Originally Posted by
Steve76
Hill's biggest problem is going to be all the doctors, accountants and other owners that need to physically work on their helicopter in the factory to be able to have it remain in the sport category. I can see that being a bit of a road block.
I'm a doctor and I can't wait to go over and assemble my HX50. That is not an issue- esp for aviation enthusiasts, regardless of their day job. We would make a holiday out of it. Prob then go fly around Europe.
The biggest problem with the whole program is the decision to develop their own engine. That is the biggest risk. They should have just used an off the shelf Safran or Rolls. The only drawback would be the price which would of course be higher- probably double- but at least then we would have a proven engine with a reliable track record, and probably have the HX50 flying by now, and I would have paid a premium for that.
The other big mistake they continue to make is pushing out unrealistic timeframes. They've done this from day one, and keep doing it. And I agree with all the other posters on this forum who have been very critical of this aspect. We all know they are impossibly optimistic, this just smashes their credibility. Hill must know this too, (unless they are all cockeyed dreamy optimists which is equally bad) which can only mean they are being deliberately misleading to fill their order books, and I don't like this. Yes, great product, Jason Hill seems to be a very clever guy, and real progress gets made on a weekly basis, its exciting to get the updates, but there's just soooo much more to be done. Realistically I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the end of the decade before I get delivery of my aircraft (serial number in the first 200). And of course there's always a real chance it never eventuates.