Photo: TransGlobal Aviation
If the thought of floating on the water in a tiny two-seater helicopter sounds like your idea of hell, this 1995 Schweizer 300C is absolutely not the chopper for you. But if you're a bit mad and want a novel way to do some fly-fishing while actually flying, you should keep on reading.
For those who may not know, Schweizer Aircraft was a small American aircraft manufacturer based out of Horseheads, New York. They first received the rights to produce a remanufactured version of the 269 series light helicopter from Hughes Aircraft corp in the mid-1960s.
It's traditionally powered by a single Textron Lycoming HIO-360-D1A 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed-piston engine jetting a healthy 190 horsepower. In an airframe that weighs just over 2,059 pounds (930 kg), it has a power-to-weight ratio that makes hot hatchbacks blush.
But where this particular 300C differs is in its removable landing gear arrangement. This consists of two large water floats underneath each gear for smooth and easy floating on bodies of steadily flowing water. You definitely won't be floating over the Atlantic Ocean in one of these little helicopters, that's for sure.
With a suite of avionics and comms equipment that includes a NAT AMS41 Audio Panel / Intercom, a Garmin SL40 comms array, Garmin GNC 250XL GPS, and a King KT 76C Transponder, there's several thousand dollars worth of high-end equipment squeezed inside this little airframe. You can even have a set of grounding wheels installed in the event you want some maintenance performed somewhere further away from the shore.
Unusually for such a small helicopter, the interior seats are trimmed in a lovely grey, hand-stitched leather that makes for a package nearly as comfortable as it is capable on the water. At the cost of $175,000 via TransGlobal Aviation of Ontario, Canada, there has to be someone out there for which this helicopter is their idea of heaven.
It's traditionally powered by a single Textron Lycoming HIO-360-D1A 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed-piston engine jetting a healthy 190 horsepower. In an airframe that weighs just over 2,059 pounds (930 kg), it has a power-to-weight ratio that makes hot hatchbacks blush.
But where this particular 300C differs is in its removable landing gear arrangement. This consists of two large water floats underneath each gear for smooth and easy floating on bodies of steadily flowing water. You definitely won't be floating over the Atlantic Ocean in one of these little helicopters, that's for sure.
With a suite of avionics and comms equipment that includes a NAT AMS41 Audio Panel / Intercom, a Garmin SL40 comms array, Garmin GNC 250XL GPS, and a King KT 76C Transponder, there's several thousand dollars worth of high-end equipment squeezed inside this little airframe. You can even have a set of grounding wheels installed in the event you want some maintenance performed somewhere further away from the shore.
Unusually for such a small helicopter, the interior seats are trimmed in a lovely grey, hand-stitched leather that makes for a package nearly as comfortable as it is capable on the water. At the cost of $175,000 via TransGlobal Aviation of Ontario, Canada, there has to be someone out there for which this helicopter is their idea of heaven.
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