If there’s one thing AERO Friedrichshafen reminds the British helicopter pilot, it’s that there are lots of helicopters out there that we simply don’t have in the UK. I’m speaking, of course, of ultralights. This class is already popular ‘on the continent’, where it’s offering more affordable rotary flying, but it’s yet to make it to our shores. Here are five we bumped into at AERO 2023…
Words Rachel Ramsay
20 April 2023
The H3 Sport (top) is an interesting little two-seat ultralight helicopter from Belgian manufacturer Dynali. Its 135hp piston engine allows a cruise speed of around 90 knots, and with a maximum take-off weight of 500kg, it weighs next to nothing.
There’s also a stripped-back version for hot climates, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it’s used out in the bush for gorilla conservation – hence the branding on this one brought to AERO.
The Cicaré 8 is a two-seat ultralight helicopter from Argentina. It’s a little on the slow side – 65 to 75 knots – but its two 32-litre fuel tanks give it 2.5 hours of air time for a low operating cost. It has a similar cyclic design to Robinson helicopters, but rather than teetering, both sides can be held at lap level so that the instructor doesn’t have to have the cyclic in the air when following through on the controls.
The interesting thing about the Cicaré is that they’ve developed an innovative platform, the Cicaré Trainer, which they unfortunately didn’t bring to the show. This allows safe hover and hover taxi training on a 12m by 12m concrete surface, and it can be controlled by the instructor via an iPad.
Eventually, they reckon this could even enable indoor training! We did ask whether you can use it for practising engine failures in the hover, but apparently its limited height makes it less effective for this.
This turbine-powered two-seat ultralight helicopter comes from Italian manufacturer Konner, based near Venice. Unusually, its turbine engine was made and developed in house, and every component is made in Italy.
The K1’s three-blade, semi-rigid rotorhead is bearingless, while its monolithic carbon-fibre structure keeps it light and FADEC means it’s easy to start, fly and shut down. There’s a four-seat version currently classed as ‘Experimental’, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with that.
Another offering from Italy, the Helisport CH77 Ranabot appeared at AERO Friedrichshafen 2023 under a net of helium balloons. Hailing from Turin, it has a maximum take-off weight of 550kg, a cruise speed of 90kts and a climb rate of 1,500ft per minute.
Last but not least, we have the HC-02 from Hungarian manufacturer Hungarocopter.
This runs on a Rotax 915iS engine, with a maximum take-off weight of 600kg. The gullwing doors give it a futuristic vibe, but more importantly it features an ‘Electric Rescue System’ that delivers extra power for take-off and landing, as well as for extreme weather and emergency landings. The manufacturer reckons its operating costs are “at least 25% lower than helicopters in similar categories”.
The question is, when will ultralight helicopters come to the UK so that we too can enjoy some cheaper rotary flying?
