High-End Kit For A 5-6 Place Carbon/Kevlar Helo

By David Juwel

Composite Helicopter, a New Zealand company, introduced their new kit helicopter at  AirVenture this week.

The KC-518 Adventourer kit helicopter is a high-end kit. The company states that it carries 5-6 people, has 36 cu ft of baggage space, cruises at 135 kts, carries up to 141 gal. of fuel, and has a 1450 lb. useful load with a direct operating cost of approximately $125 ph. The VNE is 160 Kts, it cruises at 135 Kts, and flies 6-hours with the internal aux tanks. It has 4-rotor blades and a 4-blade ducted fan tail rotor.

The helicopter has 28 sub-assemblies and the fuselage is made of carbon/kevlar. The seats are energy absorbing. The large baggage capacity is accomplished by building in numerous spaces within the framework of the fuselage. Composite Helicopter states that they are the first all composite helicopter.

The cost is approximately $395,000 with a Rolls Royce 250 series, T63-700 turbine engine. A quick build kit is an additional $44,500, for a total of $439,500.

In their written documents the owners try to compare and show that the KC-518 is better than several different commercial helicopters. But its not apples to apples. The commercial helicopters have specifications that are measured and certified. The KC-518 is still under development and not commercially certified. While it does have some interesting innovations, and it could develop into a premier kit, nevertheless, it is still an experimental kit-built aircraft and subject to those flight restrictions.

FMI: www.compositehelicopter.com