Helicycle-- Hoverings & Happenings

Avk- Thanks for your input. I definitely am going to keep starting my turbine like I have been. It lights off nicely keeping it engaged. Stan
 
Arnie- The forecast this afternoon is likely thunderstorms. I have two other fly-ins the other direction, and much closer. I may just end up hovering, which is as much fun going nowhere as it is going somwhere..............unless I am going somewhere to hiover! Ha. Stan
 
Weather not cooperating

Weather not cooperating

I changed my plans to fly to my flight school. The weather was raining when I wanted to be there, and the forecast was not good to be away for any length of time......so went the opposite direction to the south and dropped in on a smaller fly-in. There was a JetRanger there that kept my Helicycle company.

I had a tough time keeping peoples hands off my machine....and still remain a nice guy about it. I firmly had to tell two parents that their kid could sit in my seat only if I supervised their entry and exit....

I left and went inside the hanger for a donut...to come back out and find a swarm of people around it...touching it all over. I need to have designated a guard for when I left. You just cant leave these things alone. I was warned about this from other Helicycle owners. I enjoy kids around it while I am there....but lord knows what they would do if I left it for an hour.

Going down I was bucking a good 20 mph headwind and had around 80 mph groundspeed....coming back I saw better than 120 several times.
 

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Stan - I think that JetRanger copied your paint job. Nice pictures.

You need a ground crew to bring your air powered inflatable helicopter from your front yard. Those kids would vote you most popular air show guy.

The parents would buy you all the donuts you can eat. Sure beats eating roast squirrels from some tree in Paxton.

:):):)
 
It should be AGAINST THE LAW to be havin' that much fun!!!
 
Arnie- That Jet Ranger has its original paint, and since its original, the N numbers were very small. I should have taken a picture of them. The pilot told me that if he repainted it...then the larger numbers had to be put on.

If I recall correctly, the Bell 206 has the safest flying record of all helcopters and fixed wing......the least deaths per 100,000 hours flying.


Bryan- Yea, its a lot of fun going places in a helicopter. Having the potential to land most anywhere, is just a neat feeling even though I pass on thousands of potential landing sites.


Stan
 
Arnie-
If I recall correctly, the Bell 206 has the safest flying record of all helcopters and fixed wing......the least deaths per 100,000 hours flying.
Stan

I often see your Helicycle as a one place 206 for some reason. Maybe because of the heavy blades and a bit of reserve power. Something like that. In experimental category helicopters I feel high blade inertia is a friend.

I think it would be cool if you could fly that 206 some day. It would be an interesting report. thanks
 
Arnie- The guy invited me down to his place and will let me take the controls of his 206. I will have a good report when I do. The 206 is as good of a flying machine ever made, fixed or rotorwing. The stats prove it.


Stan
 
Stan ... (I have never done it) but I would sure like to hear your thoughts when you start and fly the 206. Notice I said start and fly. I understand a guy can cook a pricey turbine before the rotors turn. Just thinking out loud. Love your adventures and associates. How is the glue drying lately ? Best wishes and thanks for the up-dates.
 
Chopper channel is plenty wide

Chopper channel is plenty wide

I have received a few comments questioning the width of my chopper channel. I appreciate the concern, but seriously, if I cant navigate down that 70 foot wide channel without trimming trees....then I dont have any business flying a helicopter. If you watch the videos when I am taking off down through the channel...you can see those orange paint can lids I have buried marking the centerline. I just sub consciously keep those under me....and I have at least 3 feet of clearance! ha

I put my truck off to one side for a little better perspective. The channel runs about 600 feet till it reaches a 200 ft. x 200 ft hole that the tornado of 2004 tore out. Again, if it werent for that tornado tearing up my woods...I would never have considered opening a channel up to the hole for a helicopter.

Thats why that tornado on my cabin means a lot to me.


Stan
 

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Arnie- it is very deceiving from the pictures until i put my truck iin it for perspective. I dont believe i have ever strayed more than 4 feet off the paint can lid centerline. I just subconsciously keep those flickering orange dots under me as i fly out the channel. Arnie, I was out flying yesterday, hovering over dads 3 inch tall corn, racing down the corn rows, and making a climbing sweeping right turn by the grain bin my dad had a "hot start" on 2 years ago. I knew you always liked the farming side of my videos. I will try to upload it today. I had a huge weather system moving in and had to cut my playing short. I have a pretty good video to post today. The more i fly this machine, the more it feels a part of me. Stan
 
Arnie- this one is for you

Arnie- this one is for you

This is a video from yesterday. It was a rush out flying, getting down on the deck and checking out dads corn . Theres an orange standpipe for a buried field tile that I was inspecting. Its fun getting down and hovering over mud. The red place nestled in the wooded area is a bed and breakfast and they were holding an outdoor wedding. Storms were coming in from the west and they got hit. It was storming so bad I couldnt upload this video till today.

I cant describe going down in those secluded farm patches all surrounded by trees. The only things that get down in these places is sunlight and deer tracks.

This machine is perfect for checking over all the farms, and reporting back to dad any tile holes....or even some insect problems that I can tell by flying real slow. Soon this corn will be head high and I wont be hovering over it then.


YouTube - ‪May28 004‬‏



Stan
 
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Flying Farmers multi-state Fly-in

Flying Farmers multi-state Fly-in

This Saturday June 4th, the Flying Farmers organization will be holding a fly-in on the Illinois/Indiana border. I was invited to fly-in , talk about, and demonstrate my Helicycle. The Flying Farmers president saw my helicopter at the airport last fall and said he would invite me over this year.

The weather is forecast to be just fine this weekend. We have been going through a huge period of unsettled weather.

They are expecting 60 -80 airplanes and my one helicopter to fly-in from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Iowa, and Missouri. I am going for the ribs and chicken! My $100 meal!

Heres the link to the fly-in listed at the bottom of the Bob Finleys 1st page.


http://illinoisflyingfarmers.org/il_newsletter.pdf


Stan
 
Hillberg- Brett posted a good source of information about drain tiles.

All over dads farms are drainage tiles. Some have been dug by hand 80 years ago.......many thousands of feet we have put in ourselves. Now tiles are put in with GPS and laser guided machines that can control the slope of a tile to fractions of an inch in 100 yards, literally being able to tile places that could not be tiled before because of the accuracy.

When the fields are wet but just starting to dry out...you can clearly see the tile lines as they start drying first.

The old clay tiles are typically 12 inches long and are just butt jointed. With ground movement, frost, etc....or just a clay tile fracturing,...all of a sudden the dirt comes in from above and eventually makes a crater shaped hole clear to the surface. This dirt all goes into the tile....and usually it will all be flushed out. The new tiles are all those big plastic rolls of it that have perforations in them to let the water in. Some even have a sock sleeve around the tile to keep the silt out. Its a big business draining this farm ground, and the way the land values have skyrocketed lately, and the commodity prices, drainage pays off.

I fly over the farms just for fun, and am not really working at looking for tile holes. However they catch your eye and I just make a mental note where it is and go tell my dad. I also report other tile holes to some other farmers that are receptive to such gestures. Some dont like it and I know their character if they are gracious receivers of such news....or am I just being a nosy body flying over their farm. Its a fine line and there are farms I maintain 500 feet over.

It just adds to the reward of flying finding such things that need fixing when you cant see them from the country roads. As if I need another excuse to fly!

Stan
 
Thanks for posting the explanation Brett. One can realy get stumped by the difference in European and American wording, seemingly both called English.

I remember a story told to me, when I was posted to the US for 1991, stayed in Bethesda, doing some defense work. An English guy's house nearby ours in Robinwood Road had just been renovated, and still had some rubble outside. Once the contractor removed it, he wanted to mow the lawn. Not wanting to damage the blades on his fancy mower, he went to Sears, and asked for a cheapy. The salesman asked why he wanted a cheapy. He explained there were loose building rubble on the pavement outside his house, like stones used for cement mixing, and did not want to stuff up the blades of his expensive mower. The salesman looked puzzled, and asked, why would you want to cut the pavement. The guy replied, back home, that is part of the tenants responsability, keeping the pavement clean outside your house. The salesman replied, "really, and how much do you cut off?" The guy replied, about an inch. "An inch", he gasped. Yes, and inch....

Wondering what the fuss was all about, he asked why they were so surprised. Well, pavement in Europe is sidewalk in the US, and pavement in the US is road in Europe. The salesman thought the guy was trimming down the road, to get rid of the stones !!!
 
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