Engineering:Berger BX-110

BX-110
Role	Utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Hans Berger
First flight	3 June 1974
Number built	1

The Berger BX-110 was a prototype light helicopter built in Switzerland in the early 1970s. The single example (registration HB-YAK) was built by Hans Berger, a Swiss inventor and helicopter dealer. It was powered by a Wankel automotive engine and remained on the Swiss civil register until 1994. It was of conventional light helicopter configuration, with pilot and passenger sitting side by side under a large perspex bubble canopy, with the tail rotor carried on a tubular boom. The powerplant and fuel tanks were located behind the cabin, and the three-bladed main rotor had foldable blades. Landing gear was originally of skid type.

Originally powered by a converted NSU Ro 80 Wankel-type automotive engine, Berger later fitted a BMW 6012 turbine to the aircraft, and later still another adapted automotive Wankel engine, this time from a Mazda RX-7. At the time of the latter conversion, the undercarriage was changed to tricycle configuration.

Specifications (final configuration)

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 6.05 m (19 ft 10 in)
• Height: 2.57 m (8 ft 5 in)
• Empty weight: 400 kg (880 lb)
• Gross weight: 720 kg (1,590 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Mazda RX-7 automotive engine , 86 kW (115 hp)
• Main rotor diameter: 7.40 m (24 ft 3 in)
• Main rotor area: 43.0 m² (463 sq ft)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 175 km/h (109 mph, 95 kn)
• Service ceiling: 2,800 m (9,184 ft)
• Rate of climb: 4.0 m/s (790 ft/min)

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 153. 
• Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74 p. 188
• Cockpit (December 1989)