Affordable helicopter?

I...but who wants an engine to quit and have to leave it in some ones back yard and fine a way home...

If I were to get one, I'd use these little LARGE-DIGIT digital EGT CHT indicators and high grade aviation probes. The digits are about 1/2" tall (huge) and are programmed when you buy them.

The digits are green in the normal range, all digits turn amber in the caution range, and all digits FLASH RED above red-line. They work with normal Type K and Type J thermocouples. (K=EGT, J=CHT)

I'd trust a 2-stroke to fly over CUBA if I had good indicators like that.

i32_red.gif
 
where and how much. I need one now for a 2 cylinder hirth

Don't you need..

(2) EGT probes
(2) Digital EGT Readouts
(2) CHT probes
(2) Digital CHT Readouts.......??

When I had a Rans Airaile I got a quote on these and never bought them because I sold the S-12 before finishing it. You have to tell them what the green/amber/red limits are and they send them to you pre-programmed. You have to ask for 12VDC because they are normally 24VDC.


Here's a link to the manufacturer. I was going to get the 1/32din.

http://www.newportus.com/ppt/I32.html
 
I would even go one step further and put a little MGL Avionics display in with bells and whistles whenever things approach problem levels. The best part of a display like this is you can store the parameters on a little SD card to replay and analyze to spot trends and problems.
 

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Just personal preference... That's wayyy too much tiny symbology for an ultra-simple ultralight helicopter.

I wouldn't even want an altimeter. Just airspeed, Rotor/engine tach, and EGT/CHT's
 
Noticed there's an option to have the MZ301 in the Mosquito Air - not an ultralight anymore, but sounds like it would be a blast to fly. Wonder what the empty & max gross weight is on that setup?

Wonder if fitting it with floats might bring it back under ultralight weight limits...
 
Noticed there's an option to have the MZ301 in the Mosquito Air - not an ultralight anymore, but sounds like it would be a blast to fly. Wonder what the empty & max gross weight is on that setup?

Wonder if fitting it with floats might bring it back under ultralight weight limits...

The three cylinder version is the one I'd get - so I could haul around all that extra crap I like to see when I fly:D It has an empty weight of circa 360lbs and max takeoff weight of 720.
 
No way to get an XE-3 under the Part 103 weight.

I'm not talking about the XE3 - they've also got an option for the Air to use the MZ301.

Given the weight difference between the airframes I figure it might be close with the float allowance?
 
I'm not talking about the XE3 - they've also got an option for the Air to use the MZ301.

Given the weight difference between the airframes I figure it might be close with the float allowance?

Oh OK Brett. The Air will fly a 300# man! Why would you want that added expense?
 
I'm not talking about the XE3 - they've also got an option for the Air to use the MZ301.

Given the weight difference between the airframes I figure it might be close with the float allowance?

That would make for a monster but consider too the increased fuel burn of that engine. You would have about maybe a 40 minute run time with that engine and only 5 gallons of fuel.
 
Oh OK Brett. The Air will fly a 300# man! Why would you want that added expense?

Their published specs say max gross weight of 530 lbs, max pilot weight 250 lbs for the regular Air. Don't know if that's a CG, structural, or power thing in the end though.

In my case it's not so much needing to stay ultralight, I've got a CPL(H) plus A&P but it would be less hassle. Would think about adding more fuel capacity to the Air3 anyways...

I personally don't care for the fiberglass airframe, would rather stick with the more conventional Air style (but with the regular skids).
 
I like the Helicycle and I like Stan's post, but I am finally glad to see discussions on the Mosquito. I have seen the autorotation vid. Any other chopper that tried some of these autos would end up in a heap.

James
 
...Given the weight difference between the airframes I figure it might be close with the float allowance?...

Without a lot of design work and added structure, there's no provision for putting floats on the Air.
 
The REAL TROPHY of the Mosquito endeavor is getting a cheap-to-fly Magic Carpet. 70 MPH above the ground, with the same price and fuel economy as a car.
 
Without a lot of design work and added structure, there's no provision for putting floats on the Air.

They do already offer a conventional skid upgrade package for it - the XEL's floats just attach to it's skids, seems like it wouldn't be hard to do the same on the Air.

Stan - the FAR 103 max speed limit doesn't apply to helicopters for the reasons you stated.
 
the little bug doesn't meet ultra lite specs as it sits with out floats, With floats it squeeks by no floats no ultralite.
 
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