Chris I've seen your videos of you flying both the Mini 500 and a Rotorway. Looks like you are having a lot of fun with the kit helicopters. Do you still have one and what are you flying now. I'm in the process of doing my commercial helicopter licence here in Australia and I'm loving your videos.
The Mini 500 is hands down the BEST real helicopter for under $30,000. They are very nimble, low cost to fly and operate and the BEST investment for a new pilot to build more flight hrs., and to perfect their skills. Many are owned by ranchers to find where Ferrell hogs are destroying their property, and of cores a blast to fly!
Absolutely false. They have a terrible safety record and the engine is so prone to failure that Rotax had to officially state "PLEASE STOP USING THIS ENGINE IN HELICOPTERS, IT IS NOT SAFE!"
What engine does the Mini 500 use? What is the safest small Helicopter to build time in regarding Cost and Safety? I am beginning to wonder if there is a safe civilian helicopter out there for under $100k! If there is, I would like to know about it! (I also posted this comment on top comment line.)
There really isnt. Heli's are complex machines that require lots of R&D to perfect. Robinson R22 and Schweizer 300 have this market cornered. You can get them for under 100k but not by much. Some have spouted getting one that is due for major overhaul that way you can get it for cheap and end up with basically a brand new heli for maybe 120k total, which is half what it would normally cost. As for the piece of garbage known as the Mini 500, it might as well have used a lawnmower engine. Any engine that has to be *boosted* is a complete show stopper for a helicopter. You always want an engine that is de-rated for this kind of high endurance usage. Even then most people would say to never use a 2-stroke in any aircraft, it doesnt matter if NASA builds it themselves, the very design is prone to fail. It's not a matter of "if" but "when". While the Solar APU's have a very narrow tolerance for fluctuation, the truth is they were designed for military aircraft and will virtually never operate outside of their design spec. They are the only reasonable option for single seater heli's like this. Light weight + high power output + reliability. You just dont get much range with them, but then again it's not like you'd want to ride one of these gokarts in the sky for more than an hour at a time anyway, it would probably be pretty uncomfortable. Keep in mind the helicycle and others like it are just toys, nothing else. If you want a real helicopter you need to go with something certified.
Probably tradition. Vietnam pilots, loach pilots to be precise) that flew the real ones on search and destroy missions had a saying, "If you don't come back to base with branches or bamboo hanging off your skids, you were flying too high."
I actually purchased a Mini 500 for that similar comment. I was spending 300 bucks an hour to rent a Robinson R-22 to practice hovering and found the Revolution Mini 500 only cost 35 bucks an hour for the exact thing I needed the most, LOTS of practice. Hovering is the hardest dog gone thing to learn.
The problem with the Mini 500 is that their engine is not proper for aviation, and is subject to sudden stops. And these stops have had killed some pilots, giving to this bird the unglorious nickname of "Helicoffin" Nothing that an engine replacement wouldn't fix. Some Mini 500 pilots replaced the 2-stroke engines for small turbines, with great success.
What is the safest small Helicopter to build time in regarding Cost and Safety? I am beginning to wonder if there is a safe civilian helicopter out there for under $100k! If there is, I would like to know about it! This one sounds very, very loud!
250 bucks on Ebay! That's why I came here actually to see if it was good lol www.ebay.com/i/163211183024?chn=ps&ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F711-117182-37290-0%252F2%253Fmpre%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.com%25252Fi%25252F163211183024%25253Fchn%25253Dps%2526itemid%253D163211183024%2526targetid%253D478262853775%2526device%253Dm%2526adtype%253Dpla%2526googleloc%253D9009669%2526poi%253D%2526campaignid%253D1489270473%2526adgroupid%253D57569192116%2526rlsatarget%253Dpla-478262853775%2526abcId%253D1139326%2526merchantid%253D108054882%2526gclid%253DCj0KCQiAgMPgBRDDARIsAOh3uyLPAsD5XmXJ-0OJtATBr6PoheP05c8gwa2TDiQZQoE9ehCZCHKkl2oaAtcaEALw_wcB%2526srcrot%253D711-117182-37290-0%2526rvr_id%253D1780654538383%2526rvr_ts%253Da5ae89d51670abda6313689fffd9e3d4
I'd like to get what I give for it I bought it down in Australia its in storage down there at the port 15 grand I'd like to get out of it that's what I get for it Joe Rinke says he'll finish it for me and put a 22 gallon fuel tank in it rebuild the transmissions and all kinds of good stuff it'll be like a million dollar machine
maybe the price of a helicopter is more than 700 million but the flight paper is very difficult and what will you use it for ?? just a financial waste.
Not wise to fly any helicopter without hearing protection. And even more so a helicopter using a 2 cycle engine. This person will pay thte price of ringing ears someday soon if not he already has them........
