C-GOEZ
Building a Safari (aka Baby Belle) Helicopter Kit
This website came into being as a result of numerous requests for information from potential builders, exchanges with current builders seeking information and in general a lack of building information available on the web both outside and within the Safari builder's community. The author felt that it was finally time that this information be made available to all interested parties and has committed to spending time in the pursuit of this endeavour. There is no intent to turn this site into a construction manual or a fully illustrated "how-to" series (unfortunately some sections have become this way since there is a total lack of other information). While some opinion, bias and cynicism is inevitable, the intent is to try remain factual and include the author's reasoning so as to allow the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Note that the use of orange text within the following sections is used to indicate the most recent revisions.
$ Items For Sale $ (Mar. 3/09)
Background, Decision and Ordering (Dec. 8/08)
Trailer and Delivery (Oct. 1/07)
Kit Contents (May 3/09)
Frame, Boom and Skids (May 3/09)
Cabin and Interior (May 3/09)
Floor Bins (June 11/08)
Console (May 3/09)
Avionics, Instruments and Electrical (May 3/09)
Wiring 101 (Apr.12/09)
Engine & Related Equipment (May 3/09)
Shroud (May 3/09)
Controls and Drivetrain (May 3/09)
Governor (May 3/09)
Preparation and Paint (Oct. 18/08)
Novice Painting Thoughts (Nov. 30/08)
Final Assembly (May 3/09)
Rigging (May 3/09)
Required Items (Apr. 12/09)
Shop, Supplies and Tools (Mar. 3/09)
Riveting (Oct. 14/07)
Regulatory Issues (Apr. 12/09)
Operation and Maintenance (May 3/09)
Safety Issues (May 3/09)
Current Building Status
I guess the question now is whether I'm building or maintaining ... this craft has now had it's initial track & balance performed plus has a couple of hours of hover time. I still need to finish fabricating the doors and there are a couple of items on my "to-do" list that I want to complete.
Just for fun, I thought I'd keep track here of the various parts that I've fabricated and totally finished such that they're ready for final installation / assembly. The painting count does not include simple things like nutplates and is only for pieces that are painted individually i.e. not separate parts riveted together and then painted. Parts with multiple colours are only counted once and I'm sure I'll miss several pieces in these counts. Also, there are a lot more pieces that were individually alodined before riveting together as sub-assembies and then painted.
Painted: 295 + 163 screw heads
Repainted : 12
Anodized: 32
Chromed: 1
Powder Coated: 5 + 10 instrument nuts (Dry Film)
Ceramic Coated: 5 (exhaust system)
General
Most of the information on this website is oriented towards a first-time builder with minimal aviation experience. Obviously the bias is toward the Safari helicopter kit produced by Canadian Home Rotors (CHR), but some of it is also relevant to kit-built aircraft in general. For those with experience, they can obviously choose to skip a lot of the material but I openly admit that I'm still learning on a daily basis and welcome feedback where I have misunderstandings, made mistakes and/or deviated from accepted aircraft principles. In the end, the objective is to build a safe and reliable craft with a minimum of hassles.
Much of the information herein is gathered from the building of kit # S2111 which was picked up in July 2002. There may be factory changes before and after this time, but the author can only attest to what has been personally observed and experienced. Occasionally there may be references to "other builders". This will only come from trusted sources and primarily will be used to confirm or negate personal experience.
Please remember that this is a work-in-progress type site and will be updated when more time and information become available or as omissions or errors are detected. The focus of this site is on content, not flash. Perhaps this may offend some, but my objective is to convey information with the least overhead for myself (i.e. time not spent in the shop). Pictures are included for illustrative purposes only and have consciously been kept at low resolution to conserve space. Broken links, viewing errors, content errors, misconceptions, etc. I will gladly entertain and try to update accordingly ... if the reader wants to sell the latest golly-gee-whiz web creation tools or complain about "the look" ... don't waste both our times. I am well aware that there are a lot of spelling errors which often occur as I tend to write things with my morning coffee before it truly kicks in.
I am fully aware that there should be some re-arrangement
of this website to make the information more orderly and easier
to locate. However, this would take a lot
of time and I don't perceive any benefit to myself for doing it.
I've consciously decided to just leave it the way it is and
slowly expand upon the actual content. The information and ideas
are here and that's what counts.
Update: There has been a bit of re-arrangement due to some
sections becoming too large for quick access.
Earlier, I had my chance to rant and I decided that it was unfair to the rest of the Safari community, and especially new builders, that I pulled this website. There is a lot of information here and links that are difficult to chase down. As a result, I've chosen to reinstate the website but I may not be updating it nearly as regularly as I did in the past or always spending the time to highlight changes and additions. Although I was previously running up against space constraints, my ISP chose to increase the webspace allowance and I'll be adding pictures again.
Links
Other Safari builder's detailed Websites:
Rick Reese - Under construction and frequent updates
Bart Kindt - Completed; mostly pictures and a bit of text
Active forums where a builder can gather information:
Rotorways Owner Group - Although its primarily about RW, there's some good general discussions
Matronics - Lots of unique forums - AeroElectric-List has good electrical discussions
Vans Air Force - Very active homebuilder's forum / site with lots of general information topics
Recommended Reading
There are lots of books about helicopters out there and I got several of them from the local library to try learn more about these machines. The best theory / engineering books seem to be those by R.W. Prouty but they're "heavy" and out of print (hint: they're collector's items and worth it if you're into the engineering side of things). I found one book that I really liked as it had most of the aerodynamic principles explained but with only enough engineering data as required to understand the concepts. I actually bought the book and later found out that the flight school I attended uses it as a primary text:
Principles of Helicopter Flight - W.J. Wagtendonk
The more I've been reading the following the book, the more I've come to appreciate it. The first half of the book is a good reference manual for pilots on the basics and required techniques. Where I've really started appreciating it is for the second half which has various advanced techniques and reference material. Much of this material is hard to find in print whereas it's been assembled here in this one book.
Cyclic & Collective - Shawn Coyle
For those that believe it can't happen to them and think that they can become "old and bold", they may want to read the following sobering book:
Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots - Greg Whyte
During training there are other books that will be required and its good to keep them around afterwards for reference even if they do eventually become outdated. Two of the ones I used here in Canada are:
From the Ground Up - Aviation Publishers Co. Ltd.
Helicopter Pilot Ground School Course - M.J. Culhane (N.B. They've raised the price considerably and one may just want to borrow a copy)
I consider it mandatory that a builder have print or electronic copies of: U.S. FAA Advisory Circular (AC) No. 43.13-1A, "Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices - Aircraft Inspection and Repair," and AC No. 43.13-2A, "Acceptable Methods, Techniques and Practices - Aircraft Alterations." For the novice home-builder, they may want to invest in copies of Tony Bingelis's books which are available from many sources. These are somewhat outdated but there is a wealth of good information in them.
In Canada, the Recreational Aircraft Association (RAA) publishes an "Amateur Built Aircraft Builder's Manual". This is basically a consolidated manual of the process, regulations and forms that are required to build and certify an amateur built aircraft. I can't seem to find a direct link to it at this time, but it's still advertised in their magazine. Seems the price has gone up considerably from when I bought my copy.
I believe this book is one of the standards used in the US and it has some good information, especially on gyroplanes. It's also one of the few I've found that is available online for download (albeit slow).
I've read several other books (and even own a few) but so far I haven't found others that I'd highly recommend.
As to magazines, there is only one that I currently know of that deals specifically with amateur-built helicopters like the Safari. There are other magazines such as Kitplanes that deal with the generic Kit aircraft industry and have good articles, but if I were to choose only one then it would be Experimental Helo which is produced by a Safari owner.
Note that Kitplanes actually has two online reprint articles(1 & 2) about the Safari. They also had a couple of more recent articles.
Disclaimer
The author is NOT an AME, A&P or any other alphabet soup related to the aviation industry. Anything posted on this website MUST be considered an unqualified opinion and evaluated by the reader so they can draw their own conclusions or consult with an appropriately rated professional.
The author has no relationship with any of the manufacturers referenced on these pages except as a customer. While manufacturers are welcome to view these pages, I have avoided seeking their endorsement in order to maintain an independent view. In the event they disagree with any of the content, they are free to contact me and if they choose to allow their comments to be made public, I will endeavour to incorporate them.
- Make sure it has "Safari" within the subject or it may go to the spam bucket.
Copyright © 2003-2009 : Circle M Helicopters Ltd.
Absolutely NO PERMISSION is granted for the reader to re-use any pictures or content from this site without the express written permission of the company.
Since Feb. 26/04
Last updated: May 03, 2009