BACKGROUND, DECISION and ORDERING

 

At the time of making the decision I was 51 years old and had a background in computers and process control that had been acquired both with a large oil company and even more time as an independent consultant. Although I had started out for an engineering degree, I had switched to computer science during its infancy. After spending 25+ years working with high reliability mission-critical systems, I no longer had a desire to stay with an industry that was changing to the latest golly-gee-whiz gadgets, 6-month "experts" who only know a tiny fraction of the true scope and in general a cost-driven commodity product with "good enough to ship" attitude and support.

While I had been following the kit airplane industry for over fifteen years, I had never actually committed to a project. When several life events came together in close succession I realized that it was time to once and for all make a decision to either get involved or quit wasting my time reading and dreaming. Hence I made a commitment to actually purchase a kit. Although I always had a fixed wing in the back of my mind, it was interesting to note how the priorities changed once I was making a real decision. Although I wasn't rated at the time, I've probably spent over a thousand hours in heavies as a passenger and had also spent quite a few hours in light aircraft such as 152s, 172s, Archers and Seminoles. I realized that my usage of a fixed wing would primarily be the occasional cross-country flight and if I really wanted to do that I'd probably be just as well served to get involved with a flying club or at least a block-time purchase. I had spent several flights in helicopters accessing remote areas and the more I thought about it, the more the idea intrigued me, both to fully understand the physical craft and also the opportunities it would afford ... thus the focus was set.

I did think about the option of getting a used R22, Schweizer, etc., but like many homebuilders, part of the appeal was the actual construction. Probably of even more relevance was when I started looking into the maintenance issues and realized that if I got a certified ship then I would also have to find a good mechanic who I could help pay for his children's college fund every time I needed a bolt tightened, an annual and all the other little details, let alone the price of replacement parts. The idea of having a repairman's certificate (or equivalent) was definitely appealing, especially since if one has done the actual construction it should be easier to spot when things are not right. In the event I eventually decide to get a commercial rating, I realized that I would probably have to go the certified ship route, but in the meantime I could log hours and perform my own maintenance and inspections.

I had (and still have) no delusions about creating an award winning ship or even of ever entering into such a competition. My objective was to create a safe, reliable and maintainable craft in which I could gain experience and that met my objectives for quality which I'm sure will meet or exceed Transport Canada's. While fancy paint jobs and interiors are nice to look at, I don't see how they contribute to these objectives and may in fact actually distract from them. On a cynical note ... While I'm sure all manufacturers are proud when their products receive awards, in this case the award is given to the builder, not the kit manufacturer. If a manufacturer wants to take credit, then they should also give equal credit to ALL suppliers such as the paint manufacturer, the aluminum smelter, the steel foundry etc. etc. The one possible exception would be an award for technical innovation or excellence that is directly attributable to the manufacturer.

I make no bones about the fact that I do not have welding skills or a background with sheet metal. However, I do believe I have reasonable mechanical aptitude and had spent a LOT of years involved with and building dozens and dozens of model aircraft and boats; first control-line but mostly radio controlled. This modeling experience taught me a lot of the skills involved with reliability, woodworking, fiberglass, painting, small engine overhaul etc. and much of this time was spent in a competitive environment (precision aerobatics and racing). I even dabbled in kit production for a while. Interestingly enough, these activities led to a very easy transition when trying the controls of various full sized light aircraft.

While much of my career had been working around electronics, I was also involved on-and-off (no pun intended) with the design, construction, debugging etc. of digital circuits. While some people may feel intimidated by instrumentation and all the required wiring, I have no qualms about learning and undertaking these tasks.

 

Helicopter Kit Options Review

Since one of my identified requirements was for a two-seat+ craft, I identified three potential kits that were within the price range and probable scheduled delivery window that I was interested in; the Safari, Rotorway Exec and JAG. While the JAG was an exciting prospect, I carefully watched for any information about flight-testing and delivery, which seemed to be very low priorities. In hindsight, I'm extremely grateful that my intuition was correct and that I didn't get involved with this ship.

The Rotorway Exec series has a large customer base and many of them are within a close radius of me, thus I would be able to get moral and physical assistance with it. One of the most experienced owners and the developer of many modifications is located just under two hours away. The first JetExec customer conversion is also based within 15 minutes of my home, but I was concerned about it's lack of an extensive track record and as such dismissed it as my first ship. I did get the factory information pack and carefully reviewed it, the promotional tape and read all that I could about the stock ship. There were several items that I did not like about this design, including:

Update - It would appear that Rotorway is now doing more R&D. At Heli-Expo '07 they displayed a ship with changed landing gear and an EFIS system instead of steam gauges. I've also heard rumour that they've had an Innodyn turbine onsite for quite some time. While I have my reservations about this engine and company, the fact that Rotorway may be doing some R&D in this area is very promising for the future of kit rotorcraft. I'm also aware of some meetings between Rotorway and suppliers of after-market parts for their product. Looks like 2007 may be a very interesting year for them under their new ownership.
Update: Actually it has been a very interesting time with their announcement of the new A600 Talon. Time will tell what this machine is really like after a few of them get into owner's hands and are actually flying.

When I looked at the Safari, I liked the "keep it simple" approach to the drivetrain. The standard Lycoming air-cooled engine, geared transmission and hard driveshafts all appealed to me, as did the high TBO times. One interesting photo that I've seen actually shows someone standing on the tailboom about halfway down! Since most things are "hanging out in the breeze", pre-flight and post-flight is very straightforward and I couldn't see myself trying to cut corners because of difficult access. While some may feel that the overall design is visually boxy, ugly or some other such moniker, I prefer to use the term "retro looking" and will gladly exchange sexy looks for safety and reliability.

Another interesting aspect was the location of the factory. Unlike the desert or prairies, Ear Falls is located within the Canadian Shield which consists primarily of rock outcrops, lakes and forests which are relatively uninhabited. This is truly an inhospitable area for forced landings and is not the kind of country that I would feel comfortable flying over if a craft was prone to failure.

I have repeatedly heard how new Rotorway ships are less costly than the Safari. Before making this statement, I think people should carefully look at the "true" costs and compare apples to apples. The comparisons I have seen were very skewed and did not take into account the true costs, hassles and performance of outfitting a comparable and reliable ship that was capable of operating day or night from a 4,000' base elevation for more than initial certification; let's say 600 hours. While the Safari kit/engine might appear to cost more at first glance, I think the real numbers would be very surprising to a lot of people when they added everything up even if they don't include anything for labor ... engine rebuilds, shipping, 100 hour kits etc. really add up for the current Rotorway offering.

 

Factory Discussion

Once I had decided that the Safari was my most likely choice, I had several lengthy and informative talks with CHR and builders. One of the things that impressed me was their emphasis on safety and reliability. Painful as it sounded, as part of this they recommend a twenty hour hover period before flight at altitude, both upon initial completion and after any major change. I was informed that this could be performed in Ear Falls by their Chief Pilot in conjunction with final rigging and balancing using their Chadwick-Helmuth vibration analyzer and that part of this time may even be useable as transition training. Sounded great ... little did I know that their Chief Pilot had already moved to Florida and that there were no other company personnel at Ear Falls with ratings at the time, let alone any with a Canadian helicopter instructor license.

 

Safari Option Review

Since I have witnessed various bankruptcies, both within the aviation industry and elsewhere, I only choose to purchase complete units (in this case kits) and avoid any kind of staged or partial purchase. This is in no way a reflection of my opinion of CHR, but rather a business practice that I choose to enforce. Thus my base requirement was for a Safari silver kit which fit in well with my requirement of no (or absolute minimal) welding. Since this is a relatively complete kit offering, there were very few other individual options to consider.

After reviewing the manuals and realizing my lack of experience with aircraft sheet metal, I decided that the pre-mounted cab and pre-fabricated engine shroud were also a wise choice for me. I was assured that the company had very experienced and qualified personnel to perform this ... lots more about this later. Since I didn't have the welding skills and I thought it would be a hassle to have the exhaust system fabricated locally, I figured that a factory exhaust system would be an easy choice to speed assembly ... bad choice with more about this later.

About the only other options to consider were the T-panel instrument pod and the cargo hook. At the time, I didn't have a clear decision on the T-panel vs. just the sheet metal "box" shown on the construction prints. I figured that I could always use the T-panel for ideas, a template, or even just sell it (which I did). Although I was interested in the cargo hook as a possible future training aid, I discovered that it was not an orderable option (although a hard point is installed on the factory-welded frame).

I realized that I would need to arrange for both the initial shipping of the kit and also figure out how to get the completed ship to/from Ear Falls for the planned initial rigging, vibration analysis and hover time fly-off. I also contemplated various movements of the completed ship that would be required in the future. After looking into other trailer options and hearing about the experiences of others with cobbled together helicopter trailers, I decided that the factory trailer would also be a worthwhile investment.

 

ORDERING

After all of the above contemplation, on Apr. 12/02 a deposit was sent and an order placed for the following items:

Note that as of the initial writing of this document, there was a "Silver Plus" ordering option that includes the first four items in the above list. More recently this has been renamed as the "Quick Build Kit".

On May 8/02 I made a quick one-day trip to Ear Falls to confirm the order, identify additional items required, clarify the engine requirements and get some detail pictures. Definitely a rewarding trip with gracious hosts, but the snow storm on the return 5 hour drive to Winnipeg left a lot to be desired. Sometimes there's an advantage to having accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles and thus being able to do these quick trips for the right price!

Originally, the delivery date was supposed to be the end of May '02 or the beginning of June, but this repeatedly slipped until it was finally agreed that I could pick up a completed kit that was destined for export but was being delayed at least another month pending the arrival of the engine. The agreed date was set for July 8/02 so I set out with my son for the 1,000 mile drive across the prairies and into the Canadian Shield.

 

Hindsight

I've been asked several times what I would do differently if I was to make these decisions again. By far the biggest change I'd make is to start a project like this at least ten years earlier. Flying helicopters is something that requires quick reactions/reflexes and since there is no autopilot its a full-time activity that demands constant attention when airborne. I believe its different for someone with a lot of experience, but acquiring and retaining the necessary skills appears to be more difficult with age.

While I might still consider the Safari for a two-seat helicopter kit, I would also take the time to consider whether the four-place Hummingbird was more suitable for my requirements. It certainly is a very interesting craft that is derived from a production machine which has had a lot of testing and experience gathered. From second-hand reports, it seems the quality, documentation and overall support is very good ... I assume part of this is due to the fact that the manufacturer is familiar with working on certified aircraft. While the standard engine is a Lycoming VO-435, it also would be a prime candidate for the installation of an Allison C18 turbine (or a T63-A700).

With the building skills I've now gained, I would choose to build the Safari shroud from the pre-cut parts or just patterns rather than the pre-fabricated unit. The savings would then be partially invested in some additional tools such as a good metal brake. I've now come to the conclusion that I would not order the pre-fabricated cab, even with its somewhat daunting compound curve pieces ... I haven't seen the quality to justify the expense plus the problems I've encountered have caused me a lot of extra time and frustration to correct mistakes made at the factory. I decided not to use the fiberglass T-panel so obviously I wouldn't order one. I would not choose the factory exhaust system again and instead have either a performance exhaust built or at least build one based somewhat on the factory design but actually matched to my engine/frame combination ... $1,000+ over the cost of materials would buy a lot of local welding time and considering how poorly mine fit, I really can't recommend the factory system. I would also use the grade and thickness of stainless steel that is normally used on aircraft exhaust systems. I'd also defer the purchase of the big-ticket engine and avionics till much closer to the time they are actually required; probably a four month lead-time on the engine and about a month for avionics so I could check out the latest changes in the market.

The actual building would go much faster if I was to do a second project. The basic skills have now been acquired and there wouldn't be the need to both practice and question how to perform various tasks. There would be minimal need to review the plans and documents while scratching my head and I'd already have solutions to the various little design / building issues that inevitably slow construction. The tools and workshop would already be set up and sources for the various accessory parts and services would be known thus saving a lot of research time. Its nearly impossible to make an accurate estimate, but the building time could possibly be reduced to about 1/4 the elapsed time.

If I were re-doing this project, I would change my approach to the painting and riveting. I chose to fabricate all of the various items and defer things like alodine, paint and riveting until fabrication was complete. Many of the items could be batched during construction and then be ready for sub-assembly. These things could fill in the fifteen minutes or so that may be available at the end of a work session where one isn't ready to start a new task. The parts would then be ready for either final paint or assembly and by doing some of this along the way, it would give a better sense of accomplishment and speed up the final assembly.

Actually, the painting has turned out to be a much bigger task than I imagined. The final cleaning and preparation of parts is time consuming but the alodine process goes relatively quickly for smaller pieces that I can immerse in my tubs. Painting is definitely time consuming; the actual process is relatively quick but the preparation (especially masking) and cleanup takes time and I only have a limited space to paint and hang drying parts in. When using my chosen primer / paint combination, I also have to be careful to be able to allow for both the primer setup time and also to finish the job within the topcoat window. I had hoped to contract out some of this, but with my fiasco on the frame I'm starting to do it myself . Unlike composites, metal structures have multiple sides that need protection and one of the problems with contracting it out is that the painter isn't familiar with which areas are hidden and which are very obvious. Thus one can get a perfect (but heavy ) job in hidden areas and just an average job in the most obvious places. I would highly recommend that a builder be prepared to do most of their own painting so that they can keep to their own schedule and paint various parts both as required and in the scheme that they want. Perhaps the final painting of the cab exterior is one area that one may want to get help with, especially if there is a complicated scheme and alternatively, vinyl graphics could be used.

 

The much harder question to answer is whether I would consider building a two-place kit helicopter again. While the Rotorway's price has remained relatively constant over the last five years (note the recent major price jump), there has been reports of some recent quality control issues on critical components. This is something that I assume will be addressed since the new owners have indicated that they're also interested in pursuing the certified market and they've already shown some major upgrades that will become part of the new A600 Talon. The experience base with the JetExec is also growing daily with many positive reports, but the engines are becoming more expensive due to a limited supply.

The Safari kit price has increased by over 50% in this same timespan and changes seem to be extremely slow (to the point of non-existent) in coming, especially in several important areas: documentation, 2/rev vibrations and safety-related issues. Without seeing a newly delivered kit I can't comment on whether any of the quality control issues have been addressed, but certainly my kit needed some serious attention in this regard and I would not deal with it a second time. I spent way too much time and money correcting things that I believe should never have been allowed to ship from the factory. That being said, I still believe the Safari is the best two-place kit helicopter design for the purposes that I envision. I just wish that CHR had some kind of a real R&D program to go along with their efforts directed at marketing and ease of manufacturing.
Update: I have recently been having some email exchanges with a builder who received a much newer kit than mine which also had the pre-fabricated shroud and cab. According to him, many of the problems I encountered have been fixed and things like the shroud fit okay as-received. Obviously there have been changes in the kit production, but I have not viewed them first hand ... I can only go by what I've seen and I feel that much of the pre-fabricated sheet metal work I received was unacceptable for use in an aircraft.

The more I think about this as I'm writing it, I realize that I would now probably consider two options: buy a well-built completed Safari and apply the changes that I deem necessary or buy a certified machine such as an R22 that has already had a lot of R&D and testing applied to it. By far the most likely choice would be an R22 or something similar. I'm not sure whether it's my age or frustration level, but I don't think that I'm ready to start another two-place helicopter kit from scratch. After being around quite a few different fixed wing kits, I believe both of the above referenced kits have a very long way to go in order to match the quality and builder friendly approach of other kit aircraft that I've seen.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

While the kit was in the construction phase, I had an interesting visit from a person who was interested in possibly building a helicopter kit but had a potential problem; he's 6' 6" and 235 pounds. He had sat in a Rotorway to check the size before even considering it's 210 pound per seat weight limitation issue and discovered that there was not enough room. When he sat in the Safari there was more than ample headroom, lots of shoulder room and although the pedals might have been a bit too close, this did not appear to be a concern. Although he might have to be careful in the future, the Safari's 240 pound per seat (including compartment) limitation would not be violated.

 

At Sun-n-Fun 2005, Mark displayed a variation of the Safari that he was playing with over the winter. It seems like the name was changing hourly and a couple of those overheard were Interceptor and Darth Vader. Obviously the body is the most obvious distinction and its made almost entirely of flat surfaces including flat lexan instead of the Bell 47 bubble. Also, there has been a significant change to a T-tail configuration.

I have talked with someone who was in the company of a potential purchaser at Airventure '07. The person they were with was serious about purchasing a helicopter kit and finances were not any kind of an issue. They first looked at the Rotorway Talon A600 and were not impressed with the current powerplant and other shortcomings. They then looked at the Safari and were extremely impressed with the simple rugged reliable approach using a Lycoming engine. However, when they saw the Interceptor he immediately walked away with cheque book firmly in the pocket ... his reasoning was that there still appeared to be operational items like a governor that needed to be addressed yet here was a lot of effort being spent on something that he felt was totally Mickey Mouse cosmetics.

 

I am also aware of a few other machines that had custom designed cabins and it would appear that they have basically a stock Safari frame and running gear with other components grafted onto it. While there is probably very little effect at low speed, I believe that this would require a very careful test regiment as one starts increasing the speed in order to identify if there are any high speed aerodynamic issues. At least one ship in New Zealand has an R22 cabin / nose grafted onto it and I'm aware of at least one builder in the USA who is also taking this approach.

 

INCORPORATION

One aspect that was considered was the eventual disposal of any parts, assemblies or completed ship(s) and since one of the largest markets is the litigation-happy U.S.A., I felt it was necessary to address this issue. From what I know, no amount of legal maneuvering will protect against gross negligence or possibly straight negligence. However, the indirectness of a corporation will provide some level of personal protection against some of the ridiculous nuisance suits that can arise from a purchaser's failure to perform adequate inspections, maintenance etc.

Only time will tell how the business side will evolve into one of the several aviation-related areas that are being contemplated and at this time I don't feel that it is appropriate to discuss these publicly.

In Canada we have a 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) that applies to all purchases and considering the value of all the items being acquired to build and operate helicopters this can become quite significant. When a corporation purchases items, the GST is essentially added to the books in a paid/received column that is then balanced on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. The net effect to a corporation that is still in the early phases and mostly purchasing is that the tax is effectively deferred until such time as goods or services are sold. As a side benefit to the pain of filing annual tax returns, there are also very good records of all expenditures.

 

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Last updated: December 08, 2008