awesome helicopter you have there. wish i could give it two thumbs up but youtube only allows one.

I have to say...I am impressed, from building the machine to learning how to fly it...much respect...

I'm not a pilot but I like to watch vids like this. When you tire of RC flying but still have the urge to burn gas and money, there's always hobbies like this! Kudos to the builder & pilot, you kick ass!

This is the ultimate youtube video. Crazy diy contraption, totally sketchy, low video quality, shaky camera, commentary from a twelve year old, filmed in the backyard. Amazing. Perfection.

Every dislike is from someone that can't afford a helichopter, or doesn't have the courage to build one! Amazing work...inspiring to say the least!

Superb effort, Bro. I think your balls of steel was weighing the helicopter down and stopping you from getting any higher... 

12 years pursuing your goal is definitely a huge inspiration to me! Bravo from Haiti!!!!!

The video is a good project, the helicopter is a very complex machine and carrying out this work deserves all my admiration. I have flown in a helicopter many times and understand how difficult it is to start controlling this machine. My congratulations on the work done. Angel

How can people 'dislike' this? The guy BUILT and FLEW his own helicopter!!! Kudos man :)

Outstanding in every context! The ship is incredibly solid/stable and your piloting is wonderful! This makes me delirious and I'm burning to jump in! i just can't comprehend the issues around being "allowed" to test your invention. No one has the right to suppress the creativity and expression of man! It's God's stuff! Bless you and ever forward Cameron.

Outstanding Achievement! Congratulations!

This is like just getting started in remote control flight, so building an SR remote control heli *from scratch* except going right for 1:1 scale and then deciding the best approach is to put the controller *and* the pilot right inside the bird. You've got a yard of guts and some serious ingenuity, I'm very, very impressed. NICE WORK. :-)

WoW! Gotta hand it to you for courage. That large spinning guillotine overhead doesn't encourage me to fly a heli but after a bit of paperwork back in the early 70s I managed to get a private pilot's license limited to centerline thrust and hand operated rudder as I was and am a paraplegic. I was one of the first but there are many now (which is somewhat scary). I knew that the FAA examiner would be more than interested on how I could do crosswind landings so spent hours and hours practicing 90 deg. crosswinds until I could nail it every time. The guy was so impressed he just said "head home" and I thought he was failing me without the rest of the flight tests. When we got back, he congratulated me and said commercial pilots couldn't have done it that well. I took the test in a Piper Cherokee Six BTW which I had purchased since no one would rent me a aircraft back then even though the hand rudder was a simple bolt-on deal taking 5 minutes.

this is cool the way he is teaching himself how to fly, at first I didn't know then I figured it out, he was in school at first and he should give himself a A+ for the class

Hi bud, I wish you could realize just how many of us took the rides with you. Our asses were just as puckered as yours was. You da man, man. Thanks for letting us fly with you.

Great Job! This is how human been has moving forward without given up facing any obstacles in life.

I wish I have the chance to meet people like this. It will be my greatest joy. I like designing and building things like this. I just wish I was born in a better country.

Good hover practice, thats how you know he is driving a good heli..very good

I'm just amazed and inspired by the fact that with much effort one can achieve unmeasurable goals, I would've been trilled to be part of your project development. Congratulations and thanks for sharing your success!

I worked as a helicopter field engineer in Papua New Guinea in the 70s and 80s on many different types.My only claim to fame was building a Bell 47 from the ground up,but that pales compared to what you achieved,I didn't sleep at all last night I lie awake trying to get m,y head around it.You imagined it designed it assembled and engineered it.Then to cap it off you hovered it like a champion.Mate you are pure genius and i reckon Igor Sikorsky and the Wright brothers are smiling down on you because you are a kindred spirit to them.

One more Oh my God , I'm out of here. Good job on the build. Excellent.

Just had to comment again: You spent 12 years getting airborne, proving you have the patience of a saint, a will of iron and an abundance of engineering/mechanical skill and plenty of cerebral horsepower!! I have 2 words - "night fly"! If I had taken this path, "they" would have to shoot me down! Sorry if this feels like a rant, but it is! Blessings Cam!

I just want to let you know that this video was motivation for me to start flying helicopters. I have taken lessons, learned to hover, fly, and auto rotate. I will be taking my check ride next week. After watching your video I had the confidence to do it. Thanks for sharing.

I've got a totally new found appreciation for this video, absolutely amazing what you achieved. So much accomplished in just one video. The helicopter is so stable and has plenty of performance.

I have to say, the comments below about a possible dynamic rollover are real, however, I have to give you credit for keeping things manageable and testing. Your machine looks stable. I wouldn't give up on the project. I would experiment chopping the power off, at 5 foot hover, then at 10 feet, to test autorotation recovery. From the video, I noticed that you possibly reached ETL, which could means your machine displayed stability for flight and the rotor blades are aerodynamically sound. I couldn't hear the blades flapping, but you probably detected a sound above and some "shuddering" coming from the rotor disk wanting to fly away. The proximity of the tail rotor location to the main rotor shows that you did your homework to make the rotor wash assist to maintain tail rotor stability. If I was you, I'd get a simple old venturi static system, and a basic pitot system (probably something out of a glider would work to manage extra weight ) and continue your systematic experimenting to find the speed spectrum, and looking for safety issues. Oh, also I have to mention that you have good neighbors for letting you try this, though the grass field looks nice a flat. Also you could seek experimental registration status for your helicopter, and may be able to fly it with restriction like over unpopulated areas, 40 km flying radius, day only, etc. Your video reminded me of Igor Sikorsky experimenting with his machines decades ago, he wasn't a career pilot either. Trial and error with calculated risks is what made our world what it is today. Good luck and be safe. .

yesssss he finally was able to make a perfectly working grass straightener

u r a great guy. ... as u said we can understand how hard our early flyers did.u r a hero of mine. Cheers. God bless u.....

(Wife's account) As an old acft mec ...Much respect sir. You must have been doing it all correct. Good for you man. Great job! Beautiful machine!

Simply amazing sir! I've had a love and obsession for helicopters since i was in my early twenties.. I'm 58 now, and want so very much to build and learn to fly a helicopter of my own.. I am so envious of you! I just don't have the funds to buy an expensive kit, nor can I afford to pay for flight school. My only hope is to do what you have done here, but I have no clue as to where to even begin! I truly wish I could pick your brain and get an idea of what it took to accomplish such an amazing feat! I think that the majority of folks watching this video have not a clue on just what you were able to accomplish here! This is how Bell and Sikorsky started!! Simply amazing!! I would like to ad that I am a welder/fabricator with over 30 years experience in that field, along with several years of machining experience under my belt also, so I do have a good idea of what it took to do this, and I also know in my heart I could do something similar with the right equipment and a little guidance!

Excellent! I wish you to enjoy thousands hours of flying!

I'm impressed with your workmanship. nice job. made me want to fly one again.

For being a homebuilt project this airframe looks really good. Very impressive design. Almost looks like it rolled off a commercial production line :)

Seems like I am watching a guy teach himself to fly a helicopter. I notice how he learns control with the pedals and throttle. Nice job really.

Wow, great achievement. Thanks for sharing

OUTSTANDING! Just about every man who likes helicopters, only a small hand full has the Tech savy to build one, let alone the courage to fly one. You did both, and showed us Nothing is impossible, and following a great dream like this is nothing short of AWESOME!

Very Impressive Cameron. Not many could build and learn to fly their own helicopter. Good job. I don't know how anyone would dislike this.

I've had a few questions regarding the build that are buried in the comments. So here are some basic figures..... All up weight with Operator and fuel = 350 kg (770 lbs) (aprox) Main rotor diameter = 6.6 m (21.65 ft) Tail rotor = 1.04 m (3.41 ft) Engine = 140 hp Evinrude outboard (1600 cc ) about 46 kg (108 lbs) RPM's = Engine 4900 rpm MR 510 rpm TR 3100 rpm Main rotors = shortened Hughes 500 Tail rotor = home made folded 2024 aluminum around titanium tube spar. Bonded and rivited. Structural aluminium parts = 6061 and laminated 5083 marine grade sheet. Landing gear (hoops) = laminated glass and ply. Fiberglass fuel tank. Micro controller for instruments etc. = Picaxe 40A USB out for simulator. Cheers.

This shows practice makes perfect. Yes, quite an achievement and it looks very impressive.

I just built a Just Aircraft Superstol and it was longer than a year in jail. I almost quit twice, but now I am a pilot. I just wanted to say, you should be very proud of that. Kuddos to you. I know how hard you worked on that chopper!!!!!!!!!!!! I am guessing it was scratch built? YOUR THE MAN!

You were living my dream.. Never got that much nerve.. Glad you were able to make a controlled flight.. Hanging up is not a bad thing.. If Wilber and Orville had the government like we do, we would still be waiting for the first flight..

GREAT JOB!!!..you built it and you are learning to fly it by yourself-MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT MATE-KEEP IT UP. The design is awesome . i think you have a marketable helicopter there, as you said a few tweaks more...push on you will get it!!!!! TO ALL THE HATERS OUT THERE-HE DID IT...AND YOU DID SHIT!!!!!

SWEET!!! Nice work. You seem to have mastered it quickly

I for one Love it!!!! Great job getting it this far.Thanks for sharing

Hi Cameron. I really enjoyed the video, thank you for posting it. well done you. I am in engineering, manual/cnc lathes etc, so I can appreciate the "hard slog" you have had. For a birthday present from family, I got to fly in a Robinson R22 helicopter, one hour tuition, and actually fly it, and hover also, it was great, over the Kent country side, in UK. Keep going Cameron, as far as the "nobs in black will allow" Ignore the negative comments here. God bless , PLEASE keep safe.

Must have felt crazy as it left the ground for the first time. Real fantastic job...really!

Day one un-tethered to dynamic balancing main rotors. A total of about seven hours with about two hours off the ground. Now a museum piece hanging in my shed. Operator training was done using the XPlane simulator only. (Do not try this at home, haha). Unfortunately all of this is illegal in most countries.

one thing that i learned over at the internet is to never piss off the engineers... they're a pain in the ass. Glad that you were able to achive one of your biggest dreams.

My hat off to you sir

Une très belle machine, respect et félicitation à son constructeur

I thought you were going to show us how you built it from scratch,homebuilt helicopter from begining to end

Awesome accomplishment! Congratulations.

Very impressive in both the build and the flying.

excellent job.very nice flying just like humming bird

Very impressive! Very stable machine. Stay lucky eh? Good job man.

outstanding. kudos to you and your devotion to this project!

This is an amazing build!! I too plan to take to the skies in my lifetime.

It’s a nice looking chopper...take ur time😎🚁👍

Absolutely amazing

Very very very nice. Wonderful. Congratulations

Well done buddy. Hats off to you.

You'd be the bad ass co worker if you just flew to your work in a fucking helicopter landed on the roof and came down through the stairwell and the best part is that you can't be late for work you can simply cut the time in half by going faster and avoiding traffic

Its very good design 🎉🎉 congrulations brother..

Amazing craftsmanship & engineering and the way u learned to fly is remarkable achievement

I learned in a Robinson. The small one's are really touchy. Nice job!!!

Soo, when you gonna start mass-producing a kit for sale....???

needs bigger engine and a bigger sticks on the top so it can float better

Great job mate. Well done. I hope you get many many hours of safe flying done in it.

Fantastic, looks beautifully made!

Awesome job.. I remember learning how to hover, and how I felt I would NEVER get the hang of it. Of course I had an instructor to keep me from killing myself. What struck me most was your patience and scientific approach to teaching yourself how to fly. You kept the risk manageable- slowly pushing out the edges of the envelope. It's a shame you did not continue, but from an engineering standpoint you'd reached the limit of acceptable risk.. a completely adult decision. I will tell you this- you learned the hard part. Hovering is the real work. Push the nose through ETL and you become an airplane, and anyone who can design, build and teach himself to fly a helo can obviously fly an airplane. They let any idiot fly those :) Cheers!

Nice work Cameron. Innovation is all too often stifled by regulation - here in the States that craft would fall under the EAA (Experimental) and you could legally fly over non-developed areas. I flew ultralights for years before I picked up my single engine fixed wing license, and that's useless now as it's so expensive to rent a plane just for a few hours.

Magnificent accomplishment with both the machine and flight! The research, skills, ideas and learning put into this project is amazing! Well done.....kia ora!

I like it! Looks solid and kinda looks like a Cobra Command single seater.....from GI Joe way back in the day.....and the stones it takes to fly it. Priceless

In Kenya and Uganda, guys have built helicopters that never leave the ground. Maybe you should give them some tips on how to build a light body/frame at a low budget.

Fantastic video! I knew it was NZ from the start of vid. Rugby posts and clever buggers living in the country. Thats no number eight wire machine however! lol well done mate. :-)

Well done Cameron and -balls of steel I think. Have spent 2 years just getting used to a collective pitch rc helicopter !!

Nice. It is unnerving and just like watching a r/c helicopter newbie, which I was yrs ago. Your brain tires at first, then, it eventually becomes muscle memory. It looks smooth too 👍🏻

I wonder if he had some helicopter training beforehand. If not this is tremendous. Great design, nice copter. All exceptional!!

Wow great video. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations man.🎉 A fine project.

Hello Cameron. Excellent build buddy! You wife or girlfriend had me laughing as she watched you practicing. A bit of quick peddle inputs there but...you did a great job sir! Keep up the great work and let us see it when you get a body put on, ok? Thanks and lord Bless~ Bye, MAUSA

I m from indonesia,,like your project,😍😍

Man I’d love the plans for this! I want to fabricate one here on the ranch and I really like your design.

Great job,Great accomplishment.You should be real proud of yourself.You have what it takes to be a pilot(flying the aircraft).Ray the Pilot.

Congratulations, you've just inspired me to actually do something with my life.

Go...go....go....flying let's go !!! 😊😊👍👍👍👍

More left pedal!!!! Just some advice from a retired CW3 army aviator (UH-1's, OH-58's, and CH-47's) Nice job though!

Inspirational. Well done. Congratulations to you sir.

Very very impressive, a fantastic achievement - I'm feeling very inspired. I have always fancied flying a helicopter but can only dream. I did have a 2 hour trial flight for my 40'th and loved it. Had money not been a problem would have loved to continue. However you made your dream come true. I take my hat off to you! If I were you I'd be out there flying my hard work until someone came along with a good reason not to!

This should be a great build. Could you please list up name of essential parts: engine, propellers,... Thank you and Best Regards,

Could he find somewhere with a few more POLES to fly into?

The Wright brothers would be so proud of you !Great job !

Cameron your sense of achievement is well deserved. Igor Sikorsky would have loved to have the XPlane simulator to help him learn to control his machine. You get a big Well Done from me!

Mr.Comeron, i have decied to make a single man heli. and i chosen outboard engine (150hp). it will be right?

It sounded like a helicopter and flew like one. Darn! The only things that spoiled this video were the "ooh my god" thing , the human voices and the advert. Great helicopter.

I also felt accomplished saw his flight, felt completed a dream I have a long time, already almost a year of his flight, hopefully has won many clouds. God blesses those who have faith ....... Stay well.

Taught yourself how to fly a helicopter. Very Very Impressive my man. Have to admit you had me scared a few times.

this is what those blokes in zimbabwe were going for

The pioneers didn't worry about the tossers in govt,,,, They don't own you. You want to fly it ...then go fly it.. ,,do it on private property, below 500 feet.The only person in danger is you. Cool build by the way,,👍👍👍 not many people can say they have done that, and succeeded.

Very nice. One of my favorite home built aircraft

Fantastic video something i think every man wishes he could do, the closes i have gotten is RC helicopters,great job thanks for posting