Rotorway Roughnecks Fly-in

Went to a private site near Rochester (the home of Kevin Longhurst) for a Rotorway fly-in for an article in Helicopter Life.  Four very different Rotorways flew in, with five (six including Jonathon Ball of the Rotorway Brothers) pilots.
Fascinating. These were two Rotorway 162s (Kevin and Paul Vaughan) one Rotorway 90 (Ian Brown) and one Rotorway 162E modified (Bruce Alexander) - that is with a Talon engine and a very other differences.
While the machines were basically the same, the also had their own unique due to the uniqueness of the builders.

There are also some differences between Rotorways and more conventional helicopters. One is that the engine is watercooler. While car manufacturers are aware that water cooling an engine is more efficient, usually in aviation the weight of the water is sufficient to make air cooling the preferred method.

Other differences include the start-up, in which the collective is raised, to make the blades neutral pitch,
and 1.5 Manifold Pressure put on the gauge (eighth of an inch of throttle) which helps ease the engine-blade relationship; another is a weight (25 - 33 lbs) which is placed on the front skid if the pilot flies solo, or on a back shaft (under the start of the tail boom) if there are two in the cockpit.
More in Helicopter Life Autumn issue, but it was a very enjoyable day flying the machines and very instructive. I like the Rotorway and I was impressed what a nice fun group they have there, all of whom clearly love flying and in particular love flying the Rotorway.