Canadian kit developer feels cash crunch, suspends program

By ANN Senior Correspondent Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien

It takes a while for bad news to make its way south from Quebec, now that the snows have come, but it gets here soon enough. Development of the promising Laflamme LAF-01 tandem-rotor kit helicopter has been suspended, according to a November 16 posting on the company web site.

"For almost a year now, the company has been searching for funds in order to complete the prototypes and to begin the marketing. The months passed, and we were unable to find the required funds. Even though our presence at the EAA Airventure 2004 was very profitable, it will not have succeeded in proving to the investors the incredible potential of our product."

Aero-News was among the media that covered Rejean Laflamme's sleek helicopter's Oshkosh debut. M. Laflamme told us there that he was hoping for a first untethered flight in "fall, possibly September." But September came and went without a free flight of the helicopter. Now, any kind of immediate flight is looking unlikely.

"This is not the end of the LAF-01 project," the site promises. Before he began the helicopter project, Laflamme was in demand as a fabricator of composite, and machinist of metal, parts for a number of industries. He will return to that work, and will use money earned there to continue to develop his tandem-rotor helicopter, but at a slower pace.

While it is a disappointment to all rotorheads that LAF-01 progress has been placed on indefinite hold, the sad circumstance masks some facts which reflect well on the Laflamme family and their project. At Oshkosh, Laflamme honorably refused to take payments or deposits for his still-developmental helicopter. They would not even quote a price. Thus, Laflamme suspends development without risking a thin dime of customer money.

While this is bad news for Laflamme and any investors he managed to obtain, his insistence on taking the high road on ethics saves both his supporters, customers and fans on the one hand, and the sport in general on the other, considerable difficulty.

FMI: www.lafhelicopters.com