If the bright green didn’t catch your eye, the unusual placement of the propeller probably did. Or maybe it was one of a dozen other fetching attributes to this handsome rotary-winged aircraft. What you could not easily see was the engine selection. As up-to-date as they can be, Niki is offering either a 141-horsepower Rotax 915iS or the just-released 160-horsepower 916iS. The latter with a lighter load can reportedly climb better than 2,500 feet per minute. As I cruised the immense (basketball gymnasium-sized) halls of Aero 2023, I saw all manner of beautiful flying machines. In four days of the show, I find it unlikely you can even visit all of them much less become well informed about a majority. When I happened across Niki, I remembered they had sent an invitation to come by and look at their engaging designs. Company co-owner Miglena Kopcheva was kind enough to show me around the green machine you see nearby.
Aero ’23 Continued — Superpowered Niki Aviation Cruiser Gyroplane Shows Stylish Innovation
Introducing Niki's Cruiser
Niki Aviation — more fully, Niki Rotor Aviation or NRA — is a family-owned company established in 2010 in Pravets, a picturesque small town 60 kilometers from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia. The company proudly added, "Bulgaria is a small country famous for its engineering, beautiful nature, and friendly people." A nation of about seven million population, Bulgaria is northeast of Greece and northwest of Turkey. Although its eastern shores share the Black Sea with Ukraine, it is a long way from that conflict.Additional storage is available by lifting the seat cushion; not accessible in-flight.
Niki's first marketed gyroplane, Lightning.
The sporty-looking shape of Kallithea.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Niki Rotor Aviation Cruiser all specification provided by the manufacturer
- Empty Weight — 661 pounds
- Maximum Takeoff Weight — 1,320 pounds
- Length — 15.4 feet
- Height — 9.5 feet
- Propeller Diameter — 70 inches
- Rotor Diameter — 28.9 feet
- Rotor Chord — 8.25 inches
- Engine Type — Rotax 915iS or 916iS
- Power Output — 141 or 160 horsepower
- Fuel Capacity — 2 tanks at 10.5 gallons each, 21 gallons total
- Fuel Consumption— 5.25 gallons per hour
- Endurance at Cruise Power — 5 hours with 30 minute reserve
- Pre-rotator Rotation — 200-300 revolutions per minute
- Power Output — 12 volt
- Never-Exceed Speed — 100 knots
- Minimum Speed — 19 knots
- Cruise Speed — 75-85 knots
- Vertical Speed — 600-2,500 feet per minute
- Maximum Altitude — 11,500 feet
- Take-off Roll — 0-500 feet
- Landing Roll 0-65 feet
ARTICLE LINKS:
- Niki Rotor Aviation, company website
- L.A. Gyroplane Aviation, U.S. representative website
- Additional video, found at the bottom of this page for L.A. Gyroplane