[oneday]

Hi

I have been getting more interested in 'building' an Ultralight Helicopter and the Mosquito XE from Innovatortech looks very interesting which is generally flown in the US under their FAR103 ruling. Does anyone know the rules for flying this bird in the UK? I know its not CAA certified so is there any way it could be flown legally in the UK?

thanks

[Ian Melville]

No,
Both quotes from LAA TL2.17

Since 30th April 2007 it is legal to fly a lightweight ‘sub-115 kg’ single-seat microlight aeroplane without a permit to fly or any of the associated official design investigation, formal flight testing, maintenance schedules, annual inspections or permit paperwork.

Definitions
‘Aeroplane’ means an aircraft supported in flight by fixed wings (as opposed to rotating wings) and therefore includes conventional rigid wings, flex wings and powered parachutes, with wheels or foot-launched, and controlled by any method including control surfaces or weight shift or a mixture of the two. It does not include gyroplanes or helicopters.

[Hairyplane]

There were lots of homebuilt helicopters at Oshkosh, including the very agile Mosquito.

I was invited to fly a couple of 2 seat Savanna's there - pretty much a homebuild Bell 47. Lots of fun, if challenging to fly.

If you want to build something that you will eventually want to fly on the G-Reg, the only option is the Rotorway.

However, with plenty on the market at sub £40k with fresh Permit, it doesn't seem sensible to add yet another to the Register.

If heli's really blow your frock up you can buy a reasonable certified machine for less than £100k. Syndicate it 4 ways and you are down to homebuild money.

If its a Bell 47 and you are in the Midlands, I'll take a share at the drop of a hat! HeliAir @ Wellesbourne have one for sale.

HP

[MikeB]

Not an "ultralight" but you could build a Rotorway kit helicopter on a CAA Permit to Fly.

[oneday]

thanks both, alas i am in the South, although a midland boy origionaly. I am intending to fly from home therefore a share is less of an option but the ultralight approach would have worked for the use that i indend, again the share less so.

I hear that there are a couple of mosquito's in the UK so can only presume they are not being flown .....

thanks again

[Cloudman]

I love helicopters, 20hrs so far on the R22 If it were me I'd go Enstrom F28, can get one for £30k and all parts are either on condition or timed in hours (not restricted to years and complete rebuilds like the Robos).

[Ian Melville]

I hear that there are a couple of mosquito's in the UK so can only presume they are not being flown .....

That may well be the case, but the name mosquito is also a glider(26), and a gyro(1) on G-INFO

You could put the design through the CAA approval to get a permit, but think it would be cheaper and easier to build a Rotorway.

[oneday]

re: Rotorway you may be correct

The 2 mosquito's i know of in the UK are of the helicopter type but what became of them i dont know.

[Hairyplane]

Hi Mike B,

Now there's an idea, I should've mentioned it in my post...

Mosquito - I believe there is a distributor in the UK - quite why I dunno. It will never get a Permit here.

All the best

HP

[aerial]

Are there any heli pilots out there who would offer us an opinion on whether such a small helicopter is actually airworthy?

It took Sikorsky several years to get it right.

[Ian Melville]

Just spotted this in the Mosquito Ultralight spec

Compact Radial Engines MZ202, 2 cylinder, 2 stroke

There is no way in the world you will get me in a 2-stroke helicopter

BTW the Mosquito XE is not at FAR103 Ultralight

[muffin]

If its a Bell 47 and you are in the Midlands, I'll take a share at the drop of a hat! HeliAir @ Wellesbourne have one for sale

I may just be interested in that. I have longed for a Bell 47 for years and have been watching that one. Somebody I know looked at it in detail but rejected it. Have you flown it?

[kanga]

there is an article in the Dec '11 AOPA magazine about someone in UK building a Rotorway Exec 162F, along with an account of a test flight report (for P*l*t).

[first time I've seen homebuilding mentioned in the AOPA mag - and it's of a machine which will require a CAA, not LAA, Permit .. surely the orgs no longer think of themselves as rivals I'm happy to belong to both ..]

[muffin]

I have flown a Rotorway 162F and was very impressed with it. I seriously considered buying one as they are very cheap in helicopter terms. The main problem is that the resale value is very low as most rotary pilots won't touch them with a barge pole. however they are an excellent way of getting into rotary flight at minimum cost.

[oneday]

If you dont like the idea of the two stroker, how about the XET - Although the turbine appears to be an APU unit