Real Cost of Ownership: Helicopters

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Although I hear it's a great aircraft, it's a 70 year old design and not the most economical.
 

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Helicopters don't actually fly, they're just so ugly the earth repels them.

That's why they cost so much- Mama Earth charges helicopters extra for the 'ugly tax'. :D
 
At the end of your article... I promise you no one is flying a cub for $15/hr. A nice cub is 50 grand. If you want a super cub so you can actually do anything with it, double that. Floats? There's a nice one for sale for 180k nearby. He will get it to, because nothing else will do what it does.
 
I'd be interested to see one on a more widely used training helicopter, like the Robinson R-22 or the Hughes 300/Schweizer 300/Sikorsky S-300. That being said, a former coworker of mine owns a Hiller UH-12, so some people are still brave enough to own and fly those older designs.

Personally? I want my own A-Star! :)
 
And that's why I chose fixed wing, I couldn't afford the training costs associated with a rotor wing. Someday I'd at least like to get a couple lessons in one, though.
 
inigo88 said:
Personally? I want my own A-Star! :)
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You a glutton for punishment? I'd rather own a Hughes product, such as an OH-6A.

That said, everything on a helicopter is life limited in some way, hence the extreme cost of overall operation. Even the "throwaway" helos like AStars, that term used to refer to how simply they're built and generally easier to maintain overall, are still expensive as heck to not only purchase, but to operate too.
 
AStar...actually is that the Airbus 350 now? You don't want one. The blades turn backwards.

As for the Hiller, as Mike alluded to, everything is time limited. I'd bet the only original part is the dataplate. The Robbies are (relatively) cheap to run. You can even run auto gas (0% EtOH) and save a ton, but every 2200 hrs and/or 12 years you pay $70-120k to overhaul it. The Schweizers are TANKS, but I hear production is low and spare parts are r are since Sikorsky took over.

Murdoughnut said:
I think helicopter numbers should include a "funeral/burial reserve" as well - maybe $20 an hour?
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When I ended-up in a field, I was flippin' lucky. Every other piece of land around me had trees or round bales. I remember thinking, "This would have been easier in a helicopter." In a 2500 lb airplane you're meeting Mother Earth at 70 kts. In a 2500 lb helicopter, you can touch down much slower and, therefore, with much less energy. The 206 series can do this all day long.
 
Erik10 said:
And that's why I chose fixed wing, I couldn't afford the training costs associated with a rotor wing. Someday I'd at least like to get a couple lessons in one, though.
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There are great job opportunities out there if you have an Helicopter license, especially abroad. Even with no turbine time. Conditions are generally better then the ones for fixed wing pilots, at least from what I have seen working next to Helicopter operations.

My gf recently worked as translator for the S300 mechanic training course, I had no idea of the amount of training required to work even on those entry level models, truly impressive.

deadstick said:
When I ended-up in a field, I was flippin' lucky. Every other piece of land around me had trees or round bales. I remember thinking, "This would have been easier in a helicopter." In a 2500 lb airplane you're meeting Mother Earth at 70 kts. In a 2500 lb helicopter, you can touch down much slower and, therefore, with much less energy. The 206 series can do this all day long.
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I think the real danger associated with helicopters is not related to engine failures, I have been a lot around helicopters (in the military and in the civilian world) and I never heard of an engine failure. Most of the occurrences were related to collisions with things on the ground.
 
Helicopters in some environments are still the most economical options. back home in Switzerland they use them a lot in construction, if you need to move a lot of material fast and into complicated spots they are cheaper then renting a truck and a crane.
 
deadstick said:
When I ended-up in a field, I was flippin' lucky. Every other piece of land around me had trees or round bales. I remember thinking, "This would have been easier in a helicopter." In a 2500 lb airplane you're meeting Mother Earth at 70 kts. In a 2500 lb helicopter, you can touch down much slower and, therefore, with much less energy. The 206 series can do this all day long.
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Heck, the H-model Huey (essentially a larger/heavier Bell 206), you can auto to a point to a near hover, and land. Or, you can auto to a touchdown, pick it up again with the throttle still closed, and move it or rotate it a number of yards, and set down again.

In the AStar when you lose an engine, the place you're going to auto to is somewhere through your chin bubble. In the UH-1H, the place you're going to auto to is somewhere out the front windscreen and ahead of you, it retains it's energy so well (pending you're doing the right things as a pilot).
 
Liability-only coverage for this aircraft (No Hull Coverage) costs right around $6,000 per year.

Really? I mean I've gone off on the cost of aircraft insurance in the past, but that ^ seems a bit hard to believe. Or are you talking Commercial-use liability? That I might buy.
 
swisspilot said:
I think the real danger associated with helicopters is not related to engine failures, I have been a lot around helicopters (in the military and in the civilian world) and I never heard of an engine failure. Most of the occurrences were related to collisions with things on the ground.
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Sir, if you were aroound helicopter pilots that much, you'd know we are perfect. WE do not hit wires, roll over while trying to puck up to a hover, or other such pedestrian things. If we crash, it'll be in a most spactacular way and because our machine failed us. ;)

Seriously, though, you are right that you can have your ass handed to you in about a half second in a helicopter. Usually, those are mechanical failures, such as loss of t/r components, mast separation. We try to and train to mitigate the human factor much as possible. Your reference to "collisions with things on the ground" is very true. I know pilots who have done it. Wires, trees, heck I know a guy who got charged by a bull (no contact). I also know folks who've gone swimming in the GOM after their engine puked. The difference is that with those frirst examples, WE, the pilots, have more control. A better high/low recon, a more controlled approach, not landing near livestock -- those are thing we can do to mitigate the risks. The mechanical stuff, we do our best with the preflight.

In short, your assessment of the dangers associated with helicopters wild be more accurate if it placed the threat not on the helicopters, but on some of the people flying the helicopters.

BUT, as I've already pointed out. We're perfect. There is no danger.;) Q.E.D.
 
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rframe said:
Liability-only coverage for this aircraft (No Hull Coverage) costs right around $6,000 per year.

Really? I mean I've gone off on the cost of aircraft insurance in the past, but that ^ seems a bit hard to believe. Or are you talking Commercial-use liability? That I might buy.
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Commercial-use liability was $20,000 per year on this bird. Not an estimate/quote, but the actual numbers this guy paid (his level of experience, by the way? FAA Designated Pilot Examiner).
 
swisspilot said:
There are great job opportunities out there if you have an Helicopter license, especially abroad. Even with no turbine time. Conditions are generally better then the ones for fixed wing pilots, at least from what I have seen working next to Helicopter operations.
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That's probably true. However, it doesn't change the fact that you'll be paying about 60% more than fixed wing training.
 
MikeD said:
You a glutton for punishment? I'd rather own a Hughes product, such as an OH-6A.
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You are so right... Hughes OH-6A / Hughes 369D / MD-500 wins hands down.

Murdoughnut said:
I think helicopter numbers should include a "funeral/burial reserve" as well - maybe $20 an hour?
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Ever heard of a full-down autorotation? I'm not a helicopter pilot (one day I will afford it!) but you can safely land without engine power so long as you have the airspeed/altitude to establish a glide.





Helicopter POHs have a Height-Velocity diagram to show in which combinations of airspeed and altitude a safe autorotation can be made (this one is from an R44 I think). Coincidentally, you can see from the recommended takeoff profile why helicopter pilots tend to gain forward speed before climbing (I think the best glide speed is around 65 knots).

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I think multi-engine helicopter pilots can get away with a lot more stuff, since you can fall back on that 2nd engine to at least help you land should you have an engine failure. Obviously the guys in this thread who do fly them would know better than I. :)
 
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