New Zealand is not only the worlds largest per capita operator of helicopters, its home to Composite Helicopters International (CHI) and Auroa Helicopters, two aviation companies that are developing composite turbine kit helicopters for the owner-pilot market.
Last summer, both companies brought their creations to the New Zealand pavilion at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in central Wisconsin, and received both attention and sales orders.
The larger of the two ships, the KC 518 Adventourer, comes from CHI. Drawing on more than 37 years of experience as a helicopter pilot, maintenance manager, flight instructor and developer of helicopter accessories, company founder Peter Maloney conceived of the KC 518 as a five-seat-VIP/six-seat-utility, turbine-powered, all-composite aircraft. While initially targeted for the experimental kit helicopter market, the primary goal for this aircraft is to eventually have it gain United States Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 27 certification.
Experimental aircraft regulations require kit aircraft, including helicopters, to be 51-percent built by their owner. Interestingly, in the light aviation world, several innovative composite light aircraft have started life as kits, including the Cessna 400, which was derived from the Lancair ES kit.
Development of the KC 518 began about four years ago, after Maloney and his wife, Leanne, sold Helipod International, their successful Auckland, New Zealand, based helicopter composite cargo pod and spray system business, to Simplex Manufacturing in June 2009.
The prototype KC 518 made its first ground run in October 2011 and first flight out of ground effect in May 2012. Initial testing took place at a hobby farm but has now moved to a new manufacturing facility and hangar at North Shore Airfield near Auckland on New Zealands North Island.
All helicopters began as experimental helicopters, said Maloney. Our flight-test program is progressing one step at a time.
The monocoque KC 518 airframe is made of carbon fiber and Kevlar and uses an outside in composite mold to create the shell. The bulkheads, keel beams, floor panels and sub-assemblies are then installed into the shell through the door openings.
The helicopter has a target maximum gross weight of 3,200 pounds (1,450 kilograms), an empty weight of 1,750 pounds and a useful payload of 1,450 pounds. The spacious cabin can accommodate five six-foot tall, 220-pound people in its VIP set-up or six people in a three-plus-three utility arrangement.
The KC 518 features a 29-foot two-inch (nine-meter) diameter rotor with four 9-1/2-inch-chord, carbon-fiber main rotor blades attached to a fully articulated rotor hub. A four-blade, carbon-fiber, ducted tail rotor provides the anti-torque control. Maintenance-wise, the drivetrain and main and tail rotor transmissions will have a 5,000-hour time-before-overhaul interval.
Performance-wise, the helicopter will have a cruise speed of 135 knots and 3.6 hours endurance with standard fuel tanks (5.26 hours with auxiliary tanks). And, the Adventourer has been designed to accept various Rolls-Royce/Allison civil and military surplus engines in the 320- to 450-shaft horsepower (s.h.p.) range.
Initial kits are priced at US$335,000 with basic avionics. The engine costs extra the prototype KC 518s 320-s.h.p. Rolls-Royce/Allison T63-A-700 (civil M250-C18) turboshaft was purchased by CHI zero-timed for $35,000. Total, completed cost for the KC 518 is expected to be between $395,000 and $450,000 depending on the avionics and other options selected.
Auroas helicopter is even more budget-friendly checking in currently at a ready-to-fly price of $200,000.
Named after the company, the Auroa helicopter is the brainchild of Dick Sybrandy, an engineer, machinist, turbine engine overhaul technician, construction contractor and private pilot who was unable to find a light helicopter (production or experimental) that could accommodate his 6-foot 7-inch frame.
During his search for a suitable helicopter, Sybrandy discovered the two-seat Ultrasport 496, an ultralight kit helicopter powered by a two-stroke piston engine (U.S. designed; Taiwan built) and a turbine version developed by Platon Markides of LAE Helicopters on the island of Cyprus.
While he originally started working with Markides and LAE to create and sell a revamped turbine version of the 496 known as the 555T, he eventually realized there was an opportunity to create a new composite kit helicopter (and manufacturer) and teamed up with a group of experienced helicopter mechanics and engineers to develop an improved new design.
From a distance, the Auroa bears a strong family resemblance to the Ultrasport line, a detailed inspection reveals significant improvements, including an all-composite body and tailboom, New Zealand-built mechanical and dynamic components, and new composite rotor blades from Advanced Technologies Inc. of Virginia.
But, Sybrandy’s teams aren’t finished there: Our test flights since Oshkosh have concentrated on the development of a new FADEC [full authority digital engine control] for the Solar T62-32 turboshaft that has a manual backup system. The turbine we originally used only had an electronic control with no manual override, so we decided to develop a new FADEC with advanced redundancy features.
The 160-shp Solar turboshaft was originally built by a subsidiary of International Harvester Co. to serve as ground power units and auxiliary power units (APUs). In fact, they are probably best known as APUs on military Boeing CH-46 Sea Knights and CH-47 Chinooks, and Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhes.
The Auroas engine and dynamic components are currently being flight-tested on the three helicopters and are scheduled to be mated to the first all-composite Auroa airframe later this year.
The empty weight of the Auroa is targeted for 660 pounds, with the maximum takeoff weight limited by regulations to 1,200 pounds in the microlight category in New Zealand and to 1,320 pounds as an experimental ultralight in the U.S.
Of course, said Sybrandy, Our goal is to ultimately get FAA [U.S. Federal Aviation Administration] FAR [Part] 27 certification, so all elements of the Auroa helicopter are being built with that in mind. For the moment, however, he said the companys main focus is to complete a flying model that we can display at Oshkosh in 2013.
