Heli-Sport srl (also called CH-7 Heli-Sport srl) is an Italian

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, founded by the Barbero brothers, Igo, Josy and Charlie. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s in the form of kits for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 324. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The company was founded in 1989 as ''EliSport'' and renamed Heli-Sport in 1997. It is a ''Società a responsabilità limitata'' (Srl), an Italian

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

. The company produces a line of helicopters, all based upon the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Cicare CH-6 designed by

Augusto Cicaré Augusto Ulderico Cicaré (25 May 1937 – 26 January 2022) was an Argentine inventor, engineer, and aviation designer. At the age of 11, still in 5th grade, he built his first four stroke engine that he used to drive a washing machine. In this ...

. It was developed by Josi and Claudio Barbero and sports car designer

Marcello Gandini Marcello Gandini (26 August 1938 – 13 March 2024) was an Italian Automotive design, car designer widely known for his work with the Italian car design house Gruppo Bertone, Bertone, where his work included designing the Alfa Romeo Carabo and A ...

, who designed the new, enclosed cabin. The aircraft was introduced in 1992 as the

Heli-Sport CH-7 Angel The Cicaré CH-7 and Heli-Sport CH7 are a series of ultralight, homebuilt aircraft, kit-built helicopters based on a single-seat Argentinian design from the late 1980s. It was later developed into a tandem two-seater, and remains in production ...

. This was developed into the

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

two-seat Heli-Sport CH-7 Kompress in 1997, the Heli-Sport CH-7 Kompress Charlie in 2005 and the CH-7 Kompress Charlie 2. The two seats in

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

Heli-Sport CH77 Ranabot The Heli-Sport CH77 Ranabot is an Italian helicopter designed and produced by Heli-Sport of Turin. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pa ...

was a further development of the same basic design. The CH-7 Kompress Charlie 2 won a bronze medal at the

World Air Games The FAI World Air Games (WAG) is an international air sports event organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation - FAI), inspired by the Olympic Games. Competitions #Aerobatics # Aeromodeling # Air racing # ...

in Turin in 2009. Another Charlie 2 was flown to

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

in 2010, from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Aircraft

References

External links

* {{Heli-Sport aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Italy Manufacturing companies based in Turin Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Helicopters