The WASP obtained FAA experimental airworthiness certification on March 1, 2006.

After evaluating the results of the pilot-induced accident with the HX-1 WASP during May, 2006, it became clear that special attention had to be paid to the overall impact energy absorption and pilot safety following a hard landing.  With this in mind, HeloWerks entered into a cooperative agreement program with the NASA Langley Research Center to test a new landing gear and seat design for the HX-2 WASP.  This agreement called for HeloWerks to furnish a full size drop model and NASA to provide all the instrumentation (accelerometers and high speed videos), two crash dummies, and a facility from which to drop the model.

The primary objective of the HeloWerks design was to build a landing gear that had the same weight as the original composite design but was less expensive to manufacture and more durable.  In addition, the original hard bench seat was replaced with foams of different densities and cell structures.

After several iterations, a landing gear was developed that easily meet the FAA FAR 27 landing loads requirements.  Impact data was obtained from drop heights of 5”, 13”, 19.5”, and 30”.   The final design employs four different components that can be readily and inexpensively repaired in the field following a hard landing.  Accelerometers located in the crash dummies indicated that during these tests pelvic and spinal loads were within prescribed limits and would allow the pilot to walk away from the incident.  Actual vertical drop tests of the landing gear on a concrete surface show that these results are valid for a helicopter weighing several hundred pounds more than the current maximum flight weight of the HX-2 WASP.  The gear mounted on the drop model is shown in the following photos and on the WASP 3-view in the preceding section.