Brantly or something else?

[N2285U]

$30k is just for the outboards blades. I made brass bushings for my first brantly and it worked well for about 5 hours and then they wore out. Making the bushing is very tedious.

My second brantly had the u-shaped "protective skins" over the blade where the dampner connected. The previous owner was an IA and installed them himself. They were made of aluminum and were JB welded to the blade. It seemed to work well, but the IA I took the machine to would not sign the annual off with them installed. I would be very intersted in seeing the exact fit these blades are suppossed to have.

[J-nut]

30K is likely for the whole set. I believe the outboard blade sections are something like $4500 each but don't quote me on that. Overall it's pretty comparable to the Schweizer and Robinson. Schweizer wants something between $14-16K per blade now and I think a set of two for the R22 is at least $25K.

From what I remember Chris saying at the maintenance course, none of the -404 blades have cracked, only -202 and earlier. The only difference between the -202 and -404 is the adhesive and foam. The -404 blades use a newer adhesive and foam core. The -202 and earlier blades are much older and the adhesive bonding is likely not as good due to age. Chris was saying that they could replace the foam and skin on the older blades but that would not change the part # or time remaining. I don't know if the factory will still do this or not. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea for older blades.

UPDATE: Just saw the post by 2285U. Yikes!!! $10K each??? When did this happen?

[Ron Spiker]

$10k each for just the outer blades is a huge increase if that is true. The last time I called about them (about 2 years ago) they were $6k each for the outers, so $18k for the set of 3.

[NinerMike]

If the inboards are around the same price, that would be worse, 36K??? "Hopefully not".
So the Mains can be overhauled with time remaining, and any idea on what T/R blades run?

About the Bell 47; I always prefer full figured to the skeleton look. "joke"
N2285U, did you see the one that just ended on e-bay, I think it was a G2. Looked like a nice ship, located in NV.
It didn't sell, they were asking 95K, you can still see it under completed listings.

[N2285U]

Yep, I was last bidder on it. I would still consider a brantly to finish my commercial add-on rating if I could get insurance. I can get insurance on the 47 for $6k which includes $90k on the hull and $1m liability. The company won't quote a brantly.

[NinerMike]

On the Brantly, is it a matter of hull, or none at all?

[Ron Spiker]

There are at least two companies that provide at least liability on the Brantly. Wings and Falcon do. I don't know about hull though, whether they provide it or if it is just too cost prohibitive to add hull to the policy. I have liability through Wings.

[NinerMike]

Good to know Ron... I believe most of the airports, at least in my area, require it to operate from!