Revolution Mini-500
Revolution Helicopter Corporation · United States · first flew 1992 · helicopter
The Revolution Mini-500 was a 1990s American single-seat light helicopter designed and built by Revolution Helicopter Corporation as a homebuilding kit. It resembles a scaled-down Hughes 500.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, rotary |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Tubular steel fuselage with a glass-fibre and foam composite cabin |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Scaled-down look of the Hughes 500
- Two-bladed semi-rigid main rotor and a conventional two-blade tail rotor
- Tubular steel fuselage with a glass-fibre and foam composite cabin
Look for a very small single-seat helicopter with a bubble cabin, a two-blade main rotor and a tail rotor. It has a small horizontal stabiliser and looks like a miniature Hughes 500.
Specifications
- The Revolution Mini-500 has a length of 6.9 m (23 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 5.79 m (19 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 186 km/h (116 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The first Mini-500 flew in 1992 and the first factory-assembled production helicopter was delivered in July 1994. Kit production ceased in 1999 when the company went out of business.
Variants
It used a 64 hp Rotax 582 two-stroke engine, which proved underpowered; a tuned exhaust was added in 1998. A 2003 attempt to restart production with a Solar T62 turbine produced no aircraft.
Where you'll see it
The company claimed more than 500 kits sold, though how many flew is unclear. The type developed a poor safety reputation after many component failures and nine fatalities.
Related aircraft
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