What is the story on the Helio? Published performance looks like the ultimate BC plane.

Mercifully Free From the Ravages of Intelligence

They seem to win the STOL comp over here.
I hear they might be coming back into production...?

There was one flying at Airventure in the airshow this year. I assumed it was a factory demonstrator routine.

I didn't realize they weren't in production.

They are amazingly capable, but from what I understand you have to be quite a stick to actually wring all that performance out of them.

I was talking to a Helio driver this weekend who was telling me what a handful they are to fly (this guy flies twin Otters and a Pilatus Porter too, so I assume he knows what he's talking about). He told me, "once you've got everything hanging out there, it takes full power just to keep the plane in the air. Even then, sometimes you still have to put the nose down to stay airborne. If you're out of altitude at that point, you've got a problem."

He also mentioned that they can be pretty challenging in much of a crosswind.

Incredible plane, but it sounds like actual performance is tied pretty closely to the skill of the driver on that one. (Any actual Helio drivers can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

Battson wrote:They seem to win the STOL comp over here.
I hear they might be coming back into production...?

They've been talking about coming back into production since the turn of the century. Don't know the whole story about why they haven't yet. http://www.helioaircraft.com/ Website hasn't had an update in a few years.

The helio has an interesting history: the designers Koppen from MIT and Bollinger from Harvard developed the prototype from a Vagabond PA-17. They also invented the "aeromatic propeller" for this plane. The thing that is amazing to me is controllable slow flight is available all the way to 26 knts. You could almost run and keep up with this plane.

The helio was used extensivly in back country ops in Vietnam.

Here's an old video. Quality is crappy but it's a cool video if you can stand to watch it.

RanchPilot wrote:They are amazingly capable, but from what I understand you have to be quite a stick to actually wring all that performance out of them.

I was talking to a Helio driver this weekend who was telling me what a handful they are to fly (this guy flies twin Otters and a Pilatus Porter too, so I assume he knows what he's talking about). He told me, "once you've got everything hanging out there, it takes full power just to keep the plane in the air. Even then, sometimes you still have to put the nose down to stay airborne. If you're out of altitude at that point, you've got a problem."

He also mentioned that they can be pretty challenging in much of a crosswind.

Incredible plane, but it sounds like actual performance is tied pretty closely to the skill of the driver on that one. (Any actual Helio drivers can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

RanchPilot is right, I have time in my bosses H800 with the IO720, and it is a handfull to fly, especially in a crosswind. I haven't flown any of the early models, but suposedly they fly quite a bit different than the later ones, mostly because they are so much lighter. The one I fly is for sale if anybody is interested, 1984 H800, IO720 with only 730TT. He's asking 169,000 for it.

There is a '56 H391B for sale about 80 miles away.
I had browsed around on the website and saw a couple of the demo videos, had not seen the old black and white one though, that was a good find.
Anyway, I had not heard anybody on BCP mention a Helio before and figured there had to be a few souls on here that had some experience with one.

Thanks for the replies.

That first video is as warned crappy viewing quality but otherwise it's awesome. Some good takeoffs & lanfdings on there.
The first time I ever saw a Helio operate I was disappointed, I thought that it didn't perform any better than a Cessna. But it's all about the pilot-- if you fly it like a Cessna, it'll perform like a Cessna. Later on I saw a pilot or two who really knew how to fly a Helio put one through it's paces-- that was a whole 'nother story. They're quite a machine with the right pilot at the helm.

I have a little Helio time in an H250. Easy airplane to fly if you've flown a 180 or 185 much. I was impressed with how fast it was in cruise! I'd always heard they were significantly slower than a Skywagon but they don't lack much in my experience. It is VERY easy to get behind the power curve like described above and the only way out is to push the nose down and accelerate. In slow flight, the seat back is about level with the horizon and the tail stalls way before the wing ever will. Here is a vid of me landing it at the owners farm.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/7SWS9qDVcEc[/youtube]

[quote="AEROPOD"]I have a little Helio time in an H250. Easy airplane to fly if you've flown a 180 or 185 much. I was impressed with how fast it was in cruise! I'd always heard they were significantly slower than a Skywagon but they don't lack much in my experience. It is VERY easy to get behind the power curve like described above and the only way out is to push the nose down and accelerate. In slow flight, the seat back is about level with the horizon and the tail stalls way before the wing ever will. Here is a vid of me landing it at the owners farm.



If I may.

Thanks for the help, terrifying to think that I pay the bills by flying an airplane controlled by computers, but I can't figure out how to post that...

AEROPOD wrote:Thanks for the help, terrifying to think that I pay the bills by flying an airplane controlled by computers, but I can't figure out how to post that...

Don't worry. I was just as confused and dumbfounded until someone with a lot of patients lead me by the nose, That plus 1 week of study and wow I could go solo. Now I can share the magic.

Instead of putting all this shit between the youtube brackets like this

[youtube]http://youtu.be/7SWS9qDVcEc[/youtube]

just put the last part. 7SWS9qDVcEc

And use the preview button to confirm it works before pressing submit. You too will look like an expert.

We got very interested in buying a Helio a few years ago and started talking to Helio drivers. One guy, with a lot of all around experience, said he absolutely hated flying it and absolutely could not truly master it until he had somewhere between 100 and 200 hours in it. Somewhere in that time period he switched to thinking it was the greatest thing he ever flew. He had some great stories about it after he hit his epiphany point. I thought maybe my 25 to 50 hours a year might make the learning curve a little rough. Helio's do look like they could be an amazing BC airplane though. For now, I'm still jazzed about the Skywagon!
FZ

My relatives have utilized the Helio for almost 40 years in Alaska. We have 3 of them now. They are not that hard to fly honestly, you just need to be on it in a cross wind. The big tail sticks up like a weather vane but boy do they have performance.







The lodge had a pretty big incident a few years back with the H295 (the first in over 50 plus years) with the Helio. I have attached a story here to read about the hidden corrosion. Not really something you want to share but its a good learning experience about the unforeseen dangers.

http://www.adn.com/2008/09/20/531775/fatal-crash-caused-by-wing-failure.html

About two weeks ago I talked to a rancher in Kenya by the name of Tony Dyer who spent about 65 years flying the Kenyan bush. Was in training with the RAF in 1945 when the war ended and only stopped flying a couple years ago.

Anyway, he had a Helio for a good few years toward the end of his flying career and I got the distinct impression his wife was still unimpressed by his selling it in favour of an airplane that 'bucks you off' (Kitfox). By all accounts a fantastic bush plane.

As an aside, his book 'The Big Five' is a bloody good read.