Not Everyone Can Say That...

by ANN Correspondent Pete Tobin

Each and every summer, the attendees of the Oshkosh air show are treated to fantastic "thinking outside the box" designs for new aircraft created by ambitious aeronautical engineers who hope to revolutionize general aviation. Uniquely enough, a large percentage of those impressive designs will be either for rotorcrafts or vertical take-off and landing vehicles.

The next summer will roll around; and, you never see any of those aircraft again.

But, each and every summer, Oshkosh attendees are consistently rewarded with an equally wowing display and flight demonstration of the Rotorway Exec helicopter. If you walk the flight line each summer, you’ll see several brand new Exec’s that didn’t exist the summer before. Rotorway never goes away. It’s a well thought out, and functional design.

The genesis of the Exec began in 1961 when the late B.J. Schramm followed a path that many before and since have tried which led him to create a very affordable personal aircraft that anyone with a modest amount of skill can build, maintain and fly. Hopefully, this aircraft would have vertical take-off and landing capabilities.

The original "plans-built" Scorpion I helicopter grew into the Scorpion II. Then, in the early 80’s, B.J. started with a blank sheet of paper and reworked not only his concept for an aircraft, but also his entire company and began producing a complete kit for what is now called the Exec. Unable to find an engine supplier, nor other components to his liking, Schramm elected to manufacture nearly the entire kit himself. Not only was everything you needed to build the helicopter, except the paint, delivered to your workshop door in vacuum sealed packages, but more than 80% of the parts, including the engine, were manufactured under Schramm’s own roof.

It was a bold idea. It worked. Schramm came home from Oshkosh 1980 with the EAA’s coveted Outstanding New Design trophy. Customers responded in droves. The company grew.

In 1990, a British Rotorway customer named John Netherwood purchased the company creating Rotorway International. His first order of business was to sit down with each of his new employees and listen to every idea about how to improve the already outstanding design. Netherwood rethought everything from the helicopter itself, to the assembly manuals, down to the packaging of the parts. The stem-to-stern rework of the helicopter evolved into the Exec 90 and introduced the RI 162 cubic inch engine turning asymmetrical rotor blades.

Builders responded to the changes positively, buying more and more kits; and, the line outside the door at Rotorway grew even longer.

Not willing to rest on this success, Netherwood retooled the carburetor into a fuel injection system computer controlled (FADEC) system. This, and many other improvements were modeled into the Exec 162F. Customers now had the ability to download information from the FADEC and e-mail that data to the Rotorway technicians, who could diagnose, tune and adjust engine functions for an Exec helicopter located anywhere in the world. In 1994, Netherwood made the thoughtful choice of selling his company back to his employees who had worked so hard redefining the design, before moving back to England.

Rotorway International has never taken the attitude of: "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." Even today, the engineers in Chandler, AZ are implementing design enhancements; the most recent being, an Altitude Compensation Induction System (ACIS) which allows for sea level performance at high altitudes than ever before.

"What made me fly the helicopter was affordability," said Ed DeRossi, who has built three Execs for himself and has performed the maiden flights for more than 100 other Exec builders. "Anyone can afford to build it and maintain it. Unless you have a really large checkbook, you’re not going to find a nicer helicopter."

If the "proof is in the pudding" standard for any kit aircraft is how many kits are sold, do they actually fly; and, do they come home from Oshkosh with trophies? The answer is yes!

Since 1990, more than 1,100 Exec kits have been shipped to eager builders. One or two Exec owners have been invited up to the trophy table at Oshkosh’s AirVenture or Sun 'N Fun nearly every year since the Exec first hit the market. The bulk of the time, they take home the Golden Lindy.

When asked about this, EAA Spokesman, Dick Knapinski stated: "The Rotorway has done very well at the EAA Airventure because of a few factors. One is that Rotorway attracts dedicated enthusiastic builders who are meticulous about doing things right. Another is that the design is solid and meets all the criteria that the judges at Oshkosh are looking for. Added to that is the safety of the design and it’s functionality. It continues to be one of the most popular homebuilt rotorcraft designs".

In this writer’s personal opinion... the Exec is a flat-out good-looking, good-sounding helicopter.

FMI: www.rotorway.com