# Hotelicopter Hoax Flies Over Bloggers’ Heads



## daftandbarmy (7 May 2009)

I wonder if the Liberals were planning to order any should they win the next election?

Hotelicopter Hoax Flies Over Bloggers’ Heads

 There’s a sucker born every minute, and they’re all buying the "hotelicopter" story, ahem, flying around the blogosphere.

Several websites, including some that should know better, are reporting that a guy named Alvin Farley has spent five years converting the world’s largest helicopter into the world’s first flying hotel. The modified Soviet Mil V-12 helicopter is 137 feet long and features 16 cabins and two suites decked out with queen-size beds, heated toilets and whirlpools. The flying five-star hotel makes its inaugural flight June 26.

Thing is, the story has a few holes big enough to fly the Hotelicopter through.
First, the Mil V-12 is a real helicopter, but there’s no way Farley bought one. The Soviets only built two. One  currently sits in a museum in Moscow. We have the pictures to prove it. Second, the interior shots of the Hotelicopter were lifted straight from Yotel, the chain of hotels that offers tiny accommodations at European airports.

We tried to track Farley down, but couldn’t reach him by phone or e-mail. That only strengthens our case — you’d think someone drumming up publicity for a venture like this would make it easy for journalists to get ahold of him. We suspect the only "updates" the site will send those who sign up for the e-mail alerts will be an "April Fool’s" message on Wednesday.

The only thing funnier than the 38-second video of the "test flight" is the fact so many people fell for the joke.



http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/03/the-hotelicopte/


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## Colin Parkinson (19 May 2009)

Actually Popular Mechanics in the late 60's promoted the Sikorsky helicopter (with the raised cockpit) as a traveling Rec vehicle, complete with floats, sunshade and the artist image or photo showed the owner fishing off the floats. I actually got to see the Mi-V12 in flight, we were traveling through the USSR by camper in the summer of 1970 (I was 10), we were diverted to another road by the police to avoid a cholera outbreak. What the police didn't know was the Air Force had a base there for testing, as we drove by I looked up to see a large helicopter hovering with what looked liked 2 transmission towers sticking out the sides with a rotor onto of each. After that we were followed closely by a well to do Russian family that seemed to have a lot of time and money, not to mention freedom to travel with us....


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