Being an Editor/Publisher of the Experimental Helo magazine has some advantages. In three days, I flew 5 different helicopters. #1 Hummingbird: A 4 seat nearly certified kit helicopter based on the Sikorsky S52. An article about this smooth load hauler will be in the March issue. No hydraulic...

Those of you who didn't missed a good one. 58 helicopters of all shapes and sizes from Scorpion II to S-58 and everything in between except the Mosquito and any A/W 95. The Kinney KRH was there and a new turbine conversion of an Exec. Note this conversion actually had the affront to use a...

There is a new kit helicopter that is coming into the North America scene. The Dynali. A gentleman in Canada is the North America dealer and will be taking delivery of two ships early in 2008. Tech details will be forthcoming and I will publish them in the Experimental Helo magazine as well...

I recently tried a pair of Marathon flat free wheelbarrow tires to replace my pneumatic tires that had developed the habit of slowly leaking out the air. @#$%^ The rolling resistance was so great I couldn't move the helicopter by myself. In fact even with my wife's help it was very hard to get...

Foxair Heliservice is presently the No. American distributor for the Dynali helicopter. It looks like May or June this year before we will see one around. Hopefully they will have one at Oshkosh and maybe even Homer's. Also 5 Aerokopters have been delivered to the SA dealer who reports...

I just had a strange one. I have been balancing my rotor system using a DSS balancer where I would get the ips and phase angle measurements, turn the rotor to the angle with respect to the photo cell described by the phase angle information, then sight over the velocimeter and add weight to the...

Hey Ol Shy & Bashful are your rotary wing interests pretty much restricted to the pilotage aspects? Are you interested in the aerodynamics and maintenance details? I've been seeding this NG trying to get something cooking for some time and haven't found either the right seed or the right...

Just back from Bensen days and Sun'n Fun. I flew (hover taxiied) a 254# legal ultralite helicopter. I was amazed at the lack of any tendency to depart to a foreign zip code. The little Mosquito Air felt more stable to me than a Bell 47. At Sun'n Fun John Snider demonstrated several autos to...

I've heard for sometime that the R-22 is harder to fly than the little ultralite Mosquito. This past week end I took a 1/2 hr ride in an R-22. In my opinion the cyclic in the R-22 with its lack of feel or any kind of force feedback is at least an order of magnitude more difficult to adjust to...

A recent incident involving a Rotorway helicopter occurred. An accidental bumping of the clutch switch dis-engaged the clutch. The resulting autorotation resulted in a roll over and of course some significant damage. As I understand it, the switch was mounted in the overhead panel but the...

Is there anyone out there? If you are there are you planning on attending 1. Golden West at Marysvill CA, Homer Bell's at Hillsboro Ohio, or the biggy at Oshkosh? If you are at any of these events, look us up. We talk helicopters at the drop of a hat and will furnish the hat. We hope to...

Uniform Kilo is a recent book about a trip in an R-44 from England to Australia. Interesting reading. Trafford Publishing. -- Stuart Fields Experimental Helo magazine P. O. Box 1585 Inyokern, CA 93527 (760) 377-4478 (760) 408-9747 general and layout cell (760) 608-1299 technical and advertising...

There is a new Helicopter Meet scheduled for early May: The Central Sierra Helicopter Meet. This event will take place May 5-7 at the Miller ranch located near Groveland Ca. Contact info: . This was motivated by their attendance at Homer Bell's fly-in. Should be a good...

The Golden West Fly-In is coming up June 8-11 at Marysville CA. It should be a good one as they have gone out of their way to solicit rotorcraft participation. Gyros and Helicopters will be welcomed and supported. As the Rotorcraft Chairman I am available for information and details. -- Stuart...

Here's one for the pros: I was balancing my tail rotor and had it down to 0.27 ips and still had just a touch too much weight where I had added it. So still needing to safety wire a bolt that is located in the center of the tail rotor output shaft, I chose to safety it to a hole 180 degrees from...

Just attended a fly-in at Westport OK. There were some 27 helicopters there. Attending were Rotorways, a Brantly, some R-22s, a R-44, Schweitzers, a Hiller and a Safari. Only one of these ships had the tail rotor turning in the "right" direction. It as the Safari. It seems that Bell,...

Will there be a wake for RAR? Maybe an Irish wake? Stu Fields Experimental Helo magazine

aluminum control tube failed causing helicopter crash. The helo had an anodized aluminum control tube that failed in fatigue with less than 400hrs. The loading was low producing stresses in the area of 460psi. Discussions with anodizing folks say "Never anodize flight critical components" ...

Is there anyone out there? If so are you planning to attend Oshkosh this year? We will be attending Homer Bell's Helicopter Meet in Hillsboro Ohio and then on to Oshkosh. There is usually a gathering at both places that are about 100% helicopter. There is normally a party at Oshkosh on the...

Well I guess this group has seized its engine or something. It is deader than the dinosaur. I've tried everything I know to kick something off but..... so long Stu