictures. I haven't received one complaint with 2 years of flying my Helicycle. Even though I often fly closer than 500 feet because there is no such rule with helicopters where I fly, the noise is much less than anything I have ever flown. My gyros drew several complaints over the years such as "obnoxiously loud" and a nuisance. I often ask my neighbors when I run into them if I am bothering them in anyway with my flying or the noise. So far nothing but how they like the quiet sound of the "jet" engine. But, it only takes one person to cause trouble, and even the wrestling farmer hasn't caused any stir as I fly quietly over his farms. Stan

[HobbyCAD]

Originally Posted by Rotor Rooter

Before starting a manufacturing company many, many moons ago, I listed the attributes that were necessary to assure its success. These objectives were;

1. The quality had to be the best.
2. The price had to be the lowest.
3. The delivery had to be the fastest.

These objectives are correct. But in reality, you will be able to receive your item compliant with only 2 of those 3 attributes. The purchase selection entails picking the item with the 3rd attributes you are willing to forfeit.

[Fly Army]

IIRC F. Lee Bailey was also a former Marine Corps Aviator as well. He rose to fame by standing up to defend several famous high profile killers of his time. Funny how that works, I wonder if some young unknown hot-shot lawyer could make as big a name for himself in today's world by defending the Colorado movie theatre wack-job ?

[WaspAir]

Sure.
Johnnie Cochran did pretty well defending O.J. Simpson.
Everybody's entitled to a defense, and if it is done particularly successfully against big odds, people take notice.

[Rotor Rooter]

Originally Posted by HobbyCAD

These objectives are correct. But in reality, you will be able to receive your item compliant with only 2 of those 3 attributes. The purchase selection entails picking the item with the 3rd attributes you are willing to forfeit.

Francois,

Thanks for the reply.

The 3rd attribute 'delivery' was important for that specific company because approximately 40% of the orders were for custom systems, which had to be designed and then built.


Dave