Hummingbird 4 seat kit helicopter
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Hummingbird 4 seat kit helicopter
Checking out the Hummingbird Kit helicopter may soon be available in factory assembled version I checked the register in Australia and there is at least one operating in Fremantle, VH MPB anyone have any information about the helicopter.
Other than maybe a bit of an old design shape it has a Lycoming engine, 4 wheel landing gear a roomy looking cabin that takes 4 people. ( I couldn't find a phone number for the registered owner)
Other than maybe a bit of an old design shape it has a Lycoming engine, 4 wheel landing gear a roomy looking cabin that takes 4 people. ( I couldn't find a phone number for the registered owner)
Don't be too hopeful, as350nut - it's based on the Sikorsky S52 which first flew in 1947 and the kit has been proposed since 1991 according to this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_Hummingbird
S52 with a B206 nose job. Kits have been available for ages and plenty flying around - there was one in NZ but doesn't seem to be on the register anymore.
Hummingbird Helicopter
Hummingbird Helicopter
The Hummingbird/S-51 is an interesting ship. It's about the size of a 206B but it's built like a Sikorsky, which is to say "like a tank." Brad and his dad at VAT have been working on the thing forever. They grafted on a 206-like nose, replacing the former clamshell arrangement in which one half of the windscreen opened and a stretcher was slid in from the front. They've tried different engines over the years, some of them automotive. It appears that they've settled on the "Titan" 540, which is basically a Continental Motors copy of the legendary Lycoming O-540.
One drawback of the Hummingbird, which I alluded to before is its weight. Vertical claims on their website that the ship weighs 1850 and has a MAUW of 2800 pounds - not even 1,000 pounds of useful load. That's all well and good on paper, but brochures lie. A used Hummingbird that my boss and I looked at on Controller.com weighed substantially more than 1850! So a 2000 pound helicopter with a 2800 pound MAUW doesn't really give you a capability for four 200 pound adults *and* fuel. Okay, maybe the guys are only 200 and the wives are 150 apiece. This gives you 700 pounds of people, leaving 100 pounds for fuel. Sixteen gallons isn't gonna get you very far. Oops, you want to bring some baggage too? Okay, just admit it, if you stick four people in it, you're going to fly over-gross. Don't plan on any OGE work! Lucky it's got wheels! Pray for good luck.
It's a neat design, but it needs to be put on a severe diet. Or...just consider it a two-place helicopter with a gas-guzzling 540 in it, kind of like what Robbie was doing with the Cadet.
One drawback of the Hummingbird, which I alluded to before is its weight. Vertical claims on their website that the ship weighs 1850 and has a MAUW of 2800 pounds - not even 1,000 pounds of useful load. That's all well and good on paper, but brochures lie. A used Hummingbird that my boss and I looked at on Controller.com weighed substantially more than 1850! So a 2000 pound helicopter with a 2800 pound MAUW doesn't really give you a capability for four 200 pound adults *and* fuel. Okay, maybe the guys are only 200 and the wives are 150 apiece. This gives you 700 pounds of people, leaving 100 pounds for fuel. Sixteen gallons isn't gonna get you very far. Oops, you want to bring some baggage too? Okay, just admit it, if you stick four people in it, you're going to fly over-gross. Don't plan on any OGE work! Lucky it's got wheels! Pray for good luck.
It's a neat design, but it needs to be put on a severe diet. Or...just consider it a two-place helicopter with a gas-guzzling 540 in it, kind of like what Robbie was doing with the Cadet.
