RotorWay

[averyrm]

A few years ago, there was a show on discovery wings called "a chopper is born" where the guy built a RotorWay Exec 162 http://www.rotorway.com/. Looked like a lot of fun, and a pretty economical way to get into helis.

I was talking to a helo pilot at an FBO who mentioned them and claimed they were deathtraps and he'd never fly one. Wondered if anyone on here has encountered them, and if the aformentioned guy is just a crackpot or well informed.

If the thing is just pretty much a piece, are there any economical helis? I mean I could get a pretty dang nice, but very small and impractical airplane for the price of a bmw anything comparible in the rotor world?

 

[USMCmech]

The rotorway kit has had a rash of broken secondary driveshafts (the equivilant of the prop falling off).

The manufacturer of the kit seems unwilling to investigate and or change their design. Some people have desgined "improved" drivetrains that suposedly will fix the problem.

Also the kit is fairly complicated and not what you would call "inexpensive".

64K for the basic kit

1-2 years of nights and weekends

10-15K for upgraded drivetrains and other accssories that are considered vital to safety.

Suddenly 120K for a R-22 dosen't look so much more expensive.

Check out this website, it documents the building process, and what happens when the driveshaft breaks.

http://www.rotorwayfun.com/

 

[averyrm]

Hmm, broken main components on a heli sound extra bad.

I saw a kit for an additional 20k or so that replaces the engine with a turbine, but I don't know if it upgrades the secondary driveshaft or not.

And the 1-2 years of nights and weekends would be plenty of fun for me, I'm a gearhead and I'd eventually like to build something.

Thanks for chiming in!

 

[USMCmech]

Basicly Rotorway is the best helo kit out there, but the factory drivetrain requires a significant upgrade to be safe enough for me to trust it. I would consider building and flying one with the upgraded drivetrain. However the added cost must be factored in.

The factory drive train uses a set of chains in an oil bath to conect the engine to the rotor driveshaft. This is heavy, and it is impossible to keep form leaking. The factory rotor drive shaft is prone to breakage, even after they upgraded it to a larger size.

There are at least two compaines that replace the chain drive with a cogged belt drive, and replace the secondary shaft with a new and improved one that shouldn't break. I looked at the data from one of these companies and it looks like their fix should be effective, but only time will tell. Here is a link to one of the companies, http://www.flyapro.com

Also there are replacement blades for both the main and tail rotor that are significantely more reliable and lighter.

So what you have is a very nice kit for a two place piston helicopter, but half of the main components need to be replaced.