Helihome: The Insane 1970's Flying Camper

Sponsored by the fine folks at Blinkist: Get your free 7 day trial with Blinkist and 25% off of a Premium membership blinkist.com/calum Also check out Part II - the Catalina Landseaire! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TaBTjHVx6A&ab_channel=Calum

The dude who actually used it for camping has got to be the coolest guy ever. Imagine he invites you camping and you have no idea he's got this.

Wow! This is so wonderfully produced and presented!

I can't help but imagine some distant alternate reality where instead of vanlife being a trend, everyone had a helicopter license and helilife was the trend.

I'm glad to hear Fred, the original maker is alive and sounds well. What a great sport he is to cooperate and send all that information. I'm sure he'll be very happy to watch this. It would've been better if it was face to face interview though.

One of my wild dreams is to convert a Chinook CH-47 into a heli-home. I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one to come up with such a crazy idea.

Fun fact, When I was a kid.... Waaaay back in the 80's, a Winnebago dealership near my home had one of these on display. It was 1989ish and my dad was looking into buying a Winne and at 6 or 7 years old they let me play in it to keep me distracted and out of the way.. lol... he ended up buying an old used Fleetwood...lol

Fascinating. My father was a Vietnam era UH-1 Huey pilot and said in a pinch they could land in tight spots and, if the trees and foliage were small enough, use the rotors like a saw blade to chop them up and clear some kind of a landing zone.

Very well done, presented and narrated. You could even hear the very subtle joy and wonderment in his voice as he shared this very unique story and product. For me, this is one of those rare YouTube gems that represents what the internet has always been about, and that is, new doors and windows into discovery. I really really enjoyed this one. Thank you Calum for your time and efforts in producing this video. And honestly, at this very moment, I find myself bored so much so, I wish I could quickly pack an overnight bag, gather some food from my deep freeze and cabinets and make my way to my heli-pad locking the door behind me. And without much fanfare or thought, I climb in, secure my cargo, climb my way into the cockpit, start the engine and gently lift off into blue sky and white clouds, and fly away to a yet unknown but exciting destination. What a dream!

I used to know the guy that owned N62254 in Texas. That was amazing to see his name just randomly zip by in a video. Thing was based in Wylie for many years, and he would use it as a sky crane mostly lifting AC units onto roofs.

I've got to admit, the idea of flying your camper anywhere you want sounds really, really amazing. Throw in some deployable solar panels, a long distance radio, and a water purifier then you'd have an exceedingly comfortable forward operating base for a camper.

That is probably the most awesome use of a helicopter I think I’ve ever seen. It would be nice to know what the status is of the only one that was still around.

I remember fantasizing with my friends in elementary school in the early 80's about building our own mini helicopter and flying it to Hawaii. There was definitely lots of buzz around this idea then.

Nicely put together video. I spent 18 months in Vietnam flying as a gunner/crew chief on the S-58/H34 helicopter in Medium Marine Helicopter Squadron 362. All of the time I spent in those things not once did I think it could made into a camper. That's pretty cool. Kudos to you for all the research you put into the video. Thank you.

I was just talking about the Helihome not that long ago to a friend who owned an RV dealership. Winnebago sent a Helihome to his dealership one weekend as a publicity stunt. They heavily advertised it and actually gave helicopter rides in it. The ride was nothing more than a trip straight up and back down, but they did allow visitors to ride it! Today the liability would be insane! :D

I remember seeing this Helihome on static display (indoors) at an outdoor show in the 70s. It seemed more like a promotional stunt than an actual product, but it was real. As a kid I thought, "Cool, why not?"

I was 7 when this issue showed up in our mailbox. I spent hours pouring over the article and photos, dreaming of flying and camping in this magnificent machine. Then that TV show , Rip Tide in ‘84 used a similar ship as one of its co stars, Screaming Mimi. Thank you for this!!

The helicopter in your video still exists, it was rebuilt and all the camping business removed and turned into a museum helicopter at the aviation museum at Cocoa Beach executive airport. I remember when I looked at it I'm thinking damn this is the flying camper, repurposed as the unflying camper! :-)

It’s odd. Your content is not what I would be naturally drawn to but I’ve come to love your channel for communicating the pleasure of discovery in research. I particularly appreciate how you actively seek out and contact first level sources. The “meta” moments in your videos (receiving the package and showing yourself shooting the footage on holiday in Bavaria) drive home that personal touch that bring depth and humor to what could otherwise be a dry subject in less creative hands. Thank you…and hope you have yourself a great vacation!

I was flying S58's two summers ago up in Brewster, Washington. One of the S58's was in the fleet, and it is still flying.