Real Stories And Advice From Ultralight Helicopter Builders

This article is Part Three of a series about Building an Ultralight Helicopter. You may want to read Part One and Part Two first.

If you are embarrassed and need to quicken your spirit, you need the positive story of someone who has already experienced the process of building his own ultralight helicopter.

There are many places where you can look for real stories of people who made in addition pictures of the different stages of building. Look at this site, for example, where the successful stories are related with the building of Mosquito heli.

Here it is the story of the Australian enthusiast Rob Hall. He built his own ultralight helicopter saying: “Take all the time you need for a perfect work. Think first, than cut or glue. And have a fun, this is the most important.” Some of the suggestions he gave to the others are related with details of the work like:

Use a mask when you paint the details. It is not a problem for your face (you can live with blue beard), but for your lungs.

Buy a pneumatic riveter – you will be happy with the result. You will need powerful senders as all.

Be careful with silicones, some of them cannot be used on fuel systems as the engine will stop.

I have used bolts instead of rivets (which were supplied with the kit) to mount the bow clamps of the front undercarriage. I needed this change, as the heli was too tall to go out from my workshop.

For some of the parts you need long extension with special holder to drill.

I will recommend you "The Glassfiber Handbook", which is used by our local craft repair station (ISBN 0 85242 820 0). It will be very useful for everyone who dedicates your time to metal planes and helicopters.

Jimmy Stuart from USA gives another suggestion: “I am a pilot, and I have tried several aircrafts. The helicopter has a lot of advantages compared to planes, but the most important is that you can take off and lend almost everywhere – starting from your own garden…” Some of Jimmy’s suggestions concerning the process of building are listed below:

The first moment of opening the parcel with the kit is quite stressful. The first impression is that this is a real mess of pieces and bits. The best think you can do is to sit down and relax.

Place the building planes on a visible spot, so as they to be all the time in front of your eyes. I have used the wall – the planes looked like a map of the world (within these months my helicopter was really my world).

One of the big problems is where to start from. I would suggest you to start with the big pieces and go down step by step to the smallest bits.

Do not be in a hurry: if you don’t sleep at all, you will probably build your ultralight helicopter in 21 days. But I am sure you are doing this not for a record, but just for a pleasure. I spent 3 and a half months building my bird.

Good advise you may receive as well from Andrea Kianti from Italy: “I have no experience at all, but I was dreaming of my own helicopter. I went to a metal factory shop in the nearby town and ask them for training. I stayed a month there and we made a good deal with the owner: I didn’t pay anything for the training, and he didn’t pay anything for my work. It was … a car service station, but I learned many tricks from painting to finery. It helped me a lot! After this I turned the garage into a heli workshop. After 6 months I had the most beautiful helicopter you could ever seen…”

Have you already build or tried to build an ultralight helicopter or other ultralight aircraft? Please share your story with us!

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User comments:

Pop Emil at Aug, 15 '09 21:50

You can build an helicopter with some car mechanics, car engine (or motorcycle, at least 100 Hp) and pipes, lexan, and fabric, if you can weld, drill, thread.

Important is to know what you are doing, how to draw, calculate and test your work.

So my little friend, take my advice and start studying hard aerodynamics, rotordynamics, balances, eliminating vibrations, safety mesures, etc.

Is worthwhile.

For more detailes click on my name on top of my coment to go to Plaxo group where I posted some pictures, get plaxo membership and than subscribe to my group, it's all free.

Emil.
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