God Help Us... The Mini-500 Shows Up At Wittman

By ANN Correspondent Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien

The rotorcraft area was real thin at Oshkosh. Actually, if you haven't been there, you know that there is no rotorcraft area; just a corner of the ultralight area, which was also sparsely populated this year.

The two big guns in rotorcraft, RAF 2000 and Rotorway, were away in the main display area, along with certified helicopter vendors including Enstrom and Robinson. There were several clean Rotorway Execs flying, but no RAF gyros (however, prospects could get a ride in an RAF at nearby fields, ringing up a half-hour with a gyro CFI for a nominal sum). Alongside the Rotorways on the flightline was a lonely Magni gyro, and three businesslike Safaris, and…what's this? A Mini-500?

When the Mini-500 started up, there was a second shock. Instead of the buzz of an overtaxed Rotax, the whistle of a turbine greeted us.

The Sad History of the Mini-500

Now, there has been neither hide nor hair of a Mini-500 around these parts for years, and for good reason. The Mini looked great and was well-promoted, but it was underengineered and the quality control on the kits was horrible. While the company, Revolution Helicopter Company Incorporated (RHCI) basked in the initial good press, the dreams of many owners soon took a nightmare turn. Some machines never did balance properly. Some rotor blades were deformed. Then frames started cracking.

Then the accidents began

The engine, asked to do more than it could, would stop; the nose would tuck; an inexperienced helo pilot would do the wrong thing and, BANG. About 500 Minis were sold. About 200 to 300 flew. Some 70 had accidents, including about ten fatals. Better odds than Russian roulette… just.

Several characteristics of the helicopter combined to make it deadly. The overloaded engine was prone to sudden stoppage, the rotor had lower inertia than many copters, and the nose tuck was alarming. These combined to make an autorotation both rather likely, and very difficult for an inexperienced helicopter pilot to handle. Indeed, the Mini could be a handful for an experienced pilot - one of the victims had well over 30,000 helicopter hours.

The developer of the machine, cornered, began lashing out at his critics, including many of his customers. He was taking deposits for a two-seater machine (that never properly flew) and, unbeknownst to his customers, defaulting on an SBA loan. He got some snowmobile racers to build a custom exhaust pipe to wring more power from the motor (these same guys were also his engine experts). He told the customer he was selling the pipe at cost. He was making about $650 on each $900 exhaust kit.

Meanwhile, he turned on and sued a man working on a turbine conversion. But the crashes continued, and the machine's reputation worsened. A builders' association formed, and was instantly at sword's point with the developer. Finally, despite a last minute PR blitz that led to a puff piece in Kitplanes whitewashing the Mini's problems, the beleaguered firm went under. The developer changed his name and fled the country (he has since returned). The SBA seized the factory and sold off the parts and tooling. The parts went to China, but without the tooling the Chinese can't build the copters. Where's the tooling? Hang on and I'll tell you…

So… Is it Back?

Back in Oshkosh, in the here and now, a helicopter is flying. It's a turbine Mini, and it looks good. It's quiet, and quick, and the pilot has it completely under control. He's having fun. Is the Mini-500 back from the dead?

If it is, the guy responsible is Rick Stitt. Rick is an engineer who worked with Revolution to try to fix the Mini's problems. Dismissed from the failing company, he continued to work with Mini customers to try to keep them safe and flying, even after the company collapsed. Finally, at the SBA auction, Rick bought a number of the tools and some  of the inventory of RHCI. 

Rick's main product these days is a turbine conversion for the Mini. Based on a Solar APU, it solves the sudden-stoppage and vibration problems that plagued the machine. It also solves another problem, low power. Some have been critical of the use of APUs as propulsion units. Stitt thinks his selection is good. The particular dash-number he uses is used as a CH-47 APU by the military and runs continuously while the helicopter is running. It's also lighter than the GPU versions that some turbine promoters use. As Rick puts it, "It was built to fly. Some of those others aren't."

The Solar installation in the Mini looks neat, tidy and altogether "factory." This photo of an incomplete installation will give you an idea of how it fits in.

Rick sells the turbine kit for a very attractive price. But you can't just buy a kit. You have to bring yourself and your Mini to Rick's shop, where he'll inspect it and spend a day or two fixing things that either you, or the original factory, did wrong. Then he aligns the rotating assemblies, and installs the motor and other new parts. You only get turned loose when he figures it's safe.

His other main activity is service, in which guise he has solutions to many of the other problems. The frame is beefed up to banish the frame cracking that plagued Minis. A stall strip on the tail, Stitt swears, is all that was needed to end the nasty nose tuck. He obligingly grabbed a Mini's tail boom and pulled the tail down for a photo.

At any given moment Rick has a dozen or more Mini-500s in his shop, for updates, modifications, safety enhancements or inspections. He'll also broker Mini-500 deals between buyers and sellers. Right now, their orphan status has helped keep Mini prices depressed. They may not stay that way if word gets out that support is available (and probably better support than the factory ever provided).

Kit Production… a Possibility

The Mini-500 is a new machine with Stitt's turbine. Maybe it's finally tamed, although the jury might take a while to come in on that one. But with so many fixes in hand, and most of the tooling, has Rick thought about making new kits?

"I've thought about it, yeah. I'm about fifteen parts short of a complete ship set, so I would have to tool up to make those fifteen parts." But the possibility is there, if demand warrants.

But what about the rights?  One of the reasons Rick didn't last with Revolution is that the paranoid boss suspected him of planning to launch a competitive helicopter kit. Now, in a moment laden with irony, Rick is on the brink of doing what he was unjustly accused of doing before.

Rick isn't worried about being sued. The design was part of the security of the SBA loan. Yet it doesn't appear to have been sold at the auction. So it seems that the design from which Rick's kits would be derived (with changes to the frame, rotors, and powerplant, it's hardly the same machine) is arguably the property of the Small Business Administration.

Will it Work?

Despite Stitt's enthusiasm and talent, he has an uphill battle against the machine's widowmaker reputation ahead of him. A few days after the end of the show, a pilot posted a wanted ad on the internet, seeking a Mini-500. His ad began, "Suicidal Maniac looking for the best buy on a undamaged Mini."

At press time it was unknown whether he had heard from The Samaritans. Or Rick.

FMI: http://www.stittind.com/