Real Cost of Ownership: Helicopters (Bell 47)

[Apache123]

My AMEL DPE is a really big helicopter guy, and he gave me all of his numbers straight-up. It is crazy, and I now have a lot of respect for those who persevere through and obtain their CP for helo.

http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-fly-when-you-can-beat-air-into.html

 

[az350x]

Staggering. The list of life-limited components, each requiring its own "reserve," is unreal. Part of the reason a ride in a three-million dollar EMS helicopter costs what it does. I said PARTof the reason, lol.

 

[Henning]

Why do you think the R-22 took over the rotor training market the day it came out?

 

[Jim Logajan]

My AMEL DPE is a really big helicopter guy, and he gave me all of his numbers straight-up. It is crazy, and I now have a lot of respect for those who persevere through and obtain their CP for helo.

http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-fly-when-you-can-beat-air-into.html

You have to wonder why simpler designs like the torqueless single rotor Nagler Voljet haven't come to market (not to be confused with the blade tip ram-jet design):

 

[Henning]

You have to wonder why simpler designs like the torqueless single rotor Nagler Voljet haven't come to market (not to be confused with the blade tip ram-jet design):

Interesting. I would think that it would have some efficiency issues.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Interesting. I would think that it would have some efficiency issues.

I would assume lower efficiency too. However, fuel is only one part of total cost to own and operate.

 

[Henning]

I would assume lower efficiency too. However, fuel is only one part of total cost to own and operate.

The other factor of fuel is load, and that is most likely the issue I would guess.

 

[jhausch]

Love your blog content, but found it difficult to find and navigate to older stories. Try a different layout with the history/archive on the left and higher on the page.

Thanks for writing it.