Kitty Hawk Flyers Come To West Chester's Helicopter Museum

WEST CHESTER, PA — Two Kitty Hawk Flyers have joined the permanent collet of aircraft at the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center (AHMEC) in West Chester and museum visitors can sit inside one of them.

The electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft — gifts from their inventor, Kitty Hawk Corporation in Palo Alto, Calif. — were intended to serve as recreational vehicles, the museum explained in a news release.

The lightweight, single-seat aircraft are each 8 feet long, 13 feet wide, and powered by 10 lithium polymer batteries. Their 10 direct current (DC) electric motors drive10 double-bladed, 47-inch diameter rotors. Their maximum speed of 30 miles per hour allows for 15 to 20 minutes of flight.

"The Museum has two Flyers, one for display at our entrance and one for visitors to sit in. The experience in an eVTOL is very different from our other helicopters that visitors can access," explained Tony Freeman, AHMEC’s Chair of the Exhibits Committee. "Since a certain agility is needed to climb into this recreational aircraft, special steps are being built for easier access."

Looking more like a sideways eggbeater than an actual helicopter the Kitty Hawk Flyer’s slim open cockpit allows for legs to stretch forward, reminiscent of a drag racing car, the news statement explained. A 2-inch control stick operates the machine that sports 10 rotors just inches away from the seat.

It's so easy to fly that pilots do not need a license or much more than about two hours of instruction, the Museum said.

"Perhaps fewer than a couple of hundred persons nationwide have ever sat in an eVTOL. It's so easy to imagine oneself buzzing over the rooftops of West Chester (buzz is the actual sound these eVTOLs make)," Freeman said. "The ability for the Museum to provide that experience to our visitors will be hugely inspirational, in line with our mission to educate and inspire."

AHMEC will be extending its current hours by adding an extra weekday on Thursday, June 17, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The Museum will also be offering its first helicopter rides on World Helicopter Day, Sunday, Aug. 15, from noon until 4:30 p.m.

The American Helicopter Museum and Education Center, 1220 American Boulevard, West Chester, is the nation's premier aviation museum devoted exclusively to helicopters.

Established in 1996, the nonprofit organization collects, restores, and displays rotary-wing aircraft, including over 35 civilian and military helicopters, autogyros, and convertiplanes.

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