Hill Helicopters HX50
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Seems an awful lot of chrome on what is supposed to be a working engine................
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I see what you mean

Having studied the pictures of the first engine, the second engine looks a completely new design, nothing looks interchangeable. Does that mean engine design is only at its initial stages and all progress on its initial design to this point has been wasted.
Plus (to me) the engine looks longer now, although they stated it will be shorter in one of the videos due to one less turbine disc.
Why not just copy the Arriel and shrink it down for 500 HP, or is that is whats happening anyway.
Plus (to me) the engine looks longer now, although they stated it will be shorter in one of the videos due to one less turbine disc.
Why not just copy the Arriel and shrink it down for 500 HP, or is that is whats happening anyway.

looks like a major redesign... cans to annular. Still with a big enough team should be do able. I'm sure I've read on this forum his engine team are all ex-Rolls Royce engineers.
Might be a good question for the next monthly Q and A "can you reveal the team behind the engine" would give people confidence in that Hill will be able to deliver the prototypes on time.
Might be a good question for the next monthly Q and A "can you reveal the team behind the engine" would give people confidence in that Hill will be able to deliver the prototypes on time.
https://www.flightglobal.com/helicop...150454.article
Hill Helicopters is already working on early stage concepts for its next programme, the UK start-up’s founder and chief executive has revealed.
Speaking during a monthly online update on 4 October, Dr Jason Hill said the company was particularly interested in two designs beyond its current HX50 and HC50 light-singles, both of which are still in development.
These would be a “twin-engined, more capable machine” and a “hybrid machine”, he says.
......Hill Helicopters has also outlined some of the operations that will be undertaken by customers as part of the self-build process for the HX50. Regulations require buyers to assemble 51% of the helicopter, excluding the transmission, rotors, engine and avionics.
Although the complete process has yet to be fully defined, Dr Hill says, as an example, owners will be “likely involved” in the lay-up of carbonfibre panels for the fuselage, adding: “It is something that will be supported by our staff using our equipment.”
Hill Helicopters is already working on early stage concepts for its next programme, the UK start-up’s founder and chief executive has revealed.
Speaking during a monthly online update on 4 October, Dr Jason Hill said the company was particularly interested in two designs beyond its current HX50 and HC50 light-singles, both of which are still in development.
These would be a “twin-engined, more capable machine” and a “hybrid machine”, he says.
......Hill Helicopters has also outlined some of the operations that will be undertaken by customers as part of the self-build process for the HX50. Regulations require buyers to assemble 51% of the helicopter, excluding the transmission, rotors, engine and avionics.
Although the complete process has yet to be fully defined, Dr Hill says, as an example, owners will be “likely involved” in the lay-up of carbonfibre panels for the fuselage, adding: “It is something that will be supported by our staff using our equipment.”
Although the complete process has yet to be fully defined, Dr Hill says, as an example, owners will be “likely involved” in the lay-up of carbonfibre panels for the fuselage, adding: “It is something that will be supported by our staff using our equipment.”
https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP659.PDF
51% Rule
The 51% rule as related to a Permit to Fly issued for the purpose of operating an amateur built aircraft means that when the aircraft is completed, the majority of the fabrication and assembly tasks have been performed by the amateur builder(s) who submitted the application for the Permit to Fly
51% Rule
The 51% rule as related to a Permit to Fly issued for the purpose of operating an amateur built aircraft means that when the aircraft is completed, the majority of the fabrication and assembly tasks have been performed by the amateur builder(s) who submitted the application for the Permit to Fly
the majority of the fabrication and assembly tasks have been performed by the amateur builder(s)
Interesting. I thought it was well understood that simultaneously developing a new engine and a new airframe which is the only outlet for that engine makes life bloody hard. Either the development à engine is ready for the next test point and the test airframe ain't, or vice versa. Managing priorities for air time becomes a nightmare and the whole programme is usually down a tube.
Maybe Hill just see it as another case of challenging the industry mind-set. Good Luck to them.
N
Interesting. I thought it was well understood that simultaneously developing a new engine and a new airframe which is the only outlet for that engine makes life bloody hard. Either the development à engine is ready for the next test point and the test airframe ain't, or vice versa. Managing priorities for air time becomes a nightmare and the whole programme is usually down a tube.
Maybe Hill just see it as another case of challenging the industry mind-set. Good Luck to them.
N
Maybe Hill just see it as another case of challenging the industry mind-set. Good Luck to them.
N