Home-made Helicopters in Nigeria 319
W33dz writes "A 24-year-old undergraduate from Nigeria is building helicopters out of old car and bike parts. Mubarak Muhammed Abdullahi, a physics student, spent eight months building the yellow model seen on yahoo or on Gizmodo using the money he makes from repairing cell phones and computers. While some of the parts have been sourced from a crashed 747, the chopper contains all sorts of surprises."
Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Informative)
Certain absolutely mandatory items, like X-ray and ultrasonic parts inspections, are not practical for the home builder and are likely to lead to a very short trip.
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't recall the Wright Brothers' first plane weighing half a ton, and being powered by a 133HP engine...
Experimenting with powerful engines, allowing for heavy construction, means that any small mistake is going to be much, much more disasterous than it would have been in the old days.
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure that ligher weight has anything to do with safety though. I can take my 385 pound motorcycle and hit a cement wall at 150MPH after all. I can take a 12HP scooter and hit the same wall at 60-70MPH too.
Generally you weaken a structure when reducing weight. I'd immagine this helicopter is probaby more sturdy than the Flyer I.
Keep in mind you can learn more about planes, trains and automobiles (and helicopters) in a 15 minute internet search than the entire world knew in 1903. I bet the second-hand civic engine is more reliable than the flyer I's one-off custom hand built (in a mere 6 weeks) engine.
Kudos to the kid. He's done what the vast majority of
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:4, Informative)
Helicopters don't fly in a vacuum.
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Helicopters don't fly in a vacuum.
A more massive helicopter won't necessarily have a smaller "frontal area" with respect to atmospheric freefall than a Wright Flyer would, unless the rotors fold and the Flyer's wings don't.
The only areas in which the relative weight of the contraptions matter would be (A) likelihood of lift surface failure (a heavier airframe might make rotor or wing failure more likely), and (B) impact energy given equivalent freefall impact speed. And the latter only matters for whatev
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Funny)
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I am sure flying at 7 feet altitude in this thing is the biggest thrill anyone in a 100-mile radius can get, so Huzzah! Huzzah! for him.
A liquid cooled engine is a poor choice for a light aircraft. There have been attempts to use off the shelf automotive engines in aircraft, but they are just too heav
The sheer amount of... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The sheer amount of... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: D&D Trap worthy of Tomb of Horrors (Score:5, Insightful)
Crashing Home-made Helicopter: CR 10; mechanical; location trigger; no reset; Atk +16 melee (8D6+8, bludgeoning); burning fuel (equivalent to an incendiary cloud spell, 15th-level wizard, 4D6/round for 15 rounds, DC 22 Reflex save half damage); Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 25. Market Price: unknown (unique).
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I can see these guys crashing into the side of an elephant.
Besides the thing don't get very far off the ground , they said about 15 feet, so I don't think they would die in an accident. Probably some really bad cuts and a broken bone or so , unless those blades go wacky and he hits some people with them.
Re:Ay AY yay caramba! (Score:5, Insightful)
So, think of your building your own helicopter vs. buying one from somebody in the business. For simplicity's sake, let's say that if you pay yourself a reasonable amount for your time, the cost comes out even. In your homemade helicopter, you have a death risk of 1% per thousand hours of flight. In a "real" helicopter, let's say your risk was 0.001% per thousand hours.
If you go ahead and build your home helicopter, you have just spent 0.999%/hr of "opportunity risk" for the thrill of flying in your own invention.
I can't tell you whether that's a good "investment" or not. Maybe the thrill means a lot more to you than it does to me. Maybe you were on the fence about committing suicide, so the risk doesn't really mean much other than an end to unbearable indecision. It's up to you to make the calculation. I can say this though: if the thrill of flying your own invention has no value to you, you're a fool to try it.
On the other hand, the marginal risk calculation may be utterly meaningless to this guy. If having access to his own helicopter is for practical purposes an impossible dream, it makes no sense to upbraid him for not choosing that instead. His calculation is only based on having his own aircraft versus not having his own aircraft.
Even if it weren't, the project may have utility for him that we can't even imagine. Maybe he'll be the Igor Sikorsky of Africa. Goodness knows small scale aviation innovation is glacially slow in the US because of safety concerns. The cost of Africa developing indigenous technology would seem appalling, but it's up to them to determine if it is worth it.
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The ability to autorotate won't help you if the Jesus Nut lets loose... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_nut [wikipedia.org] )
Read the full story (Score:3, Informative)
This helicopter, which HASN'T crashed, is made out of the bits of a plane that did. A Boeing 747, that is made with all that modern tech and those high safety standards.
So tell me again, what is riskier? Remember, that quality western aircraft consist entirely of parts made by the lowest bidder, checked by a company under constant pressure to cut costs, and operated by an airline desperate to squeeze every last mile out of a decades old machine.
Odd thing is that an amateur will often take more care then a
Sour grapes? (Score:5, Insightful)
According to the article — which we all read, did not we — the contraption is built in part from the pieces of a 747, which crashed nearby some years ago.
This points at two things at once
That said, I'm afraid, the regulations/inspections you consider "essential" are not really such — I sense the "sour grapes" sentiment. Sure, it is far riskier to fly in this guy's machine than in a factory-built helicopter. But the fact, that it flies at all — and that he is still a student, who works on the copter in between studying and repairing other people's electronics to supplement his income — are rather remarkable. If a 24-year old in the dirt-poor Nigeria can do this, where is my flying car in the US?
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hummm.. (Score:5, Insightful)
No pitch control (Score:5, Informative)
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What is it with these Africans and their scams?
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It's definitely a homecoming float.
On the other hand, perhaps we are not shown the actual aircraft:
emp
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And how big is this thing, anyway? The article says 12 m long and 7 m tall, but in the photo it looks only a little taller than the man next to it. Did he build multiple helicopters?
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Personally, if I were inflicted with helicopter mania, I'd start with an autogyro; sucessful autogyros were built in the
Indeed (Score:2)
I would bet a large sum of money it could not exceed an altitude ceiling of seven feet (granted, I cheated, see my name). Since it only goes that high, and he recognizes it lacks instruments, I think he's safe for now.
Re:Indeed (Score:4, Interesting)
In a helicopter seven feet is enough to kill you. Heck you can kill yourself on the ground with just a little bad luck. All it would take is for the transmission to let go and have a 133 HP chain whip through the cabin. Helicopters are complex beasts.
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It looks like from the pictures all this kid did was to get some blades to turn. He did get some national coverage, though...
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Re:Indeed (Score:4, Informative)
Here's what the FAA requires:
A - Airspeed indicator.
B - Altimeter.
C - Magnetic direction indicator. (read: compass.)
D - Tachometer.
E - Oil pressure gauge.
F - Oil temperature gauge for each air-cooled engine.
G - Fuel gauge indicating the quantity of fuel in each tank.
H - For small civil airplanes certificated after 1996, an approved aviation red or aviation white anticollision light system.
I - An approved safety belt with an approved metal-to-metal latching device for each occupant 2 years of age or older.
J - For small civil airplanes manufactured after 1978, an approved shoulder harness for each front seat. (other req'mts R.S. 1986)
K - An emergency locator transmitter, (excepts - sing. place ++)
Now, if you're flying an ultralight -- under 250 pounds -- you can do any fool thing you want, but in the US, if you have an airplane with an airworthiness certificate, you have to take along some stuff.
(The above list from an Experimental Aviation website quiz [eaa1267.org].)
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Chris Mattern
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Would you buy one? (Score:5, Funny)
I think I'll keep saving for my skycar [moller.com]
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You have been recommended to me as astute investor. I expert builder of helicopters in Nigeria. I need £20,000,000 (TWENTY MILLION POUNDS) to....
Helicopter or Hovercraft? (Score:5, Funny)
or until it encounters a tree, telegraph pole, house, giraffe....
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I'd like to know how he arrived at 15' as a service ceiling. How would the aircraft know the difference between 15' on one day and 30' on day with higher air pressure?
I expect that he chose the figure for safety reasons. Perhaps the design cannot autorotate; or maybe it cannot achieve a safe and stable descent. I
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When a wing approaches the ground, the air that it is pushing on bounces back at it (not technically correct, but the analogy is close enough to envision the effect). Ground effect becomes pronounced at about 1 wingspan's distance from the ground. He could be planning on a 15ft rotor.
Unusable Prototype But a Promising Individual (Score:5, Insightful)
"No one from the NCAA has come to see what I've done. We don't reward talent in this country," he lamented.
Nigeria would pay a premium to start up a helicopter plant or to start R&D but since the resources are not readily available and there's already another country selling the choppers, this man will most likely partake in the brain drain and go somewhere where his knowledge and resourcefulness are recognized and rewarded.
The government should either change its ways or just deal with being known only for e-mail scams and human suffering from inept governance. That's the problem with inept governance though, it usually persists by definition.
Re:Unusable Prototype But a Promising Individual (Score:4, Interesting)
I'll admit it's amazing that he managed to build it. I'll admit that he has big dreams. I'm not yet willing to admit he's capable of making a safe helicopter, and I bet they aren't either.
If he really -can- do it, he should be looking for investors, not buyers. He's never going to manage a proper, safe helicopter without a lot more money than he put into his current one. And he's never going to get a buyer until he has a prototype.
It's like saying, "I've got a small garden at my house. Why won't they pay me to grow cabbage for the whole country?"
Re:Unusable Prototype But a Promising Individual (Score:5, Insightful)
After he goes to college then maybe building helicopters in country could be an option.
Or crop dusters?
Or UAVs?
Or maybe even just a shop to do helicopter maintenance in country?
The man seems to have lots of raw talent. Now he needs education and opportunity.
Re:Unusable Prototype But a Promising Individual (Score:4, Insightful)
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He's already got an advanced degree; how much more education does he need? He's used that education and now has something to sell - it's infinitely better than the 'nobody wants to give me a free handout' attitude. Sure, he's grumpy about his lack of instant success in marketing said product but that's typical of engineers. I hope he manages to team up with someone with local business savvy who won't
Re:Unusable Prototype But a Promising Individual (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/09/paraglider/ [wired.com]
picture here...
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2007/09/gallery_paraglider?slide=1&slideView=2/ [wired.com]
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The Nigerian government should buy the products with the highest value. This will help their neighbors, which will help them. The Nigerian people should do what they do best and what they don't do good, they should import. Pretending there is no world market will kill you.
There is one good thing about this chopper, though. It proves the value of scrap metal. Scrap metal is in my opinion the best way for the poorest countries without valuable
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Nigeria should produce whatever it has a comparative advantage [wikipedia.org] in and trade for the rest, just like the rest of the world does. Attempting to do a little bit of everything would only stunt its economic growth.
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Why did the Japanese start building American-style cars when GM and Chrysler were already good at making them?
Not to mention that the Nigerian government certainly have their own helicopters, regardless of how poor the country is in general. Can the government stand to save money by developing state-manufactured choppers? Or better yet, can it save money by cutting off their reliance on foreign maintenance crews, and instead training their own?
Nobody says they have to tackle Sikorsky on the global marke
With what money? (Score:5, Insightful)
1. you _must_ use that money to buy from the country that gave you the money. Often they'll even tell you what, and from exactly what company.
For example, let's say Nigeria wants to build a dam. (Or anything else, including helicopters.) The sane way would be to pay some local construction company to build it. After all, they work cheaper, you inject some money in the local economy, and might even stimulate some specialists to stay in your county instead of skipping over the border at the first oportunity. But you won't get a loan, much less foreign aid, for that. Unless you can prove that you're so solvable that you didn't even need a loan at all, except for some uncontrollable desire to pay interest.
The loans you can get come with strings attached like "but you'll contract the building from this American corporation." Sometimes you don't even actually see the money. They're transferred from an USA bank account to another USA bank account, and that's that. Of course, it only costs a few times more than letting the locals do it, and helps ruin yet another local industry, but such is being on the shit end of the imperialism stick.
And if you think that dam building is something you can do without, picture the same deal on grain, trucks, and other such. Essentially there's a _shitload_ of loans and foreign aid that isn't what you think it is. It's tied to destroying your local agriculture and industry.
2. you _must_ implement some good ol' right-wing reforms. Cut government spending, let companies go bankrupt, cut down social security, raise interest rates, etc.
Sounds like good, common sense advice, right?
Well, the problem with common sense is that it isn't that common and often makes no sense. In this case, according to modern Keynesian economics, those are the exact measures that will transform a recession into a depression, or a depression into a crash. That's stuff you do in an economic boom, not during times of crisis. It's counter-intuitive, but modern economics tend to be that way.
Essentially we, the West, have been asking the third world countries to destroy their own economy, ever since WW2. Welcome to the wonderful world of imperialism. They're supposed to be busy sewing cheap sports shoes and mining cheap iron for us, not to start industrializing.
And as a third world government, you'll be nailed to a cross whether you take it or not. Your choices there are (A) refuse and get to explain to a whole country why they'll have less bread or more brownouts this year, and that in the long term it's better for them, or (B) take it even if you know that in the long term you're only harming your country. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, and someone will blame you for either choice.
Oh, and if you chose A, congrats, now you've got all the first world treating you like the great Satan too, for refusing to play their game. Some economic sanctions might be in your future, to destroy you that way. On the other hand, choice B at least makes you look good in the short term and often comes together with some bribe.
It's easy to blame it on inept governments or kleptokracy, but that's really the only choices they typically have there. It's a lose-lose choice. But option B at least doesn't cause massive unrest and a bunch of other problems.
It's easy to look at it and say that they took choice B only because they're fucking stupid or because of the bribe. And I guess it some cases it even is so. But in a lot of cases I genuinely wonder if it's that simple.
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That's very insightful indeed, but then at least let's stop sneering at them because they're poor.
Poverty is, basically, a vicious circle. You don't get a loan because you're poor, and you can't ge
Ah, yes, clueless libertarian propaganda FTW (Score:3, Insightful)
There are fringe groups (e.g., the Libertarians, since you've linked to that site) which think that Keynes is wrong or
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Having worked in Nigeria, I can honestly say that everyone I met there could spell better than you.
So craw back into your cave, troll.
Would be interesting to see how it "flies" (Score:5, Interesting)
Sure I am glad there is atleast one Nigerian working with his hands and brain instead of sening emails about 18 million dollars in a slush fund left over from the coffers of General Abacha.
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I'm sure you know that to lean it forward or aft you actually need to apply the force (well, technically a torque,) at 90 Degrees to where you want the rotor to 'precess' or tilt. This is because the spinning mass of the rotor makes it subject to gyroscopic precession [howstuffworks.com]. So your control rods essentially need to be at the sides.
Another factor you'll need to consider is that as the aircraft gains velocity the ret
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Sounds like this kids needs to learn one of the best rules of egr of them all, which is do not re-invent the wheel.
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DEAR SIR (Score:5, Funny)
(hey it's caps-lock day today anyway)
Good for him. (Score:3, Insightful)
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I wish him better luck than the X-Wing (Score:2)
BS (Score:5, Informative)
I would love to see more photos of this but suspect we wont. His description of the controls doesn't really fit with how rotary wing aircraft operate and there are other reservations.
133 horsepower is very underpowered considering the smallest I work with is the Gazelle with 858shp and the quoted 300 rpm on blades that size is very low to give any kind of lift, in fact it is ridiculous. Car engines are relatively heavy and looking at the welded head and the car seats, I cannot imagine this has the capability to lift off with a person on board.
Looking at the photo, it also appears not to have a swash plate or similar mechanism, so how the rotor disc is positioned to give directional flight I have no idea. On the plus side he does have a big red navigation light on top. Never mind that it's not on the port side as it's supposed to be.
Gazelle != good example (Score:4, Informative)
Obviously you don't need over 800hp to get a helicopter to work. Granted, I'm sure his aircraft weighs a great deal more than an R22.
heh. (Score:4, Interesting)
(I'm informed by a pilot colleague that without squash plates and cyclic controls - whatever the hell they are - its not a true helicopter and hence is uncontrollable. Still we all agreed it was better then we could do.)
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Helicopter pilotage 101 (Score:2)
Whoever measured the 'copter... (Score:2, Interesting)
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Neat... (Score:2, Insightful)
Something like that would actually be handy for travelling in many parts of the world where the roads are poor and access is difficult - cheap helicopters would be great for getting around and getting access.
Imagine using these in the aftermath of natural disasters when the roads are washed out and areas are inaccessib
Re:Neat... (Score:4, Insightful)
Cheap and small is all well and good, but when you want complex tech to be reliable, the "cheap" goes away real quick. Especially when you're trusting lives to that tech.
Why shouldn't they buy? (Score:2)
1. Built from random car parts. Parts from broken cars, obviously quality material to start with. Better make sure your junk yard is properly stocked with old buicks.
2. Maximum altitude is 15 feet. But if anything goes wrong, you can just jump to the ground.
3. Carrying capacity. If it can lift one person 15 feet, how high can it lift with 1 ton of cargo?
4. Besides the maker, who are you going to convince to trust their life to this
Shades of B.A. Barracus (Score:3, Funny)
It's easier to crash one too.
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It's easier to crash one too.
Obliviously it was intended to be used in Hollywood movies based upon his impressions of action movies.
Well done! (Score:3, Insightful)
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Give that Kid a Visa!! (Score:2)
Someone should point him at hovercraft (Score:2)
Dear beneficiary (Score:2)
some language translation for you: (Score:4, Funny)
Quick! Somebody give that kid a VISA and... (Score:2)
Nice talent and even better, motivation.
If Nigeria doesn't appreciate him, somebody else will.
Media hype? (Score:2)
Sikorsky (Score:5, Insightful)
"You can't make a helicopter without ultrasonic and x-ray fracture inspection."
Well sure that makes it safer, but Sikorskiy didn't have any of that. Hell, I don't think they did that in the Vietnam era.
"You need 900 horsepower (or some damn thing) to make a working heli."
Sikorskiy's first helicopter ran on a 90-hp piston engine, with a welded steel frame.
It's true that this guy's helicopter is probably overweight, flying on ground-effect only, and it seems to be missing the most important (and complicated) part, the swashplate / cyclic blade control. But give him the resources Sikorkiy had, and I think he could do it.
A real GEM (Score:3, Informative)
Mind, I'll give the guy props for effort and ingenuity, and if he gets the 15 foot altitude version working that would be kind of fun to skim around in over open enough terrain. But an actual helicopter that can fly out of ground effect is a bit more of a challenge. (Me, I've lusted after Rotorway's homebuilt kits since their original Scorpion [rotorway.com] days.)
The Real Story... (Score:5, Funny)
First, I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and 'top secret'. I am sure and have confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a transaction of this great magnitude involving a pending transaction requiring maximum confidence.
I am a physics undergraduate in northern Nigeria who is interested in production of helicopters with funds which are presently trapped in Nigeria. In order to commence this business we solicit your assistance to enable us to transfer into your account the said trapped funds.
The source of this fund is as follows; during the last military regime here in Nigeria, the government officials set up aircraft companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries. The present civilian government set up a contract review panel and we have identified a lot of inflated military contract funds which are presently floating in the central bank of Nigeria ready for payment.
However, by virtue of my position as a physics undergraduate, I cannot acquire this money in my name. I have therefore, been delegated as a matter of trust by my colleagues of the university to look for an overseas partner into whose account we would transfer the sum of US$21,320,000.00 (twenty one million, three hundred and twenty thousand US dollars). Hence we are writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the money thus; 1. 20% for the account owner 2. 70% for us (the students) 3. 10% to be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses. It is from the 70% that we wish to commence the helicopter manufacturing business.
Please, note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest seven (7) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information by telephone/fax; 234-1-7740449, your signed and stamped letterhead paper. The above information will enable us write letters of claim and job description respectively. This way we will use your name to apply for payment and re-award the contract in your name.
We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction. Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter using the above telephone/fax numbers. I will send you detailed information of this pending project when I have heard from you.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi
Stanley Hiller did it.. (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.hiller.org/in_memory.shtml/ [hiller.org]
Although UC Berkeley had little chance to influence young Stanley because he dropped out to build his business at the end of his freshman year, the university did yield the love of his life, Carolyn Balsdon, whom he married when they were both 22.
By 1944, Stanley Hiller, Jr., completed the first successful flight of a helicopter in the western United States. He flew his yellow fabric-covered contraption himself, although he had never flown a helicopter nor seen one fly. After at least one mishap, in August of that year a successful demonstration was made at San Francisco's Marina Green, where a plaque today commemorates the historic event. The flight propelled the young inventor-who had no engineering degrees and, in fact, never finished college-into international headlines. He became the youngest person ever to receive the coveted Fawcett Aviation Award for major contributions to the advancement of aviation. Eventually, the little co-axial XH-44 "Hiller-Copter" would earn a permanent place in Smithsonian Institution.
I'll buy you one... (Score:2, Funny)
Don't worry about autorotating (Score:2)
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