Homebuilt and Sport Helicopters of New Zealand - Helisport CH 7 Kompress

The Helisport CH 7 helicopter was designed by Argentinian helicopter pioneer Augusto Cicare whose company Cicare Helicopteros SA also builds the model as the Cicare CH 7.  The first CH 7 flew in 1972.

Helisport was formed in Milan by three brothers Pier Luigi, Josie and Claudio Barbero and they commissioned Marcello Gandini (who had done designs for Lamborgini) to style the cabin of the CH 7 which resulted in the single seat CH 7 Angel which first flew with a 2 stroke Rotax 582 engine.  Further development resulted in the two (very close tandem) seat CH 7 Kompress in 1997 powered by a turbocharged Rotax 914 engine.  Helisport helicopters come as a comprehensive kit with the important components completed in the factory. 

The specifications for the Helisport CH 7 Kompress are:  length 7.05 metres (23 feet 2 inches), main rotor diameter 6.20 metres (20 feet 4 inches).  The empty weight is around 275 Kg (606 pounds) and the MAUW in New Zealand is 498 Kg (1,098 pounds)  With the Rotax 914 the cruise speed is around 100 mph (86 knots).

We have only had one example of a CH 7 Kompress helicopter registered in New Zealand:

ZK-HSR3 (c/n K 93) was first registered in New Zealand on 23/9/14 to Heli Hind Helicopters of Hokitika.  It was imported into New Zealand from South Africa where it was first registered ZU-SEP on 26/1/06.

Thanks for the photo Shaun.