The best way is to purchase an aircraft. The people that are engaging with us now – we’re not just selling the finished helicopter, we’re selling the journey to the helicopter. We’re involving the customers in the creation of the helicopter.

Yes, it is designed for inexperienced pilots. Everything that has been done in configuring HX50 is about making everything as easy as possible. It has a big power to weight ratio, a benign high inertia rotor system, making it easy to manoeuvre and learn how to do auto-rotations etc, it also behaves well in gusty winds. The HX50 has a 2-axis auto-pilot as standard and the digital cockpit is designed to be as simple and easy to use as possible. There is considerable workload reduction as well as superior crashworthiness from the composite structure, along with the biggest safety margins possible.

The flight training could potentially be done at a different time, ahead of your build slot or in a different aircraft or you can add it to the end of the 2 week course.

You have a 5,000-hour life on every component including the engine and gearboxes, and the only overhaul requirement you have is on condition, i.e., you have to maintain the condition of the aircraft. This means no calendar requirements and no crippling depreciation.

The EASA CS27 regulatory protocols are recognised all over Europe and provide a common benchmark – approval of the aircraft will be done in the UK but will be applicable abroad.

The aircraft will be approved for most of the major territories around the world very quickly and it’s a relatively simple matter to get an approval to fly outside of your national borders.

Yes this would be possible, and you could remove the horizontal stabiliser to allow it to fit.

The tail boom and the blades can be removed so it it can get crated into a 20' shipping container and shipped anywhere in the world (shipment is arranged by the buyer). Your engineer will reassemble the tail boom and the blades when it arrives at your destination. This will take about a day to complete.

Inevitably compliance is the last thing you do, but we’ll be developing compliance showing material and all of the certification materials and type approval materials all the way through the programme. The first of those reports are being prepared at the moment.

Yes. There will also be training available for qualified pilots to be accredited for the HX50.

Yes. HX50 is being developed in the UK but we are carrying out concurrent approvals for the type within the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and further approvals in different territories will be carried out as and when required.

HASM is delivered through the digital cockpit, through the Hill app, allowing Hill to track the health of the aircraft, licensing and medicals, as well as offering support and feedback to our pilot community, and giving social media updates. This will ensure commercial aviation levels of safety and support, and easy access to instructors, examiners and pilots, all around the world. It also enables safety issues to be pointed out. Airworthiness directives and service notifications are all alerted through the app.

HX50 is being developed using EASA CS-27 as the basis for its airworthiness approval. That’s the full certified type standard. As such we don’t anticipate any significant limitations on the ability to fly HX50 in any given class of airspace beyond those that would be applied to a fully type certified aircraft, although this does vary around the world.

The standard warranty is 5000 hours or 5 years, whatever occurs first sooner for an aircraft in private use. We will be offering warranty extensions. We’ve been talking about subscription based maintenance and extended warranties right from the beginning of the programme and that’s very much an avenue that we’re pursuing. It’s very important to us that as these aircraft get older then people that are in the market for second hand or older aircraft can still be assured of a predictable operating cost as the aircraft ages. So the power by the hour system or the annual cap cost maintenance is something that we will be offering.

The 51% build takes 10 working days, 12 calendar days, so it runs for 5 days a week.

No. The HX50 and the HC50 are aircraft that will bring about a revolution in general aviation. People that are comfortable with the balance of risk vs. reward are invited to join us now. So at the moment the terms are quite simple, if you want to be part of this community we’ve developed globally to bring about this change to the industry, to develop the helicopter that we’ve all always wanted, then the terms are such. It’s a non-refundable deposit.

There is a 5,000 hour or 5 year nose to tail warranty on the aircraft. For the first 5 years of your ownership there will be no unforeseen maintenance costs at all. There is a basic inspection of the engine at the 100 hour point, and at various multiples of 100 hours for certain parts that need to be checked.

Yes, it will fit in a shipping container, and Hill can provide a suitable crate although you will have to arrange the actual exporting. The HX50 will be delivered directly at the factory in the UK, Ex Works (EXW).

If it relates to safety and the delivery of the performance stated in the contract it’s covered. That’s not your risk to bear. If it’s an upgrade or performance enhancement it will be optional, and payable.

Not really at the moment. All of the subsequent national approvals will piggyback off the UK approval and the most expedient way to do that is to get a watertight UK approval in the first place, make sure everything’s in order, everybody’s happy, all the compliance showing is done and accepted and then we can go with a nice homogenous set of compliance showing information and certification and take that around to all the other authorities at that point.

From a customer’s perspective, only the owner will have to be there for the 2-week build. From our point of view, that question can’t be answered yet because it depends on how the production facility is set up. We are working on a rule of thumb of one full-time person per aircraft per year. So at 250, we would have 250 full-time employees and it would scale from that.

You’ll come and work alongside our engineers and manufacturing operatives for two weeks to assemble your aircraft, and by doing that you’ll learn all about the engine and the intimate details of how the helicopter works, taking part in what is an educational course to make you into a knowledgeable and responsible owner/operator. Anyone who has the skills to safely pilot and operate a helicopter will be able to successfully come to the build school and build their helicopter.

If you want to fly a helicopter you need a license, so it’s up to you to decide when you learn to fly. You can order a HX50 without having a license. Some owners have ordered their aircraft without holding a license – in some cases they have a pilot who will fly it for them. If you get trained now you will have had more experience when you receive your helicopter.

Yes, we have to secure some agreements for you off the back of our type approval, but unlike traditional experimental aircraft this helicopter is designed to the full certified standards so we fully meet EASA CS27 and all of the things certified aircraft meet which makes it much easier for us to secure permissions around other territories around the world because we are designing, developing, operating to a known standard. The first type approval has to be in place before you can do anything else so we get the type approval in place with the CAA and some authorities around the world will accept that, others will require more work on our part.

Yes if you are a qualified flight instructor you can get a type rating for training HX50 owners and possibly members of their families.

Production of the HX50 will start end 2024.

It will be experimental amateur built and you will be able to obtain flight instruction on your own machine if you are an owner or part-owner. Before you take delivery of your machine we will be able to accommodate type ratings at the factory.

Our primary focus has been on the hull insurance and that will definitely be available around the world as that will be partly underwritten by us. In terms of liability insurance around the world, 3rd party, we haven’t done anything on that yet but we will also be trying to tie that in with the insurance that we provide so we expect to be in a position where we can provide a single source for coverage around the world.

A privately owned HX50 operating around 50 to 100 hours a year would need little more maintenance than its annual inspection, with costs well within £5,000 a year for a UK based aircraft. Hill intends to offer an in-house maintenance programme on subscription.

A 5 hour type rating is included with the purchase of the helicopter. If you need more hours to become proficient the factory will happily provide those to ensure you are comfortable with your aircraft.

You’ve got the right to transfer your slot so you wouldn’t lose your deposit, you’d be able to resell it.

Yes, this can be done by the pilot.

It depends whether you have the 4-axis auto-pilot or not. The inertia that we have in the rotor system is about the same as a Bell Jet Ranger so it’s benign compared to what most people will be used to. One of the benefits of going to a 4-axis auto-pilot is some of the envelope protection and some of the things you can do with RPM management when you have an engine failure. One of the modes we’re looking at with the 4-axis is the initiation of the collective down and the cyclic flare on the pilot’s behalf. It can be overridden but those kinds of things are being worked into some of the modes of the 4 axis system so it will be very, very benign.

It will be about 1,000 hours before it goes into the flying prototype because the flying prototype does most of its work in the first couple of hundred hours. Not a great deal to get us up and moving so we can de-couple the two programs and keep moving forward at pace. We will then continue bench testing and take the engines all the way to and past their anticipated overhaul life as fast as possible and that will be done on multiple engines.

The engine is a traditional trunnion and spigot mount. The engine sits in 2 trunnions and there’s a spigot at the front so that deflection in the fuselage doesn’t impart stresses into the engine structure because the tolerances and the tip clearances on the rotating part are very tight.

The engine is currently being built. However, it is based on another engine that is very similar to it that currently has 2.5 million hours of service life on it. So all the technology in the GT50 is incredibly proved technology and is being designed in collaboration with a team of leading experts in the industry who been doing turbine design and manufacturing for the last 50 years.

The main rotor gearbox and the main engine gearbox have oil coolers, a forced lubrication system on the gearbox, and that handles the vast majority of the heat extraction from the mechanical components. The reason that titanium is used in the mast is for its fatigue properties.

This is something that we're covering on how we design the inlet system because the engine has quite a contrived inlet path so the simple answer is quite a lot, but we need to deal with subjectively on the flight test program, so the engine is designed to withstand quite heavy rain within the limits of FR flying.

Being able to power a helicopter electrically would have big advantages and Hill will be looking at that possibility, including a hybrid engine, when the time is right, and the technology has advanced sufficiently. Meanwhile it is preferable to have a gas turbine engine that is able to run on sustainable fuels and biofuels. We can deliver substantial carbon neutrality with the conventional mechanical drive train we have at present.

A lot of research went into finding the right engine for the HX50, but eventually we decided to make our own, and seized that opportunity to deliver a modern, electronically controlled, efficient small turbine and that’s what has really unlocked the performance potential and the design opportunities for the helicopter.

We tried to show a degree of restraint and under promise and over deliver, so we promised 140 knots because we know we will deliver on that. In fact, 140 knots is not a minimum cruise speed, it is the cruise speed at maximum continuous power and we expect to deliver 140 knots at slightly lower power than that which infers you can go a bit faster.

The GT50 is being designed for value engineering in which design optimisation for the engine core plays a big part: this means making it less complex than current turbine engines, easier assembly, easier maintenance, the weight has been reduced. In addition, all materials needed to make the components are being directly sourced.

The blade rotation is counter clockwise similar to most North American built helicopters as well as earlier UK built helicopters.

The main and tail rotors will be actuated through conventional style gearboxes. The main rotor gearbox is a epicyclical style gearbox. We will be producing more information on the details of this soon as we are now building the gears for the gearboxes and will be testing them on a test rig.

HX50 has a maximum take-off weight of 1,650 kg, of which 800 kg is payload. The fuel tank is able to carry 5 hours worth of fuel, i.e. 175 gallons, with a maximum range of 700 nm. Typically, you would load up with 3 hours of fuel if you were carrying 5 people and their bags. It has a 500 horse power engine and is designed to cruise at a minimum of 140 knots.

In terms of the fuel consumption, it’s likely to require less than 400 hp to deliver the 140 knot cruise in which case yes, you can expect to have a higher range than what we’re talking about at the moment. In terms of the out and out fuel consumption of the engine, when that engine is delivering 400 hp I wouldn’t expect the fuel consumption to be any better than what we’ve declared.

A long time – endurance flying is about 8 hours if you are carrying 3 people.

The noise for the rotor systems should be the same as for an EC120, whereas the engine, transmission and mechanical noise should be less.

The HX50 is so fast on so little power because it has an extremely slippery fuselage with very low drag, integrated hub and mast cowling, packaging of all mechanical elements, low leakage, optimal engine inlets and exhaust, so that allows us to move very efficiently through the air, and achieve a comfortable cruise speed.

The pilot will ordinarily fly the aircraft from the right seat and there are no movable weights. HX50 has an active fuel system so there’s a trimmer tank in the nose that provides for exceptional CG range so you can load this aircraft up with anything from a 70 kg solo pilot with a lot of bags in the back through to one 95 kg passenger in each of the five seats and still be within normal operating range for CG.

The pedals are very adjustable, allowing for a height range from a 4’11” person up to a 6’4” person. The cyclic is designed so that the grip will lift up and down. This will allow you to move it out of the way to get in and out of the cabin, and you can hold the grip at a height that’s comfortable. The seat will also be adjustable to ensure you fit perfectly no matter your size or stature.

Work on three prototypes that should be flying for testing purposes in 2023 is underway. In terms of performance specs the expected results have been calculated with generous margins in place so that there is a high probability the results will be met, if not exceeded.

Provision is being made for anti-glare, anti-reflection and hooding solutions to optimise conditions in the cabin.

There will be a pilot view camera, rear view camera, downward view camera and cabin view camera, all integrated to the HDC. There will also be mounting points provided to house more cameras.

A 175 gallon fuel tank at approximate current prices in the US of about $4.50 a gallon would make it about US$785. (For most private owners of aircraft the fuel cost is the least of your worries. It’s the smallest of the costs that you have to manage. We are making a very fuel efficient engine but power is more important for most of our owners than a lower fuel bill). It’s a five hour fuel tank, so the tank has been sized for five hours at maximum continuous power.

Yes, we will do a factory-approved ferry tank towards the end of the programme. But you already have a 5 hour fuel tank that if you fly at the best range will do much better than the figures we are openly declaring. It can already do 700 miles.

Although the 2-axis autopilot that is fitted as standard in the HX50 is more than adequate for most purposes, the 4-axis autopilot is a fully automatic flight control system with added functionality including: simultaneous flight control in all axes, enhanced handling qualities, enhanced envelope protection, auto-hover and improved gust response coming in the future. Choosing the 4-axis will also make it easier to upgrade to new advanced technological functions as they become available.

The procedure to remove the pins and fold back the blades is simple and quick – the pins can be accessed easily.

We offer equipment needed for mission specific applications, many enhancements to the cockpit to provide additional functionality, and features that will make the aircraft even more luxurious. The aircraft is available with premium or bespoke paint finish, climate seats, 4-axis advanced auto-pilot, Hill advanced digital cockpit, blade fold system, Helimove smart ground handling system, heated pitot tube, cargo hook, emergency floats, removable soft ground landing kit, passenger in-flight entertainment and child safety seat.

All the standard equipment on the options list will involve antennas that are embedded within the airframe.

Yes.

The HX50 comes with five 500 mm wide leather seats, a digital glass cockpit and 2-axis auto-pilot. Each seat offers personal storage, USB ports and four-point harnesses. Headset holders and jacks for Bose ANR headsets are integrated into the seat headrests. Climate control and Bluetooth connectivity are also provided. and the aircraft is available with either wheels and a retractable under-carriage or fixed skids. Dual FADEC engine control, hydraulic controls, foam filled fuel bladder tank, flight recorder system, and adjustable pedals and toe brakes.

Yes

If you choose the 4-axis auto-pilot option, it will.

Electric motors have been integrated into each of the rear wheels, so that when the aircraft is on the ground you can drive it into your hangar under electric power with the engine shut down. The system can be controlled from within the cockpit or from the ground via a smartphone app.

This is something Hill are working towards. By choosing the 4-axis autopilot now you would be able to access this facility more easily when it becomes available.

The Helimove option would add about 15 kg.

We have created pockets in the bodywork that take the float sacks so if you have the floats it doesn’t affect the drag of the aircraft.

No.

Everything you need is available in the digital cockpit.

Dual controls are standard on the helicopter. Everyone needs to be able to get recurrent training on their aircraft so you will always need to have the option to have the dual controls installed. The collective on the passenger’s side is more of a standard style collective. The dual controls will be quick and easy to remove and install.

Not electro chromatically. The roof lights and the rear windows are all tinted. There’s less of a tint on the pilot’s windows and the windshield. They’re not adjustable. All of the windows have UV, IR coatings to reduce the amount of heat and UV radiation that gets through. Those are all passive coatings so they’re set at a specific level.

The avionics of the HX50 were developed to specifically suit the mission of a VFR helicopter pilot flying point to point, to provide the information needed as clearly as possible, and to integrate with your iPad. This is very different from the typical avionics used today for fixed wing aircraft that fly airport to airport.

Yes, the iPad sits in front of a vent, which blows air-conditioned air on to the back of the iPad, and our climate control system is very powerful. There will also be a shade provided as part of the iPad mount, and the roof skylights and side windows are tinted to manage the solar radiation getting into the cabin.

This is very unlikely as the digital panel and the back of the iPad will have cool air directed at it and the cockpit is air-conditioned. But the aircraft can be flown safely without the iPad if necessary.

Yes

Yes.

The standard HX50 comes with a 2-axis autopilot. This means that you get an actuator on only the cyclic, so it will hold the helicopter stable and hold a heading as well as an altitude or airspeed. That is because it can't control the collective. The upgrade option to the 4-axis pilot puts actuators on the collective and pedals as well, so it can control both the altitude and airspeed for you. When the HX50 comes to market in 2023 these will be the features available. However, because we have those actuators there already if you choose the option with the 4-axis autopilot now that means that we can keep working on the features for things like auto hover, auto take off and land, etc. These will be features that will be available in future free software updates for anyone choosing the 4-axis autopilot option.

If you have the traffic option it will report other aircraft as all traffic systems do. Regarding showing large birds, there are some vision systems being developed but they are in the very early stages.

Yes.

There’s an integrated infotainment system which will allow you to share any content that you have on your iPad or any content that you’ve got on your phone through the system and that will be piped around the aircraft via the iPad. That includes music, video content, and we’ve also got a system that manages the cameras around the aircraft so on the second screen if you’re not a flying front seat passenger you can use some of the rear view or front view cameras. It also manages your phone integration so you can make and receive phone calls where local legislation allows.

Wire data bases are based on data bases that are pulled together from all sorts of natural infrastructure providers, so we are reliant on data bases that we get from Jefferson etc. to provide that data, so you can’t rely on the wire data base as an absolute carte blanche protection, it’s not a wire detection system. It’s just a wire awareness tool for wires that we physically know are there, so as the pilot you still have to be responsible for seeing and avoiding those sorts of hazards.

Yes, the extent to which this will happen is subject to detailed development. There are certain systems that are non flight critical, certain things we have to lock down.

We aim to keep it simple, provide power, provide connectivity, and just let people use their individual devices.

Although the standard Hill digital cockpit is superbly equipped with a full suite of VFR helicopter avionic for easy and safe flying, the advanced version offers additional features such as advanced synthetic vision & obstacles, traffic awareness system, weather data integration, additional com radio and nav radio & HSI, plus a radar altimeter and ATC record & replay.

The cyclic and collective are very conventional. On the cyclic there’s a push to talk trigger, an auto-pilot trim switch, an auto-pilot off, a plus and minus toggle switch that allows you to scroll through memory channels for the radio and your conventional flip switch to turn stand-by into active. On the collective there isn’t a twist grip because it’s an electronically controlled engine so you have a fly and idle button and a hydraulics off button and landing lights button, both toggle switches, so very simple, very intuitive.

The whole point of putting the iPad in the centre of the cockpit was that we could get air-conditioning to it. It’s easy to reach, easy to see and we can get air-conditioning to it so it’s powered and cooled.

The iPad is front and centre in the centre of our cockpit and we have a secure Wi-Fi network between your iPad with its navigation app and the Hill digital cockpit so all the flight data and the flight planning data you have available on your app is communicating seamlessly with our onboard avionics. The route that you have planned out will communicate to our onboard GPS and our auto pilot system so it can fly the route you’ve got planned on your iPad and track that for you automatically.

You will be able to download software updates via the internet and the Hill app. If it relates to safety it will be done under the warranty. If it’s a new capability it will be offered and you can choose to have it or not.

The HX50 helicopter, designed for private owner pilots, is being developed along with its commercial version, the identical HC50, both meeting the latest EASA and FAA certification standards for small/normal category rotorcraft. The HX50, which is coming out in 2023, is provided to customers with an amateur-built airworthiness approval by virtue of its 51% build programme. The HC50 will take longer to certify for commercial operators and it will be available by the end of 2026.

The HC50 helicopter, identical to the HX50 but fully certified for commercial use, is expected to be available by end 2026.

It should be about the same, the parts should be priced the same, the insurance will be more expensive for the HC50 because of the nature of the operation, and they will fly more hours so will need more maintenance.

The objective of all the testing we do on HX50 is that it will carry over directly so there’s nothing lower grade about HX50 compared to HC50.

The HC50 will be entirely factory built in the same premises as the HX50, without the participation of the owner; it will have a 1,000 hour, 2-year warranty, and there will be no restrictions on its use for commercial operation. Due to the more costly certification process for the HC50, it will be priced higher than the HX50.

The factory, currently under development, is expected to have an initial peak capacity of up to 500 units per year, with plans to increase production in subsequent years.

The fuel tanks will have bladders. They have a carbon fibre shell that is an integral part of the airframe which then contains a bladder, and then within the bladder we put a foam product that helps avoid sloshing. And that applies to both the main tank which is behind the aft cabin bulkhead and the trimmer tank in the nose of the aircraft. In terms of the trim, that’s open at the moment.

The prototypes will be tested far beyond minimum standard, certification standard, with further shakedown testing, ground testing, in many different environments.

Yes, to the greatest extent possible. With the third scale model which will have a high-grade finish, we will look at paint finishes and do some environmental testing and accelerated life testing for that and for other purposes.

We are sharing more about the manufacturing process on social media and in the videos in our "Journey to the HX50" series which provide regular updates.

The first deliveries are planned for end 2024.

The prototypes of the HX50 are currently scheduled to take flight by the end of 2023, with production and initial deliveries expected to start by the end of 2024.

Hill Helicopters is now actively working on building components of the engine, the airframe, gearboxes etc. What you start with building is systems. You need to first flush out all the issues that you have in individual systems. Then you move on to subsystems, so you assemble and test subsystems and flush out all the issues that you have in those. Then you assemble and test the ground running prototypes. This will happen in 2023. We will start showing you many more physical things being built and tested over the coming few months. Recent updates are being documented in videos on the Journey to HX50 page.

The vertical integration strategy is absolutely vital to what we’re doing here. What we’ve found is that the aerospace supply chain is very much geared to servicing the needs of major commercial aircraft manufacturers and military contractors and those platforms that have very high-ticket prices can afford to support higher part costs from their sub-contractors and their suppliers. When you scale it down to general aviation and you’re trying to pitch an aircraft at broadly the same price as a very high-end super car, then those kinds of margins can’t be supported. Although we have more work to do now in terms of process development and manufacturing development and upfront tooling costs, it means we have complete control of our unit prices and we get to add the most value that we possibly can to the aircraft so we only bring raw material in the front door, we add the most value, and then we send a premium product out the front door.

The prototypes of the HX50 are currently scheduled to take flight by the end of 2023, with production and initial deliveries expected to start by the end of 2024.

We are currently developing both the HX50 and HC50, with plans for the engine's first run and a fuselage to be completed in 2023. Our goal is to have both prototypes flying by the end of that year. By the end of 2024, we plan to start production and make the first deliveries of the HX50.

Yes, we have. We’re entering a phase of the programme now where there are more external factors, availability of materials, etc. We’re starting to ramp up the work force so the availability of people to actually do the shop floor work can have an impact. But fundamentally in terms of the core engineering we are pretty much exactly where we expected to be by this point.

There shouldn’t be any differences. There will be differences between the very early prototypes as we iron out the problems in the development. But when we get to PP4 and PP5 those should be production representative and thereafter the aircraft should be mature.

We use a lot of state-of-the-art CNC machinery, although the prototype composite stuff is quite manual, but the production of the composites such as fabric cutting, fabric kitting, fabric handling, mould manipulation, all those things will be highly optimised and automated. We use the latest automation to make sure the processes are streamlined, as organised and repeatable as possible so this is a very modern way to build a helicopter.

The engine and other components are being built, tested and prototyped in a 10,000 sq ft purpose-built development centre where the entire development team is now working. Ground testing and approvals will take place there, with flight testing likely at either of two nearby airports. A 250,000 sq ft factory site has been located and is currently being designed - this will eventually be the Hill International Headquarters, operational by 2024.

Yes. Our test pilots will do the flight test but there will be an opportunity for the owner to fly the aircraft before shipping.

More than one person can participate. However, the rules say that this is for your education and recreation so you can’t designate someone to do the build for you. If it’s a syndicated machine you build in terms of your ownership. You may be able to involve family members.

The HX50 cannot be used for commercial operations, or hire and reward or flight training.

By minimising the administrative costs of the certification process, and the subsequent reduced cost of demonstrating the aircraft’s airworthiness and bringing it to market, we can afford to put a lot more investment into developing aspects that improve safety. For example, HX50 comes with a 2-axis autopilot as standard and it has an advanced electronic flight instrument system which drastically reduces the pilot’s work load for VFR flying. In addition, having our own engine with huge power reserves makes flying the helicopter easier and safer in confined area landings.

The aircraft is manufactured to the latest certified standards – other than the owner's involvement it is certified. The approval route both in the UK and abroad is far more aligned to certified aircraft than to kit built aircraft. A lot of limitations in the kit built regulations were there because they were designed to give people a streamlined route through regulations for people building a kit aircraft in their garage. Once UK approval is done it will be type acceptance in other territories. It will fly under permit to fly in the UK, experimental amateur built in the US. Permit to fly in the experimental section is very flexible. We meet the full type certification standards with all the approvals of a fully certified organisation, we carry the operating limitations covered by EASA 27, day and night VFR. The aircraft can’t be used for anything commercial.

No, at least not initially. Making a helicopter IFR is a very big deal. You have to deal with de-icing, stability and a much more complicated hydraulics system, much more avionics, duel-electrical system and all sorts of other stuff. And you are then making a helicopter into an airplane, because you have to let down at an airport. We may do it in the future, but it requires a lot of technology. Ours is a VFR day and night helicopter.

Both HX50, the aircraft for private owners and HC50, the certified variant of it, are being developed in parallel. HC50 will take a little bit longer to bring to market on account of the longer gestation period for the certified variant, but both will be available.

The limitations that apply to these aircraft are based on the basis for initial airworthiness. In our case the basis for initial airworthiness is EASA, CS Part 27 or FAR Part 27 so if you deliver an aircraft with the same certification basis as a fully certified aircraft and develop it with a design approved organisation, produce it in a production approved organisation, then you can quite easily justify that it should have the operating privileges of an aircraft that’s come out of that environment. That’s how we do it.

The experimental system in the US is about the most flexible in the world with very few restrictions. The main advantage is the freedom of owning an experimental aircraft and the reduced burden for maintaining it. The way we are handling operating privileges is the same in the US as it is in the UK in that the privileges that you are afforded with any kind of aircraft are based on what the basis for initial airworthiness is. If you develop an aircraft and show it to meet the fully authorised standards, your privileges will be based on that. The restrictions that some territories place on experimental or amateur built aircraft are very much about the lower level of oversight that the authorities provide to allow people to build aircraft at home. If you are building an aircraft to the certified standards in an approved factory with a certified organisation the aircraft will carry those privileges. The only big proviso is the fact that we’ve got 51% involvement from the owners which means that you can’t use it commercially.

It depends where you are in the world. In the UK, as it stands, amateur built helicopters are explicitly excluded from being able to do PPL training on. This is because there isn’t an amateur built helicopter available in the UK that meets the airworthiness codes to allow that to happen. The document that defines what privileges permit to fly aircraft can have in the UK says that you can do self-fly hire and some flight training which you get when you meet an acceptable level of airworthiness. HX50 will meet that standard but to have full privileges you will have to wait for HC50.

By using the experimental sector, we are able to deliver the highest levels of air-worthiness but without the associated costs of the bureaucracy that go with the certification process. It gives us a great deal of flexibility to develop a genuinely next generation best of breed helicopter by avoiding a lot of the limitations that are imposed on manufacturers by certification.

Yes, we will have pilots available for training or you can bring a pilot with you to be trained.

You will take part in 51% of the time it takes to build the aircraft. This is hands-on manufacturing and assembly of the structural components, including composite manufacturing and assembling flight controls and avionics. You will not be required to build the engine or gearbox or digital cockpit but you will see how they are built. Our engineers and mechanics will walk you through every step. You would attend the course from 9 to 5 for 10 working days. This is NOT a formality. Quality checks will be done and documented.

We’ll have to do it at first purely because there won’t be enough machines out there so PP4 and PP5 are intended for demo flights, type ratings, early training of pilots, instructors and examiners but our intention is to push that out everywhere as fast as we can. So a lot of the early training, other than for early owners, will be for trainers and instructors around the world.

This would be very complicated to do well so it is not likely to happen.

Yes.

HX50 will be initially type approved for day and night VFR operations. We are anticipating producing an IFR version of the HC50 in the future but it does require relatively significant upgrades to the aircraft in terms of system redundancy, dual engines, dual electrical systems, dual hydraulic systems, dual auto-pilots, de-icing equipment and significant redundancy in the automatic stabilisation system, so that probably won’t happen for at least 5 years.

If you are comfortable buying now, you will get the aircraft at a lower price, and you will experience the journey. You will also get a relatively early serial number.

Yes, you can use Coin Corner that will accept Bitcoin and exchange your payment into pounds sterling.

The HX50 comes with a comprehensive list of options and is priced at a reasonable £595,000. To see the wide range of extra options available, complete with prices, we suggest you go to the Configurator on the website.

In keeping the HX50 an accessible and cost-effective aircraft there is no intention to push the price up to very high levels.

We’ve got a very intimate knowledge of what it costs to build these parts, the level of investment that is required to get into production; and we’ve also got comparators for what other manufacturers produce at, and what we know the aircraft can be produced for. And in terms of that we’ve also designed an aircraft that’s very production oriented. So, we’re sitting comfortably in between some of the other helicopters and aircraft of similar size. We know that we can hit the price point.

When you buy an HX50 you are allowed to buy a position on the HC50 version list at a very special price that is exclusive for HX50 owners. After you order an HX50 you have up to 30 days to buy any number of HC versions at £575,000, which is a £150,000 discount, with a £50,000 deposit.

The price is £595,000, however there are discounts available based on how soon you order your aircraft, what deposit you pay and what delivery period you opt for.

It won’t affect pricing because vertical integration means that Hill are bringing in raw materials at their lowest value point and manufacturing components in-house. There is always some fluctuation in raw material prices, but it won’t affect the purchase price that has been set.

By bringing the manufacturing of virtually all components in-house and producing them from raw materials we can carefully control the price of those components. This allows as in tern to pass those savings on to our customers.

HX50 is available in seven different stunning exterior colours, with a choice of ten gorgeous interior shades, but the limits are down to your own imagination. Bespoke paint schemes are available if you want to colour match a vehicle or anything you’re interested in. You can experiment with the full range of colour combinations by using the configurator.

12 months before production of your specific aircraft, or even later.

The team at Hill is constantly growing. We currently have a team over 65 but this number is constantly increasing.

To deliver the HX50 program we’ve built up a truly exceptional team over the last 20 years or so of people who are really at the top of their game, not just in aerospace but in a number of areas in the engineering industry. They come from backgrounds in companies like Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin and many other industry leaders, and have a huge amount of expertise and experience that they are dedicating to the common goal of working together to deliver this best of breed helicopter.

Yes. Vertical integration is quite a headache because it massively increases the amount of work and infrastructure you have to have in place to be able to get into production, but once you’re there it means that all of your spare parts are essentially available to you at the lowest price point possible. And we have complete control over when we make them and how much stock we carry so we will carry a very significant amount of spares. As the aircraft rollout continues we’ll hold spares in each of the major territories or our dealership network will hold spares so that we can get parts to aircraft that are down as fast as possible.

The aircraft will be fully digitally documented. You will have a full build log of the helicopter.

Every aircraft is sold with a maintenance type rating course so whoever your mechanic is in your local area you can bring them to the factory as part of your purchase price . We’ll train and equip them to be able to look after the aircraft domestically and then you’ve got the kind of support you need right on the doorstep. That mechanic will also have access to all of our technical support back at the factory so he gets all of our engineers right behind him to make sure your machine is properly supported. As we get more aircraft into the field there will be more distributor based support, but for initial rollout that’s how it will work.

Yes, the HX50 is being developed to resist corrosion, rust, etc. to the very high standards demanded by regulations and will undergo rigorous testing worldwide in extreme weather conditions. Flight controls will be sealed, coatings will be used, magnesium will not be used. There will be a careful selection of materials, composites and protection on the blades.

It will all be digital.

The maintenance will be delivered by your local service operators, so we will operate in the same way as a lot of car dealers do in that there will be book times for certain things, certain approved procedures. There will be a ready supply of parts and in the early years in particular it will be a case of swop the part and send it back to us and we’ll send you a new one to keep things simple. Hill Helicopters doen’t want lots of complex parts opened in the field so it will be a very simple process delivered by people you trust on the ground in your country.

You can nominate your mechanic to come to the UK to take our maintenance course to become certified to carry out the maintenance on your aircraft. Alternatively, as the HX50 community grows, you will be able to connect and share information with owners in your area – the Hill app will also provide information on where to find mechanics.

There is no de-icing system so you have to avoid icing conditions but the HX50 will be approved for temperatures down to minus 30 degrees C. Components are being developed and will be tested in all conditions including extreme cold.

Hill will carry a large parts stock as we roll out to a distributor model in the future and large parts stocks will be also carried by the distributors. This is all about the customers. We have control, we own everything, so we are not held to ransom for expensive parts from other companies. We make the parts as inexpensively as we can, carry stock here and in the other territories around the world that we sell in. So, expect better from us.

No. You would have to cross a threshold. But we will have to develop exactly what the threshold is, because we have to do a lot of fatigue testing to prove that out. One of the benefits of carbon fibre structures is that they’ve got lots of discrete load paths within the structure so they are inherently more resilient to fatigue than conventional metallic materials, so we can work with that.

A variety of ways depending on the location in the aircraft. For the metallics that are built into the components to connect the transmission etc. all of those metallic components are actually embedded in glass fibre before they get infused into the cockpit. There’s a protective layer of glass fibres that are non-conductive to act as an insulating barrier around those parts. There are also more conventional methods for dealing with similar metals throughout the engine and the airframe.

It is a fairly simple system so maintenance will not be complicated. Each aircraft is sold with a maintenance course, there will be a subscription based support for maintenance.

Yes. There is a filter over the inlet barrier which is suitable for extreme conditions and can be easily removed for inspection and cleaning.

We’re looking at two solutions at the moment, a stainless steel erosion shield and a nickel erosion shield so ideally we would stick to the stainless steel but we might for forming reasons end up using nickel around the tips of the main rotor blades just because of forming restraints.

Many of these things have technical merit and we will consider them in due course. The performance we have from our current composite materials, both fibres and resin are more than sufficient to meet the performance and durability requirements for the HX50. As with any commercial engineering development programme the most important criteria required to ensure you successfully deliver a product to market is knowing when to stop innovating and start producing the product.

No, in fact with VFR flying in a helicopter oxygen is rarely if ever needed.

They will be contained to some extent but you need the carbon fibre bits to fly around otherwise you run the risk of packing the container that you’re trying to contain them in and preventing the anvil that drives down and crushes the tube from moving in a predictable fashion so we do need to eject that stuff out of the way but it should be caught by some of the seat upholstery and all of those sorts of things.

The HX50 does not have an emergency parachute on purpose. There are several issues that come along with putting a parachute on the helicopter such as CofG issues, as well as maintenance and up-keep on the system to ensure that it will deploy when you need it to. Also when you deploy a parachute you are at the mercy of wherever that helicopter floats and lands. What you really want to focus on are great autorotation characteristics. So you want to make sure the rotor system has a very high inertia. The HX50 has about the same inertia as a Bell 206L4. Then you want to make sure that when you are in autorotation you have good RPM range without damaging anything. So the rotor head design along with the blades allows for a large range of RPM's without damaging anything. Then you want good run on capability. So with the wheels you can run this helicopter onto a smooth surface quite nicely. In the event of an engine failure those are the critical areas to focus efforts on.

We essentially comply with the Part 29 Transport Category regulations for bird strike, so it meets the same requirements as all the big aircrafts. That is about a 2 kg bird at 200 knots.

The aircraft is designed to be very robust and should land intact, if necessary, on its belly. There are hard points on the underside, on the nose and the stub wings. The landing gear can also be operated manually.

The HX50 is definitely being designed to be safe and simple to operate for low hour pilots, both from the point of view of pilots with little flying experience, and those who plan to fly their helicopters for a few hours per year. Hill are setting up everything to support private pilot owners in their 51% build program which will be very instructive on every aspect of the aircraft, including safety and maintenance.

Yes

The aircraft is being designed with a polycarbonate screen that will resist bird impact up to a level of a 7 kg bird at a closure speed of 165 knots.

When the helicopter is on the ground with doors open it should be able to withstand winds of up to 45 knots. There will be a max speed with doors off but it hasn’t been set yet – it may be around the 100 knot mark. It has to be determined with flight testing. Structurally there isn’t a problem that is likely to impact the handling qualities.

The two main displays in the aircraft are separate and redundant from each other. The iPad will also be able to run the main flight instruments in the event of a total loss of both displays. The iPad is on its own power supply as well.

It has to go to a big electrical discharge facility and they zap it. It’s not perfectly representative of a real lightning strike but there are standard tests that have to be done.

Yes

300 pounds or 136 kg is standard – we do have some particular cases where customers are a bit over that so we have to capture that and make sure there is a margin beyond that.

Yes, for maximising comfort and because it’s better from a crash-worthy perspective.

Yes, the rear seats are removable as is the co-pilot seat, and there are tie down points on the cabin floor.

Yes, the front seats can be adjusted to go forward and back to allow for people of different heights. Seats can move forward by 150 mm and up by 50 mm, pedals can be moved back and up. This means that field of view is maintained for all pilots and there is a full range of travel on flight controls for all pilot sizes.

At this stage it’s not looking like you will be able to swap between the two. You choose once and it will need to stay in that configuration.

The wheeled landing gear is indeed retractable, the fixed skid undercarriage is not.

There will be over centre toggle wheels with a hard point on the nose so you can tow it in, and there may be a motorised version of that.

No, they are the same price.

Landing on hard sand, in a wet field, on dry sand should be OK – a muddy field or soft snow could cause a problem. For these kinds of conditions the wheels can be fitted with “bear paws” and the aircraft flown with the undercarriage down.

The fixed skids are slightly lighter than wheels but you can expect to lose approximately 15kts of speed off the 140kts cruise speed. Unfortunately 30% of your drag comes from the undercarriage so it has to come with a major penalty. This is why the helicopter was designed with the wheeled retractable landing gear so that you wouldn't have that drag and therefore get a much faster helicopter.

Yes, there are brakes on the two main back wheels and a castor lock on the front wheel.

You have to consult your local regulator and you have to consider the location for the helipad as much as the performance of the aircraft. 12 ft x 12 ft would probably be OK for most purposes.

Some control cables will be outsourced, the sprag clutch, the tyres. All of the structure, all of the mechanicals, all of the rotor system, windows, all are manufactured in-house. We don’t make LCD screens or microchips, but if it’s mechanical or aeronautical we make nearly all of it.

Yes, although it is a very simple interface that should be fairly easy to learn when you take delivery of your HX50.

Yes, there is a rotor brake. There’s a disc type brake that’s fitted to all aircraft as standard with a control for it in the roof panel.

Right behind the cabin bulkhead. There’s the monolage, then there’s an aft bulkhead that mounts the rear seats, and then there’s a second bulkhead that creates the baggage bay and the fuel tank is in between there, and then there’s a small trimmer tank that’s located in the nose that we use to trim the fuel CG.

There have been many requests for a Simulator and one will be provided at a later date. It would be useful for training for situations which could not be taught in real life.

In terms of the fuselage there’s some sound insulation being developed into the interior trim materials. There’s obviously a firewall around the engine bay to protect it as per the requirements. There will be a form of acoustic silencer on the compressor. We’re toying with the idea of trying to build something into the exhaust for the engine but that’s unlikely at this stage. It’s a helicopter and we have to manage weight very carefully or we just eat into that useful payload. The cabin will be on a par of what you’re used to in terms of light helicopters with a reasonable interior.

Eventually there will be a pilot operating handbook, a parts catalogue, a maintenance manual and a training manual but these are not available yet.

Yes, the system is designed for remote power. You can power it with 220 volts. There are some limits to what electrical systems you can power when that is going on because there’s a limit to the juice you can physically get out of a conventional domestic socket so we’re looking at what it’s practical to deliver but basic cabin heating would be fine. Air conditioning is more of a challenge to have that on long-term.

With an ample, well-planned space of 0.7 cubic metres and big doors on either side you will be able to take your skis. A surfboard could be accommodated by removing one front seat.

Yes, the controls and cyclic can be removed easily if required.

The closest ones are probably the Gazelle and the EC120 but with slightly easier tail rotor handling characteristics so in terms of power perhaps the Gazelle, in terms of the hub design and the flight dynamics perhaps more akin to the 120 with the exception of the tail rotor.

We would love to do it, but not now. It would be a real value-add to the Helimove, and to the user interface for landing in confined areas but that’s a whole development project in its own right.

You can put up to 200 kg or 400 lb in depending on how many passengers are on board.

That comes down to a trade-off between the stiffness of the seals and the amount of material you want to put into the door to make sure that the door is physically stiff enough to compress the seals without deforming too much. There’s all sorts of juggling we have to do to balance all of those parameters but fundamentally yes the doors will close flush. We’re using some of the automotive tricks of the trade creating under flush edges to make sure the small misalignments inevitable in any built artefact are unperceivable. So yes you’ll have that smooth exterior body.