Seems too good to be true, is this for real?

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/ ... 234888435/

Pretty cool. I’ll believe price when I see it.

Too cool! I have 27hrs in helis. Think I could hover that thing straight outta the gate? Prob kill myself in an LTE accident 2sec into it.

That will fit fine in my front yard! It might be hard to haul up the hill to garage it.

How are fly by wire flight controls “Simpler” than pushrods.

Rotorway has been advertising kind of FADEC electronic engine controls for years.

They act like there is no certificate, but LSA is still certificated, with a check ride.

Maybe the fly-by-wire is "simpler" because the computer is stabilizing the craft, and the controls are up / down / left / right / forward / back.

It doesn't have to actually be simpler. It only has to be convincingly simpler to venture capital investors.

Aircraft for the "common person" has been right around the corner for decades. "178 hp turbocharged engine" of what make and type? A couple of fatal crashes by those that "think" they can fly this thing will doom it.

"Advanced Tactics says it will have the first ATRX-700 built and certified by February 2025,..." quoted from the article. Quoting a price now is ridiculous, no aviation project has come in at or under budget with first flights that far into the future.

Yawn...

Dan

Look to the drone market for guidance....

Prior to cheap (~$30) stabilizing gyro circuit boards, flying an RC airplane took a significant level of experience to fly without crashing. RC helicopters were even more challenging. With the advent of cheap electronics, the expertise needed to control aircraft stability was handed off to the system, leaving the operator free to point the aircraft (or drone) wherever, without having to actually fly it. The resulting elimination of skill, expertise, knowledge, etc, energized the masses, and the drone market exploded.

Fast forward to a LS Helicopter. With a stabilizing electronic control system, eliminating the need for the operator to actually have any skill, expertise, experience, etc may allow this market to take off (pardon the pun). Potential buyers won't care if a system hiccup plunges them to an unappealing outcome, but the thought of landing in their back yard will have 'em lined up for miles....

As a practical matter, the reality of engineering, manufacturing, and liability costs will most likely end any actual product ever making it to market (as aviation history has repeatedly demonstrated), but it will attract some venture capitalist, as well as a bunch of 'early adopters' willing to pony up for production slots.

Art

The problem with flying aircraft is not the flying part. it's all the stuff that goes alone with flying that gets people killed. Bad decisions, weather, running out of fuel, overweight, etc..

This will only make it easier for people to get into bad situations.

But like others have said it wont happen. I cant count how many aircraft start ups have come and gone. Investors are suckers for aviation dreams.

I have been following the Hill Helicopter development and cant help but think they are doomed as well. Trying to do too much at once and way too much optimism. I want them to succeed but I wouldn't bet on it. Plus they spend way too much time on update videos, thats a red flag. Haha

Mike

Very well said!

To me, the finest example of new aircraft introduction to the market was the X Cub. Designed, prototyped, tested, refined, certified and offered to the market before anyone even knew it existed. No flashy articles or news releases bragging about it at the concept stage, nothing at all.

One in a row...

Dan

Wonder if it has the belt drive the rotorways had

Only helicopter of that class that seemed good was the jetexec conversion, still lots of maintenance per flight hour

30hrs is a reach for a existing fixed wing pilot, some guy who has no aviation background, meh

Thanks for this, now I'm 2 hours behind on work for the day! If they can pull it off for that price point? Wow.

But I agree. They are trying to do too much. Develop a new engine and new airframe? Insane.

They do have some amazing ideas though - putting small electric motors on the main wheels so it will be its own tug? Genius.

I also like that they're trying something new with the controls. I'm working on my rotor add-on and after 20 hours I still can't get comfortable in the R44.

Where does the air conditioning compressor and battery mount?

Simpler? I suppose you could even control it with a game controller...oh...too soon?