I have been trying to locate pics and Info to a Rare home built helicopter.
The Hillman Hornet started out as a Modified Helicom Commuter H2.

I have an early Air progress magazine from 1978,that had a flight review of the prototype. N44JA
Later there was a second one built,that was even cleaner looking with custom interior and lots of Chrome that they took to air shows to demo, N8063D. what I have learned was that Doug Hillman got killed by a drunk driver, right before he got it into kit production.
so only two where ever built. Doug was working at the Time with Rudy Enstrom.

it's to bad this machine never made it into kit production.

That's a shame! Certainly a tough looking machine.

yeah, there is a video on you tube that shows the prototype flying,and at the end shows N8063D at show type of airshow.

Confession time, I have found and bought the remains of N8063D, this is not going to be an easy restoration. basicly a bare airframe and cab and blades.
This is the only Hillman Hornet left in the world. only 2 ever built.
Will it ever fly again? your guess is as good as mine.
Will it ever be more then an expensive yard ornament? who knows.

Will it be worth the hard work to preserve a part of helicopter history? yes.

Progress so far is my A&P is rebuilding me a lycoming 0-320-H2AD engine for it, and I have the cabin off working on the cabin and interior. the seat is at my friends custom car Interior shop being redone. and I have a lot of fiber glass work to do on the body.

needless to say I learned my lesson on that Other Forum, and will NOT be posting any thing about this over there.

enjoy the pics of this piece of Helicopter history.

In a lot of ways I can see the Enstrom being influenced by it. I wish The Enstroms wouldn't run the control rods inside the mast. It is a nightmare to preflight the damn thing. I love them freaking blades though. GIGANTIC blades. Lots of lots of lift. And of course I am a fully articulated whore. I got my reasons to be that way! I hope you restore this piece of American history.

That last statement regarding not posting this build on that other forum....That is exactly why i deleted my build threads there...the shits who make it a waste of time and it gives me no pleasure to share my works with the likes of the few....glad this forum is here.

Now I just need another

.

You are always working on something interesting Tim !!!!!

Back around 1979 I had the magazine featuring The Hillman Green Hornet on the front cover.

There was talk of it being available in kit form , I read that magazine like it was a helicopter bible or something

Shortly afterward Mr Hillman was killed in an auto accident or something and never heard much more after that.

I think Rudy Enstrom helped design it ... could be just a rumor.

Looks like you have lots to work with there Tim , looks like fun .... good luck with everything.

No Rumor, Rudy was helping with the design, the last version they worked on the Hillman 360 looked a lot like an Enstrom shark. from what my research has found so far, is the drive train from this one, was removed and used in the Hillman 360.

Yes, Doug Hillman was killed by a drunk driver. a 26 year old girl,killed him and his oldest son.
I still have the 1978 air progress magizine that had an 8 page write up on it. Doug even had investors when he got killed. the green hornet was destroyed in a crash from what the FAA has told me. so this is the only hornet left in the world.

not going to be an easy restore as there are very few photos to be found anywhere.

Tim- Good luck on this latest build. You should be able to find an instructor and get trained in your own ship.

Looks like your best project yet.


Stan

Thats the plan, won't be an easy restore.

will keep ya'll posted, we close on our house here on the 16th, made an offer on a place in Arcadia, will know tomorrow if the seller excepts the offer.
going to start working on the body some tomorrow, been to cold up until now to do much to it.

.

Interesting and unusual color scheme and fabric seat coverings .... I recognized it immediately.

Back around 1966 Ford - Mustang came out with a "Players Cigarette" special edition .... the car was all white with fine red and blue pin-striping to match the Players Cigarette package ... quite similar to your fuselage colors Tim

Not only that ..... the cloth interior used on the Mustang was exactly like your helicopter seat ... I find that interesting.

I think those Mustangs were only sold in Canada and are rare as hens teeth .... trouble is they only came with a 6cyl engine and 3 speed standard so nobody bothered to hang on to them back then .... everyone wanted V-8's .... a local pharmacist owned one and I saw it a lot.

The Players Tobacco company used to throw a lot of money toward car racing , motorcycle sports and other exciting things ... I wonder if they were maybe an advertising sponsor of Your Helicopter back in those days.

Arnie,you may have solved the missing link, my auto interior guy has not had any luck finding the material for the seat in lay, you may have just pointed us in the right direction.
thanks.

.

I will keep digging around Tim .... for years I have looked for pictures of the "Players Special Edition Mustang" and could not find it .... I always really liked the car ... it was a clean white with refined red & blue striping ... just like your helicopter ... I am going to contact the family of the pharmacist who owned one here and see if they saved any photos.

Ford had a lot of what they called "Territorial Special Promotional Mustangs" during those days

Seeing as your helicopter was a 1979 Oshkosh winner it would not surprise me if Players sponsored some of the display ..... wouldn't it be cool if they did .... and wouldn't it be cool came along with some cash to help you restore it to its former glory .... Hey ... a guy can dream !!!!!!!

I am even wondering if Hillman Siamesed a pair of Mustang bucket seats to fit the helicopter .... take a peek at the seat frames underneath. Ya' never know !!!


Players had another "kinda Ugly" Mustang ... dark blue and white like the picture below ... that is not the one I am talking about.

The one I have in mind was more like the Indy Special edition in the picture below plus a bit of red striping along with the blues..

this has a molded fiberglass seat very light weight.
it would be interesting to know if they did have something to do with it.

Tim, Get a haircut and clean up that shop! Just in case you miss the other forum.

Seriously, looks like that will keep you busy for some time, very cool find for sure. Keep us posted on the progress.
Will you have trouble finding/making parts? Was this helicopter certified?
How much A&P involvement will you require to restore it?

hair already cut, pics from last summer...lol
where my luck comes in,is these Evolved from the Helicom Commuter, so I have all the drive components from my single place machine, turns out my single place had 2 place drives and blades on it. so far only parts we will have to make are the control sticks and some control rods and some braces that go to the gear box.

my A&P friend is rebuilding a Lycoming 0-320-H2AD for me. he also has to redrill the clutch hub to fit the Lycoming. and make engine mounts to line everything up.

these where going o be Kit built, but the designer got killed by a drunk driver right before he got the kits in production.

so Really does not need to much A&P involvement, but since My buddy that made my Custom tail rotors said he will help me,I am glad to let him. I just have to make trips to his hanger in va. from time to time. right now my shop is full of stuff from the house.

will keep ya'll posted.

here are more pics of the Project.
going to be a lot of work, but will be a fun challange.

hell who knows, it may just even fly again someday...

Wow, Tim - YOU GO !!!!!

fj

well I just officially started work on the cab this after noon. we had to cut some of the body to get it off the frame. someone else had tried to fiber glass the area we had to cut and it was a rough mess. today I sanded it down and made brackets to hold the cut area together.
now I can put the body on with out having to cut it again.
this body is really flimsy when not on the frame so I am going to make some reinforcements in it.

here are some pics of what I got done today.

and some more of the body in general.

Tomorrow I will try and get the other side done, but before I do I have to measure off the trim strips and make notes of the widths and colors as they are not going to survive the sander when I sand off that mess of fiberglass.

.

Hey Tim .... I deleted some of my earlier Players cigarette pictures so as not to clutter your thread up too much ....

In case you dont have this link on file check it out .... it has a picture of the gauges and a bit of the seat too

http://www.aerospacefacts.com/plane/air ... ane_id=137