Homebuilt and Sport helicopters of New Zealand - Postscript

In my final post on homebuilt and sport helicopters of New Zealand, I ended by saying we don't know what we don't know.

Anonymous has left an interesting comment on that post as follows:  

I heard a story, unconfirmed, of a kitset one-man helicopter powered by rotor-tip jets built at Opotiki in the late 1970s. I cannot recall the type but it was marketed in the US at that time. Also in the mid 80s an Italian restaurant owner living in Auckland had a helicopter built which I think was his own design. The earliest rotary wing aircraft built in NZ that I'm aware of was one constructed in Auckland in the 1950s and later sold to a Palmerston North car dealer

Because some readers might have missed the comment I thought I would highlight it with a request that if anyone knows anything more about these helicopters can they please get in touch with the blog master (Dave Paull - email in the header), or leave a comment on this post.

Thanks in advance!