Homemade Helicopter: For the People.

Imop45

Ok, I heard that you could make a cheap, but good helicopter, that's a 1-2 seater, relatively easy. How could this be done?

FredGarvin

Helicopter and cheap are two words that never go together. Are you referring to something like an autogyro kit that you find in the back of Popular Mechanics and the like?

Mech_Engineer

I think "cheap" is like $20k or $30k, cheap for a helicopter, but not that great. AND not very safe.

brewnog

I'm waiting for the "how can I build a spaceship to take me to Mars for under $60?" thread.

Imop45

Ok, to clarify, I meant cheap as in, building a Helicopter and not buying a$15,000 motor and things. Yeah, i'm not going to buuld the frame out of duct tape.......I was saving that for the motor parts.

Imop45

I know cheap isn't going to be cheap.

FredGarvin

Again, this may be what you are thinking of, but they are not helicopters.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=2&c=y

brewnog

Imop, I don't wanna brush you off cos I used to have all these amazing genuine aspirations to build all sorts of creations when I was younger, but do you really think companies would spend hundreds of millions developing things like cars, hovercraft and helicopters if all there was to it was welding some tubes together in your shed? That's not to say it can't be done, but do you know what's involved?!

Again, not trying to brush you off, but have a look at some of the other threads about building go karts/hovercraft/planes in this forum and see what kind of level of detail you need to go into to do it yourself. Lots of people here have done engineering degrees, and many have years of experience behind them, but I doubt anyone here would feel confident designing something like this in its entirety, from start to finish, on their own!

Having said that, if you have any specific questions here's an excellent place to start asking...

Mech_Engineer

I might be willing to try, if I won the lottery and was bored... But I don't know if I'd be brave enough to fly in it

Imop45

No. I don't. Thats why I wanted to learn what was involved. My Grandfather was actually wanting to look into, as he wants a ultralight plane or something related to it. Thanks though.

Danger

My cousin was planning to build a Scorpion II, and I was certainly looking forward to playing with it. Unfortunately, he died before he had a chance to do it.

magnum40

not really a helicopter more like a mix stears like a plane

THE GYROBEE
http://users2.ev1.net/~gyroman/downloads/gbeer50.pdf

Total BEE Kit
http://www.starbeegyros.com/productd...?ID=177&kits=1

wolram

I am sure i read some where that auto gyros were grounded due to rotor strikes on some part of the air frame, in the uk any way.

kleinjahr

Didn't PM have ads for plans for a one man chopper. I seem to remember one type with jets/rockets at the blade tips.

DaveC426913

Waaay less scary! If your spaceship breaks, you've got plenty of time to fix it.

Francis M

The problem I see with this is not so much that they might be cheap (read in: not built well). I'll go out on a limb and say that maaaaaaybeeeeee these have been designed by an AE with a kit plane idea so they decided "hey why not try a kit helicopter, I've got the skills". My problem is that the adds seem to give the impression that you can "send in your money, buy our kit, throw it together and enjoy hours and hours of hovering fun."

Next up is correspondence courses on "Learn to be a Quantum Physicist in your spare time! That's right folks, for just the price of a cup of coffee a day....."

Matson

For $98 I found plans for a propellor driven backpack used in tandem with a ram chute. They provide blueprints, manufacturers and suppliers of propellors and motors. You can use a body harness or build a little 3 wheeled, kayak looking thing. They both work on the same principles.

They say you can be flying for as little as $2,500 or less. The ram chutes are about $800 used and costs vary on construction.