If you cannot afford buying a private jet then it would be interesting for you to know that American engineers recently unveiled the Hotelicopter concept, which is, in fact, a heavy lift aircraft transformed into a flying hotel equipped with 4 stores and 18 rooms. The aircraft was constructed according to the model of the Soviet Mi V-12, which was the largest helicopter ever built. It is worth mentioning in 1960 the Soviet engineers created only 2 prototypes of the aircraft. According to the Hotelicopter company, it acquired one of the upper mentioned Soviet prototypes in 2004 and now its flying hotel is ready for the first flight, which will take place on June 26th. Although the computer generated images of the Hotelicopter are really stunning, showing that its designers surely had a lot of imagination, the aircraft's Maximum Takeoff Weight of 105,850 kg (232,870 lb) is just the same as that of the initial prototype Mi V-12. This means that there's little chance that the Hotelicopter can have a three story luxury hotel added onto it. The Hotelicopter site features a design of the aircraft, with information saying that the flying 5-star hotel can boast soundproofed rooms, each featuring queen-sized bed, fine linens, a mini-bar, coffee machine, wireless internet access, and a long list of luxurious appointments one would probably not expect from such a machine. As for the original Mi V-12, then it should be mentioned that the Soviet aircraft was really huge, bigger than any other heavy lift helicopter currently in use. Note that each rotor of the flying giant had a diameter of about 115 ft (35 meters). All rotors were mounted at the end of a large wing. On August 6, 1969, two Soviet V-12s carried out a successful flight, setting a helicopter heavy lift world record, which is 44,205 kg (88,636 lb) at a height of 2,255 meters (7,398 feet). They did not make it into the mass production due to the fact that they were hard to maneuver. The Hotelicopter company announced that it's giant flying hotel will perform its inaugural flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 26, 2009. ( www.infoniac.com )Source
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