Reaching American shores this summer is an adorable and sort of inexpensive way to get into aviation. The Mirocopter SCH-2A is a helicopter that weighs just 249 pounds, costs less than the average new car, and fits into some garages. It’s a neat little flying contraption, even if you’re limited in how you can fly it.
Throughout my years of loving aviation there has been one thought that has always been around: Flying is expensive! The cost to become a private pilot could run you about $10,000, more if it takes you longer than 40 hours of instruction. Should you choose to buy a plane, you’ll quickly find out that even a 60-year-old Cessna 150 can set you back more than $30,000, and that’s not counting fueling or maintaining the thing. If you’re like me, you can rent a plane, but you’ll still see a few hundred dollars disappear from your pockets a couple of hours at a time.
One way to make flying cheaper and more accessible is to go with an ultralight. You can still get your aviation kick, but from behind the controls of a cheaper, bite-sized machine. As I witnessed at the humongous EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow this year, there are all kinds of lightweight aircraft that you can buy.
Some vehicles are powered parachutes, some are trikes married to hang gliders, some are hot-air balloons or gliders, and some ultralights are fixed-wing planes, just scaled down. If you prefer your flying in rotorcraft flavor, you can find those, too!
One of these rotorcraft is the Mirocopter SCH-2A, and its goal is to be one of the lightest and cheapest helicopters you could buy. It was at Oshkosh this year, but I ran out of time and didn’t get to see it. The first ones are arriving in America, and they actually seem really fun.
The Mirocopter SCH-2A is the work of Slovenian engineer Miroslav Črv. His company, Mirocopter, claims that the SCH-2A is “one of the lightest manned coaxial helicopters in the world.” Its tiny footprint means it qualifies as an ultralight here in America. We’ll get to that a little later, but it means that you do not need a license to fly it.
Mirocopter says the SCH-2A has been tested for more than a decade, and now it’s ready to go on sale. There are already two distributors in the States and one has already come up for sale for $35,000.
The Mirocopter SCH-2A is a coaxial helicopter. What that means is that you get a pair of helicopter rotors mounted one above the other and driven by concentric driveshafts. They have the same axis of rotation, but turn in opposite directions.
When a helicopter’s rotor blades turn, torque is exerted in the opposite direction of the rotor. In the helicopters that you might be used to seeing, a tail rotor is used to counteract the torque. Without that tail rotor, you’ll likely start spinning around.
Here, the rotor spinning in the opposite direction provides the countering force. The basic concept of coaxial rotors has actually been around for over 200 years. One example of this is a device made by Mikhail V. Lomonosov in 1754 that used coaxial rotors to lift instruments into the air.
The engine of the chopper is a Fiate MZ202 two-cylinder, dual-ignition, two-stroke engine.
This engine is made in China and is advertised by Mirocopter as making “over 60 HP.” That engine, including its cooling system, is said to weigh just 66 pounds. It spins NACA 0012 aluminum composite rotor blades featuring stainless steel bars for rotor blade reinforcement and balance. Mirocopter says that these blades have a safety factor of higher than three.
You command the thing from standard helicopter controls and get your information from a 7-inch digital instrument panel.
One noted benefit of coaxial rotors is a higher payload due to all of the engine’s power being available for lifting. In the case of the Mirocopter SCH-2A, that means that it can lift a pilot weighing up to 273 pounds, which is a lot higher than a number of the eVTOLs going on sale. Popular eVTOLs like the Jetson One and the Opener Blackfly can carry only 200-pound pilots.
It’s also a bit more practical than the eVTOLs going on sale, too. While an eVTOL might be able to get you up into the sky for 20 minutes, this feeds off of a 5-gallon tank of fuel for up to an hour. The tiny helicopter is 8 feet-tall by 4.9 feet-wide and 14.3 feet-long. So long as your garage opening is tall enough, it should fit!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNFctHPvKUk
The Mirocopter SCH-2A falls under the United States’ FAR Part 103 ultralight vehicle rules. That means that owners and pilots of the SCH-2A don’t need to prove airworthiness and they don’t need a pilot license. Legally, you can fly this thing as soon as you get it home. However, ultralight rules are very limiting in the aircraft and how you can fly it. Don’t expect to upgrade the fuel tank or fly faster than 62 mph. And you can forget about night flights or carrying a passenger. Some eVTOL manufacturers talk up the ability to fly to work. Well, if your workplace is in a populated area then you can’t fly there, either.
Sadly, I’ve found zero reviews for the little guy, so it seems that there are very few of them out there.
With legal limitations in mind, these will be best for folks who live in rural areas. At $35,000 it can be an attractive proposition for someone wanting rotorcraft fun. The closest thing to it is the Composite FX Mosquito XEL. With that, you get similar specs and some weather protection, but a Mosquito sets you back $47,000 for a kit or $60,000 for a factory-built model.
Those aforementioned eVTOLs are even more expensive, with the Jetson One setting you back $92,000. Of course, the Jetson comes with flight computers and some safety equipment, but the $57,000 difference is still a decent chunk of change.
Also, while you legally don’t need a license to fly an ultralight, you absolutely should get some flight instruction. Flying is extremely fun and exhilarating, but it’s also an activity that can kill if you have no idea what you’re doing. After all, this helicopter is basically some scaffolding with an engine.
Mirocopter recommends becoming a proficient student at flying a trainer helicopter first.
The company says that these are on sale right now. One of the distributors listed one on eBay, but the ad just expired. If it’s not relisted, you could always contact the distributors. Again, I found zero reviews for this beast, so it would probably be wise to wait a bit. That said, if you already own something like this, I’d love to know how fun it is!
Hat tip to Michael S!
(Image credits to Mirocopter unless otherwise noted.)
Finally, an aircraft for people who looked at the BD-5 and decided it just wasn’t hazardous enough to their health.
Calipers “bolt tightness” on a Ranger?
Remind me not to fly with you.
(Joke)
As a person who has dealt with leapfrog years of clinical depression their whole life I applaud this message.
That copter is the futuristic embodiment of the Shakespearean dividing lines of Comedy and Tragedy.
I might die piloting it but at least I’ll get a laugh out of it.
“Sadly, I’ve found zero reviews for the little guy, so it seems that there are very few of them out there.”
Or, very few owners who have lived to tell the tale. I mean, “While flying the world’s cheapest helicopter…” sounds like the intro to the winning entry of the World’s Most Predictable Obituary contest.
Standing on scaffolding to work sketches me out; there’s no way in hell I’d strap an engine to it and fly it around.
$35k? I wonder how much of that is for Manufacturer’s liability insurance – there looks to be about $10k worth of parts and materials (including the engine and transmission) on that thing. I have motorcycles that are more complicated (and infinitely safer, even with today’s drivers).
You should go for a secma ulm : https://www.secma-performance.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FUN_TECH_VOLANT.jpg
It was really cheap microcar. You could drive it to the air strip.
I’m surprised by the way that Jason never mentioned this brand : https://www.secma-performance.fr/societe/
I can’t have one of these. I once tried to fly myself with a kite made of some tent poles and a tarp. If I had a tiny helicopter in my garage, it would surely belong to my next-of-kin within a week.
Wow. You just jogged an old memory:
In the late 70’s my teenaged neighbor Donnie jumped from his backyard tree (30ish feet up) with his mom’s bedsheet held on all 4 corners to make a parachute. Unfortunately, he dropped like a stone, hit the ground hard and broke his right arm in 3 places.
Knowing him, he would’ve flown one of these babies. No questions asked and no prior instruction needed.
Never underestimate the power of some human’s lack of self-preservation. He would’ve said “No Guts No Glory”
I look at and think it needs eyes on the two coffee can like things.
I am aerially unqualified to comment beyond that.
This is definitely the missing piece for anybody trying to nail that Road Warrior Gyro Pilot cosplay.
You can buy auto gyros, they are probably a similar price, they use them in the outback all the time.
https://www.auto-gyro.com/en/
I need one of these to commute to work.
You want basic? Try a cloud hopper balloon. Fly through the air with a 20 gallon propane tank strapped to your back while sitting on a slightly improved lawn chair. Gotta love it.
https://www.hotairballoonrides.com/gallery/
Looking back on my wrenching adventures (adwrenchures?), I know this: I am willing to drive something that I worked on, but FLYING something I worked on is out. As Eastwood said, “a man’s got to know his limitations.” And I don’t want my first — and last — flight to be on “This Won’t End Well Airlines.”
I think I’m in the same boat. One time I did the brakes on a Ranger right before taking it on a 5,000-mile road trip. Apparently, I must have been too tired (or did I have a beer or a few? I don’t remember) that night because 200 miles into the road trip and one of the calipers started falling off.
Took off the wheels, checked bolt tightness…….and none of them were tight. I rectified that and didn’t have a single problem for the remainder of my ownership with the truck.
Imagine if that had been a homebuilt aircraft! “Oh, well, I guess I don’t need a propeller.”
Or you could be a drunk like John Denver and build and fly something!
Looks like fun. Helicopters are difficult to fly. Much less a tiny one that likely reacts quickly. Pilot training definitely required!
With all due respect to the people who made this, I’m reminded of the Jon Stewart line: “When I die, I want people who hear the story to be sad.”
Well then that depends on how you treat other people every day you live.
I want them to be sad, but I also want them to be able to laugh at the manner of my demise.
Manners matter.. even after death.
David Tracy needs one of these for parts runs while adventuring down under. Of course, then he’ll need to find a good snake, and should try to steer clear of Lord Humungus.
I welcome the sudden influx of Mad Max references in the comments.
Those outback auto gyro are killed pretty often from what I hear!
“What does that mean?”
“Twenty-four hours!”
“You’ve got twelve!”
“Okay!”
You don’t need any other license or experience to get a helicopter license, at least not in Canada. Maybe the US is different
(this was a reply to Iain Delaney) *experience other than helicopter training
Holy shit. I’m not going to buy one, I don’t like even climbing ladders. But fuck me running. Wow.
Awesome! I can live out my James Bond fantasy with Trump tied to a wheelchair and fling him through the air and drop him from a thousand feet. And watch to see if Trump bounces!
Gonna have to soup it up first. Only lifts 273 pounds.
Now I’m imagining a big ol’ semi truck turbo hanging off of the engine. lol
You can put Biden on a bicycle and see if he bounces for a lot less money.
Geez, punching down on a septuagenarian for getting tangled up in a pedal’s clip as if that hasn’t ever happened to everyone else who has ever ridden a bicycle with such pedals. Classy.
Can I hook Ardupilot up to it and have a flying Tesla?
I have mixed feelings. I like that someone’s making this but would be happier if they provided -at a minimum- some training.Chopper controls aren’t easy.
Pros: It’s genuine VTOL,safety due to autrotation , modest price.
Cons: Normal chopper controls with zero training is a disaster waiting to happen. Complex design with kit-grade build standards are not a great combo.
For those not well versed in things aviation-related (like me) this was a mighty informative & interesting article! And that was rather unexpected, coming across a 18th century Russian like that with Lomonosov especially since one expects to find the usual Galileo reference. When I first read about the Microcopter elsewhere I wasn’t sure where to go for more information other than the usual routes such as the manufacturer’s website & the old standby of Wikipedia, as dubious as that might be at times, so this article’s a good starting point, so thanks for that!
What an interesting way to die.
“Ling was not a nerd…”
My first thought upon seeing this: ‘well that’s a flying death machine’.
My second thought: ‘No. Fucking. Way.’
Just look up the auto gyro survival rate in Australia!
My understanding is that you need a fixed-wing licence before you can even take helicopter lessons, so learning to fly this thing will cost much more than the machine itself. Then again, the rules may have changed.
Also, I’m not sure how happy I would be having the engine directly above my head. Probably the cheapest place to put it, but still …
Spending years working in bush camps I met a lot of pilots. A few mentioned that they didn’t need fixed wing licences before flying a helicopter in Canada. Most had got theirs as a way to increase flight hours on the cheap but it wasn’t a prerequisite for obtaining their helicopter licence.
My brother in law has his helicopter license, but has never flown fixed-wing. So as of 5-10 years ago in the U.S. you did not have to have one to get the other.