I know of 5 or 8 Robinson R22 helicopters bouncing along on trailers behind RV's in the western states, the better to tour scenic spots from overnight campgrounds. Anybody else of that pursuasion show up on this site yet?

I also run into ultralite owners w/trailers at places like Quartzsite, AZ where hundreds of thousands of RV's camp out in the desert for the winter. But they have a limited number of airstrips from which to operate. Still, prospecting and artifact-hunting abound in that region, using micro-aircraft for transportation.

By the way, prospecting for gold using an aircraft provides you no advantage, the prospectors and their mules covered every inch of the territory in the 1800's. All modern finds are subsurface, by drilling deep and analyzing the microscopic gold content for possible chemical extraction. Minimum investment c. $10M. But it's fun to tramp the hilltops around the impromptu helipad with a metal detector and dreams; just not economically viable!

I have been flying ultralights for about 10 years, mostly the 3-axis variety(Quicksilver.) I have always wanted to try a trike ultralight though because of what you mentioned: trailerability. You can easily remove the wing, collapse it, and stick the trike in a trailer. Haul that baby to a fun new location and you have a great way to explore.

This is a totally different approach to flying than most pilots are used to. It seems a lot more recreational. In a Cessna or Piper, no matter where you take your aircraft, you fly it there. That's part of the fun too. Go skycamping, all you have is your aircraft. Sleep under the wing or in a tent.

Anyway, food for thought. I never thought about using a R22. Incredible.

Z

pa42 wrote:I know of 5 or 8 Robinson R22 helicopters bouncing along on trailers behind RV's in the western states, the better to tour scenic spots from overnight campgrounds. Anybody else of that pursuasion show up on this site yet?

Hi Zane,

I can tell you from experience that there's nothing harder on a helicopter than hauling it on a trailer. I used to work for a helicopter outfit in central Wisconsin, flying Bell 47s. We trailered them to lots of jobs, and always ended up having to perform extra maintenance because of all the bouncing along on the trialer.

While it sounds neat to pull your helo along on a trailer, I certainly wouldn't treat one that I owned that way. But it's pretty common practice in the industry, as it's just too expensive to fly them everywhere. The cosst of the extra maintenance is still less than the cost of flying them on "non-revenue" flights to get to job sites.

Cheers!

Joe