Sold the Helicycle

baronpilot

Newbie
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
544
Location
Auburn, IN
Aircraft
Baron B55, Bonanza V35, Brantly B2B
Total Flight Time
2500
Well guys, the Helicycle is gone. I decided to get more serious about our family personal transportation. I needed something that will do 900 NM non-stop with 4 people, bags, above the weather, and with a potty chair. So, I bought a Beechcraft Duke and sold my Baron. The Duke burns about 44 GPH of fuel, so the Helicycle was sold for fuel money :)

Anyway, it was lots of fun flying the Helicycle and I will miss it. Hope you guys have a good time at Mentone.
 

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Beautiful aircraft that's for sure.
 
You are ONE FICKLE DUDE, Todd! Meant in a nice ;) way. You family seems happy and really "on-board" for this purchase.

I'm excited about being able to fly my Mini-500 for almost 15 hours for the same fuel cost as you spend on ONE HOUR in the Duke!

My TOTAL cash outlay on it with everything being brand new except engine, Main Blades, and T/R gearbox will be less than the cost a USED GNS-530 like is in your panel. LOL

Glad your ship came in! Mine never has, never will.
 
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Todd- Nice plane and again a Helicycle doesnt stay for sale very long.

Fly the Baron to Mentone...

It should be in range!

Will miss talking to you.

Stan
 
I recall the Baron actually having better single engine rate of climb than the Duke. The Duke can be a nice aircraft if you get the turbine conversion done but then your in it for about as much as a used baby King Air.

Evil Knievel actually used to own a Duke as well. It crashed when he ordered his pilot to land it on a Drag Strip in order to make a grand entrance.
 
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I recall the Baron actually having better single engine rate of climb than the Duke. The Duke can be a nice aircraft if you get the turbine conversion done but then your in it for about as much as a used baby King Air.

Evil Knievel actually used to own a Duke as well. It crashed when he ordered his pilot to land it on a Drag Strip in order to make a grand entrance.

The Duke is fairly misunderstood by many. At gross it will manage about 350 FPM climb on one engine and will do that well above 8k. It has a single engine service ceiling of 15k. 210 knot cruise on roughly 39 GPH.

In my opinion they are the best looking twin out there and they handle very well. The Duke costs 50% less than the Baron and 25% more than the Helicycle. Pretty hard to find a better traveling machine for the money.
 
The Duke is fairly misunderstood by many. At gross it will manage about 350 FPM climb on one engine and will do that well above 8k. It has a single engine service ceiling of 15k. 210 knot cruise on roughly 39 GPH.

In my opinion they are the best looking twin out there and they handle very well. The Duke costs 50% less than the Baron and 25% more than the Helicycle. Pretty hard to find a better traveling machine for the money.

They do look nice no question. Way better than a Cessna 340. Let us know if you still love it though after your first annual.
 
They do look nice no question. Way better than a Cessna 340. Let us know if you still love it though after your first annual.

I agree with you there. Maintenance is tough, but no different than a 340, or 414. Same problematic systems, same non-factory support, same turbo charged engines, etc. It's a $600/hr plane to own. That is the price you pay if you want to travel above most weather and without tubes in your nose. I guess my point is that the most I can lose from my initial investment is maybe $50k if something horrible goes wrong. This is a low time airframe / engine plane and the parts are worth a fair amount. If I crashed the helicycle I would be out at least $40k as pretty much the only left of value (if I lived) would be the engine and maybe the instruments.

If the airlines had any decent level of customer service and the TSA did not exist I would not own an airplane. I would buy a 500C :)
 
If the airlines had any decent level of customer service and the TSA did not exist I would not own an airplane. I would buy a 500C :)

Agreed, customer service seemed a lot better back in the old days when the airlines were regulated but ticket prices were higher. As for the Transportation "Stagnation" Administration the only light at the end of the tunnel for the regular guy is this program -
http://www.globalentry.gov/tsa.html
 
Yea, it burns a bunch of fuel, but dang it flys nice and it holds my family of 4 all the and bags we want to take from NE IN to SW FL in 4 hours or so non-stop.

I miss the Helicycle already, but I can only afford 1 gas sucking machine at a time!

I'm patiently waiting to see what the guys at innovator come up with on their 2-place machine. Maybe I will have some replenished funds by then :)
 
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