Sportcopter is selling a J-2 if anyone is interested


http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42028

That is a smokin deal for what it is, I just have interest in owning a certified aircraft, my pockets are not that deep. Plus I deal with FAA paperwork all day, don't want to do it for fun.

You can always reduce it to experimental status and don't deal with FAA.

How much will they charge $$$$$$$$ you to be able to do that???

If I was going that route on a 2seat, I would take the Barnett 540.

When I looked at it... I was thinking the same thing.
Would be fun to own and fly!
And with the machine shop... I could make the parts necessary to keep it airworthy... as an EAB aircraft.

OTOH... a LOT of $$$

I think I would be interested at $15K... getting it to GA would be a couple $K more if I drove out there and trailered it home... and many $k more if it was shipped.

OTOH... it would be a LOT of fun.

Wonder what the market for it, classified as Experimental, would be?
Could one buy it, enjoy it, keep it in top condition, and sell it at a reasonable profit (reasonable as in recoup their purchase and mods, and a meager profit, like 10-20%)...
Hobbies have to pay their way...

It would be very cool, especially for the historical value.

Yeah, whether it ever flys or not, what a piece of history to own.... if someone was going to display it only, could pull the motor and put an out of hours core in it to make it look complete.... use the engine.... that is almost worth the cash...

Yeah... that part would be major cool!

Only problem with historical value: It looses LARGE amounts of value quickly with seemingly small modifications... history buffs sometimes are snobs about authenticity. Sadly... making it BETTER... would lower its value.
IMO then the aircraft would be judged on its 'performance' value... which probably would be less than a Euro-Tub...

Oh well.

They've left it in a hangar for years. Plan on a lot of restoration. At one time jim was going to pawn it off on a museum.


Theyve been trying to sell it for years.......

That is what I was concerned about... figured it would be a real 'project'... not simply some tinkering... and it would be a L O N G project on weekends.

Even with a machine shop to make the parts... it could take hundreds of hours to get it airworthy (to high standards).
Not to mention materials, hard to get things, and endless research. I wonder if a set of parts drawings are available (do they exist?)... or if one is gonna have to figure out everything from scratch...
I can see a situation like this:
What is the stress load in 'this' part...
What material should it be made of...
Is there a need to heat treat it...
Perhaps the part was 'one of those'... that was stressed VERY close to its break point... and needs to be re-engineered...
And then there is the question of whether there would be any real value if the aircraft was registered as Experimental... rather than certified.
(Not sure how we would get PMA approved parts, to keep the certification intact).

Issues, issues, issues.

Maybe my interest is gonna be at $10K... the numbers would still have to work... which would probably be a long-shot.

Hobbies must pay for themselves (not particularly make an income... just not loose $$$).

The numbers may be difficult on this one.

At the end of the day john, I have flown that piece of crap and im lucky to have my teeth.

That is kinda what I figured...

I recall a guy that restored an OLD Indian motorcycle. It was beautiful... but rode like a mack truck on a dirt road. Not much fun to ride... bounced you to death.

It appears the better value is in a museum... and they generally only pay with a tax slip.

Appreciate the post Spectre.

you could not down grade it to experimental, trust me I know I had one as a project many years ago. mine was not completed from the factory,no data plate, it was the last one the factory made and never completed, only way I could get it legal was to go Experimental exihbition catogory, not fun, you have to let them know ahead of time when and where you plan to fly it. I ended up trading mine for a Scorpion project.

mine came from the Private collection of jack lenhart, of lenaire corp in hubbard Or. I traded my Adams/Wilson Hobby copter for it.

The J-2 is a cool, two place, classic, certified, Gyro.
You are not going to fined many two place certified Gyros for around $20,000.00.
It is what it is and it's not for everyone .
The parts alone are worth around $20,000.00 I'm guessing.
We had a guy in Chapter 18 get one around 1979 .
It had not flown in many years and had been in storage .
Tommy Milton the owner, other club members and myself worked on getting it airworthy and in annual .
It was a lot of fun .
The J-2 is a CLASSIC certified two place, it is not a Sportcopter II.
it is not a cross country, fly from coast to coast aircraft .
But if you are looking to do some airport exploring, grab a burger, fly into the air show and do all of this in the coumfert of an in closed, eye catching, Gyro with a friend this could be what you are looking for .
This specific J-2 was used by the FAA.
The FAA used it in this area a lot .
And we all know what premadonna, prick, bitches they are.
It was the only two place certified gyro around .
And if it was good enough for the FAA then I would think it couldn't have been too bad .
Bottom line, it's a classic, and classics aren't for everyone. It's out of annual and it's been in dry storage.
This kinda thing ain't for everyone .
Way back in 1988 I bought a 1946 Stinson 108 and it had been trapped and I mean trapped in this hanger sense 1964 . 1964 was the last time this aircraft had seen daylight .
I got so much shit from people about that plane till I started flying it .
Everyone who talked shit wanted it then .
Know what you are doing, know what you want, know your limitations.
For what it is, this J-2 is a solid aircraft that needs some TLC from the right person or persons .
Show me what ell's is out there for around $20,000.00 that can do all that .

Not arguing.... however was the A&S-18 also a certified gyro?

My interest was to re-classify it as EAB... and do the work myself (including making the parts, and doing some modernization mods).

Since Animal said that is not an option... then this aircraft is not for me.

Would have been a fun project... however there is that thing called time... which I seem to not have enough of...

Oh well...

yeah don't get me wrong, the J-2 is a great machine, and thats a heck of a good price, but these machines are not for everybody, replacement parts are getting harder and harder to find, they don't fly like the Gyros that we build from kits as it is basicly the same Rotorhead and swashplate and blades as the Hughes 269-A you are flying the blades and not the hub on this machine. also that 180 lycoming is very loud and sucks some fuel. Kenny J. had one at Goose creek for awhile, he sold it because every timer he flew it the neighbors complained, the airport basicly told him he would need to find a new place to keep it. if what I remember is correct. Kenny sold it to a high time fixed wing Pilot, that ended up crashing it about a mile from the runway the day he bought it.

they don't do a true jump takeoff, but a very short roll on takeoff with the prerotator.
now that said,I would have to check the N- numbers, but this may be the same one i have video of flying. jack had a Fly-in at is place in Hubbard Or. and a guy flew one in, it was sweet, nice interior very clean machine.

Also keep in mind being that is a 269-A rotor head, it is not an easy job to remove the blades from what I have been told. so you would need a hanger for it.
still for the price, for the right person, man what a cool machine that would be to own and fly.

As far as I know the A&S-18 is a certified aircraft .
And you can't just chainge a certified aircraft to experimental .
You can but not like you are thinking .

I am sure there are procedures....

I met a guy at Wrens 2013... who has a Cessna 182... which was changed. He explained how he bought it wrecked, got it changed (new N number), and rebuilt it.
Guy said it had around 200 hours from new when it was wrecked... and he has less than $30K in it...
Imagine that... a flying 182 for less than $30K... albeit it is EAB, not certified.

Harder to do these days but anything's possible with the right forms filled out

And the right palms greased...