Originally Posted by
Hughes500
What I find interesting is how the majority want to slag off someone who may well be the saviour of our industry. No one seems to want to slag off what currently happens in our industry. Here is one example for you ( as an owner operator for 35 years of 300's,500's 206's 341's and 350's I could give you lots more ) MD main rotor blades the bonding between the grip and blade has been known to come apart. Now if you were in the automotive industry ,as my quality assurance manger used to be, this would have been addressed as he said by a redesign of the process etc etc . But no, aviation turns round just looks at it every 200 torque events and that will be safe enough ! Really ?????? You guys say he cant design stuff, well I am sorry neither can the OEM's the only difference he is trying to bring known technologies and process akin to the automotive industry which is way more into Health and safety and cost than aviation will ever be.
Why not support someone who is trying to make a British helicopter and bring back some engineering back to these shores ,dont see anyone of you out there who would have the drive, the patience, technical ability or knowledge thatJason has. Personally I really hope it gets there so he can wave 2 fingers at all you negativity, but i guess that is always the case in UK where we seem to go overboard to rubbish people rather than supporting them.
Wow, you must be at the very top of Jason's Christmas card list Hughes 500.......
Crab, I'm curious if you have sat in on any of the Hill updates. If you haven't, give it a go. Like Hughes500, I have a lot of optimism on the HX50. I bought # 24 and I am on the cusp of putting orders in on a couple of the commercial models. If a guy like Elon Musk can surpass the efforts of NASA in a short period, why is developing a new helicopter so surreal? As others have mentioned, even the biggest helicopter manufacturers have had flaws. I don't suspect Hill's concept will be perfect coming out of the gate, but developing an engine/helicopter isn't as genius as one would think (no disrespect here Jason). It takes a large set of nads, a bunch of money and some smart individuals. I think Jason checks all these boxes. The engine in my 407 is maybe 70's technology, developed with a slide ruler. I think developing something with computers and spitting out parts with modern CNC machines is cutting edge. I've owned a Robinson as well, and even an old school pioneer like Frank (on a tighter budget and less technology) manufactured some great products. I hear a lot of folks slagging their products too. A friend once told me "there are a lot of perfect ball players, but very few of them will set down their popcorn and come on to the field an pick up a bat". Thanks to guys like Jason for picking up a bat instead of eating popcorn.