Being a sidecar passenger is an ungrateful job. One minute you're carefully inspecting the track surface ...
$60K and runs off simple 93 Octane gasoline. 80mph cruise speed, 95mph top end. Can't find ceiling data but they can hold a hover at 8000ft. Sign me the f*ck up. https://composite-fx.com/models/xe-285/
Helicopter? 2022? Heck, I grew up reading my dad's Popular Mechanics and I'm still waiting for my flying car.
At 60K I could actually finagle one, albeit with a bit of financing. That's VERY tempting but there's more to running something like this than just firing her up and barnstorming all over the countryside pretending you're Col.Kilgore. It's classified in the US as an Ultralight, so the regs, particularly the maintenance regs governing them are modest compared to legit civil aircraft. You don't even need an actual pilot license. That being said, you have to ask yourself- unless you are a certified A&P mechanic as well as a formally trained helicopter pilot($15K), how much are you willing to invest in your airworthiness? At the end of the day, that's what's going to save your life at 1800ft and 75mph, and all that ain't cheap. Proper, responsible maintenance will be costly. I'd imagine UK regs would be substantially stricter and more expensive. I'd have to postpone my sportbike purchase and rat bike build to procure one of these. That's a deal killer. So that pretty much shelves my amateur chopper jockey aspirations for now. I'd need a raise or two at work to handle the maintenance. Still… awesome to see stuff like this become more and more accessible to non-rich Americans.
In UK you would need a PPL(H) (Private Pilots Licence- Helicopter) so that's a minimum of 42 hours instruction and wrangling with the CAA to maintain the licence. PPL means you can fly but not for any commercial gain for that you would need to upgrade to a CPL(H) or an ATPL(H) but that involves 16 exams and a boatload of cash Edit:- at no point would I trust that to hover at 8000', I would struggle to trust it to fly me from A-B but without any licence or instruction it would be a race to the crash site in one of those
This man was an experienced fixed wing pilot who bought himself a helicopter and read the manual before attempting to take off
I know a guy that done the same thing. Made a fortune tuning cars, I think he actually crashed 2 before he gave up.
Very similar in the US, but licensing is affordable. A fixed wing, single piston engine private pilot license before Sleepy Joe crushed us on fuel prices could be had for as little as $6000 from a Mom & Pop flight school out in the country if you go straight through without a hitch. Rotary wing however is a whole other league. You don't just pick that stuff up from other pilots. One word- Autorotation. Have fun with that! A fully functioning, enclosed cockpit helicopter with these kind of performance capabilities for only 60 grand is an absolute game changer. And there's 2 more models from these guys costing even less. Most ultralight choppers are $150K+ ...at least. However, you go strapping yourself into one of these with out a legit FAA chopper pilot license or the equivalent, you're a straight up idiot... full stop. I did professional aircrash recovery for a couple years and I can tell you without the slightest hesitation that the skies over the US are rife with absolute retards. It's a miracle we don't see cataclysmic destruction on a daily basis.
