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Business Travel RUNWAY TO SUCCESS
Up, Up, And ... Straight Up!
Most of us learned to fly to get from point A to point B in relative freedom, above the traffic-clogged streets and away from the noise and congestion that most mere mortals have to put up with. For business travel from say, New York to Florida or Chicago to Maryland, fast, IFR-equipped general aviation airplanes are the only way to go.
But in between business trips, particularly when a 30-mile metro-New York commute becomes a two-hour nightmare, we find ourselves looking up at a picture-perfect VFR sky struggling to figure out how to turn the daily commute into an airborne experience.
Well, for a few extra hours’ training and less than $100,000, you may just be able to go door-to-door, from your home to your office, by air, without having to move to an airpark.
Ed DeRossi, a fixed-wing pilot from Johnstown, New York, decided to take up flying helicopters a few years ago and says it’s one of the best things he’s ever done. DeRossi flies a kit helicopter from Rotorway throughout his neighborhood, frequently using it to go get ice cream or even go out to dinner.
DeRossi, who works for a power utility, said he doesn’t commute in the helicopter but he has flown to work on occasion. “I landed on the roof of the building where I worked a couple of times but they told me not to do it any more. Now I land it in the parking lot,” he said.
A handful of companies—some old and some new—now offer two-seat, kit helicopters that can be assembled in six months to a year, and that can be flown from your backyard to the office parking lot in far less time than it would take you to navigate the drive-thru at the local Dunkin’ Donuts.
But before you lift-off on a helicopter adventure, take note of the local regulations in your area. Some communities prohibit helicopter landings in residential areas, while some towns have taken matters a step further and completely banned all helicopter landings unless a permit is issued by the town.
To fly a helicopter, even a kit-built helicopter, you’ll need a private pilot helicopter license—like you’re starting all over again. This requires 15 hours of dual instruction and 15 hours of solo time for fixed-wing pilots.
This isn’t as easy as you might think because helicopter flight training isn’t as widely available as fixed-wing training, and many of the schools are geared toward commercial pilots. Training costs range from $8,000 to $11,000, depending on what part of the country you live in, so in many respects, it’s just like taking your primary training all over again except that you should already understand many of the regulations.
A good source of information on schools and learning to fly a helicopter can be found at the verticalreference.com Web site.
A gyroplane is a bit different than a helicopter in that it can’t hover. A gyroplane uses forward movement to keep the wing rotating, and so it flies in a manner similar to that of an airplane, but with very good short field characteristics.
Dofin Fritts, a Molino, Florida-based CFI who specializes in gyroplane training, says, the gyroplane is often simpler for fixed-wing pilots to transition to, plus it qualifies under the new Sport Pilot regulations which require less training.
The attraction, Dofin said, is that gyroplanes are very easy and inexpensive to fly, so they make great transportation for commuters.
The Rotary Air Force Marketing gyroplane costs $25,000 to $31,000 to build and can be completed in six months to a year. It runs on auto gas and can cruise at 70 to 90 kts (depending on the installed engine) carrying 750 pounds for about 4.5 hours. For more information, you can visit raf2000.com.
Another option for the would-be rotor pilot is the HeloWerks HX-1 Wasp. Like the RAF gyroplane, the Wasp made of light-weight composite materials, but unlike the RAF product, the Wasp is a turbine-powered helicopter with true vertical take-off and landing capabilities.
The Wasp can carry 500 pounds of pilot, passenger and fuel for about 130 miles at 80 mph. It made its debut at Sun ’n Fun in 2005, and is priced at about $70,000. You can find out more about the Waspat helowerks.com.
A more traditional kit helicopter is the Safari, from CHR. This kit was originally introduced in 1953 as the Helicom. It was renamed the Commuter IIB, and then the BabyBelle, before being re-christened in 1999 as the Safari.
With its open doors and bubble dome, the Safari is widely-recognized among kit helicopter builders. The latest model can carry 500 pounds of people and stuff at 85 mph for about 250 miles. The base kit is $55,000, plus an engine that will run $25,000 to $30,000. You can find out more about the Safari at acehelicopter.com.
Rotorway International, based in Chandler, Arizona, offers the Exec 162F kit for $67,750. This kit can carry 525 pounds of people and stuff at 95 mph and has a range of 180 miles using either high-octane auto gas or av gas. It comfortably seats two, and has a slick, modern-looking appearance. For more on the 162F, visit rotorway.com.
—Sean Fulton
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