RotoWay Helicopters

[James Taylor]

Hey All,

I just caught the tip of a thred the past two weeks where pretty much
everyone derided RW helicopters.

I don't know all the personalities here yet so I won't mention names.

As a person seeking serious input, can someone guide me to info from
informaed sources, not just opinions?

I would like to find accident reports, perhaps owner logs and the like to
help me make my decision.

I understand that many folks hesitate when someone mentions "Kitbuilt" and
"Helicopters" in the same sentance...but is it really all that tough? Igor
Sikorski did a pretty good job out of his garage :-)


James Taylor
www.AICompany.com]

[Ken Sandyeggo]

"James Taylor" > wrote in message >...
> Hey All,
>
> I just caught the tip of a thred the past two weeks where pretty much
> everyone derided RW helicopters.
>
> I don't know all the personalities here yet so I won't mention names.
>
> As a person seeking serious input, can someone guide me to info from
> informaed sources, not just opinions?
>
> I would like to find accident reports, perhaps owner logs and the like to
> help me make my decision.
>
> I understand that many folks hesitate when someone mentions "Kitbuilt" and
> "Helicopters" in the same sentance...but is it really all that tough? Igor
> Sikorski did a pretty good job out of his garage :-)
>
>
> James Taylor
> www.AICompany.com]

"As a person seeking serious input, can someone guide me to info from
informaed sources, not just opinions?"

Sure....you and a thing called "search engines." Why would you expect
someone else to gather data for you at a huge expense and waste of
their time? Accident reports are available at NTSB and you can find
all kinds of Rotorway Owners' websites with just a little bit of
effort. Don't know of any owners that post their logs on the Internet
though. Here's something to help you along your way.

www.rotorway.org

See how easy it is? You state: "I would like to find..." Go to it
and find it then. You want informed sources and not opinions? Don't
let the door hit you in the ass, because almost everyone here is
strongly opinionated. Still can't make a decision.....flip a coin.

Ken J. - Curmudgeony as always in Sandy Eggo.

[Richard Lamb]

Kyle Boatright wrote:
>
> "James Taylor" > wrote in message
> et...
> > Hey All,
> >
> > I just caught the tip of a thred the past two weeks where pretty much
> > everyone derided RW helicopters.
> >
> > I don't know all the personalities here yet so I won't mention names.
> >
> > As a person seeking serious input, can someone guide me to info from
> > informaed sources, not just opinions?
> >
> > I would like to find accident reports, perhaps owner logs and the like to
> > help me make my decision.
> >
> > I understand that many folks hesitate when someone mentions "Kitbuilt" and
> > "Helicopters" in the same sentance...but is it really all that tough?
> Igor
> > Sikorski did a pretty good job out of his garage :-)
> >
> >
> > James Taylor
> > www.AICompany.com]
>
> My airport neighbor(s) have been through 5 Rotorway Exec's. One of the two
> men built his own Exec, and probably has 20 hours on it in the two years
> he's had it. He's spent 10X as much time working on it as he has spent
> flying it, and it is a nicely built helicopter. The problem is that it
> isn't a robust design, and something is always loose, wonky (i.e. electronic
> ignition), or suspect.
>
> The other gentleman has gone through 4 Rotorways, and buys unfinished kits,
> finishes or reworks them, and sells them after putting a few hours on them.
> Again, even with the two birds he kept for a while as "his" birds, he spent
> at least 10X as much time working on them as flying them.
>
> The bottom line is that if you want to fly a helicopter, buy or rent one
> that is well maintained and was built in a factory somewhere. If you want
> to work on one, get a homebuilt.
>
> I built an RV-6, and my ratio of building time vs flying time is probably
> 15:1 at this point (obviously, I have not flown enough!). In the two years
> the airplane has been flying, the ratio has been 5:1 (or better) in favor of
> flying vs tinkering. I don't think you'd ever get to a 1:1 flying vs
> tinkering ratio with the Rotorway helicopters.
>
> KB



That first hour of flying time ona homebuilt is probably THE most
expensive hour of flying time any of us will ever log.

:)

Richard

PS: I saw two Exec's listed in Trade A Plane, so they are more common
that I expected...

[Stu Fields]

Kyle: I own a Safari and to date, my maintenance is limited to one rod end
bearing and an Westberg oil press sensor, and oil and filter changes. I have
150 hrs on the tach. No the limite maintenance to date does not include
trying different ideas out for improvements. I'm a tinkerer.
Stu Fields
"Kyle Boatright" > wrote in message
et...
>
> "James Taylor" > wrote in message
> et...
> > Hey All,
> >
> > I just caught the tip of a thred the past two weeks where pretty much
> > everyone derided RW helicopters.
> >
> > I don't know all the personalities here yet so I won't mention names.
> >
> > As a person seeking serious input, can someone guide me to info from
> > informaed sources, not just opinions?
> >
> > I would like to find accident reports, perhaps owner logs and the like
to
> > help me make my decision.
> >
> > I understand that many folks hesitate when someone mentions "Kitbuilt"
and
> > "Helicopters" in the same sentance...but is it really all that tough?
> Igor
> > Sikorski did a pretty good job out of his garage :-)
> >
> >
> > James Taylor
> > www.AICompany.com]
>
> My airport neighbor(s) have been through 5 Rotorway Exec's. One of the
two
> men built his own Exec, and probably has 20 hours on it in the two years
> he's had it. He's spent 10X as much time working on it as he has spent
> flying it, and it is a nicely built helicopter. The problem is that it
> isn't a robust design, and something is always loose, wonky (i.e.
electronic
> ignition), or suspect.
>
> The other gentleman has gone through 4 Rotorways, and buys unfinished
kits,
> finishes or reworks them, and sells them after putting a few hours on
them.
> Again, even with the two birds he kept for a while as "his" birds, he
spent
> at least 10X as much time working on them as flying them.
>
> The bottom line is that if you want to fly a helicopter, buy or rent one
> that is well maintained and was built in a factory somewhere. If you want
> to work on one, get a homebuilt.
>
> I built an RV-6, and my ratio of building time vs flying time is probably
> 15:1 at this point (obviously, I have not flown enough!). In the two
years
> the airplane has been flying, the ratio has been 5:1 (or better) in favor
of
> flying vs tinkering. I don't think you'd ever get to a 1:1 flying vs
> tinkering ratio with the Rotorway helicopters.
>
> KB
>
>
>