ROTORCRAFT COST TOO MUCH

The rotorcraft industry is pricing itself right out of the commercial transportation marketplace, This is illustrated by helicopter prices t hat have inflated significantly faster than consumer product prices an d by helicopter productivity per dollar that decreases with increased purchase price, Specifically, inflation in helicopter purchase price h as significantly exceeded the U.S. consumer price index since 1980, Wh en measured in ton-knots, productivity per 1994 purchase price dollar has diminished with increased size, cruise speed and added features. I n sharp contrast, the propeller driven, fixed wing airliner industry h as not followed the rotorcraft industry in this unsatisfactory trend. Purchase price analysis of 120 helicopters using linear regression sta tistical analysis has yielded a price estimating equation, This equati on shows helicopter prices are more sensitive to installed power than to weight empty, Inclusion of 126 General Aviation aircraft and 163 ai rliners in the regression analysis has shown that price is linearly de pendent on a size factor, This pseudo, universal size factor contains both weight empty and total engine(s) rated horsepower design paramete rs, At equal size factor, helicopters are priced about 50 percent high er than airplanes in the commercial marketplace, This appears to be th e premium for vertical takeoff and landing capability, Preliminary pri ce and performance data for two emerging tiltrotors show that the heli copter's low cruise speed problem has been solved. The rotorcraft indu stry can now expand into the airliner marketplace if it can substantia lly reduce the premium price for VTOL. The traditional minimum weight empty design approach results in excessive installed power due to high disc loading, The design approach has been necessary to meet military requirements such as fitting helicopters inside an Air Force C-130 an d operating tiltrotors from a Navy ship, This military oriented design approach is wrong for commercial products, The price estimating relat ionship developed shows that designing for minimum weight empty does n ot equate to minimum helicopter purchase price for the commercial oper ator, Continuing a military oriented design approach for advanced comm ercial products such as civil tiltrotors is not recommended.