A dozen years ago, fixed wing pilots thought very little about “gyrocopters” — as some people called them. Actually that word is a model name established by Igor Bensen, widely thought of as the father of this activity along with Juan de la Cierva of Spain, known for his pioneering autogyro work.
The preferred term these days is “gyroplane.” Names aside, what pilots care about is having fun in the air and being able to afford a flying machine. When an aircraft also looks terrific, heads turn.
From eleven years ago comes the #3 in our list of Top 50 Aircraft Videos. More than 450,000 views of this video show broad interest in ArrowCopter, quite the head turner in its day.
Gyroplane interest grew quickly after European designers took the lead from American manufacturers. Think back to the days of Ken Brock’s gyro or the former Air Command (now under new management).
Search Results for : flight design ct
Not finding exactly what you expected? Try our advanced search option.
Select a manufacturer to go straight to all our content about that manufacturer.
Select an aircraft model to go straight to all our content about that model.
From Aero 2023 to America — Beautiful Altus Motorglider Will Land in DeLand, Florida
It was one of those fortuitous incidents. For my next subject aircraft, I chose the Altus motorglider because this particular aircraft was personally intriguing to me. I enjoy soaring, gliders, and therefore motorgliders. However, it’s not an ego thing. Motorgliders have a very special niche in American aviation. I’ll get to that below.
What made this choice of topics lucky was that as I was doing some investigation of this company and aircraft, I reached out to a local aviator who hails from the same country: Hungary. His name is Doma Andreka and he is the importer of Magnus Aircraft and its aerobatically-capable Fusion.
He is also part of Aero Affinity, which helps international companies make inroads to the complex American recreational aircraft market. At Aero 2023, Doma and his former countrymen came to preliminary agreement. With steady progress, Altus may be available to Americans by next year.
After Spring Airshows, Mosaic Questions Emerge — Here’s What We Know Before FAA’s NPRM Is Released
LAMA, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, hosted a gathering of European manufacturers during last month’s Aero Friedrichshafen show. Van’s Aircraft President and Chief Engineer Rian Johnson accepted LAMA’s invitation and presented an update on Mosaic. As the leader of the ASTM committee working on LSA standards, he covered expected changes to help manufacturers prepare.
How can builders design for a regulation they haven’t seen? Thanks to the use of industry consensus standards, the lighter aircraft industry is more aware than you might expect.
Understandably, manufacturer interest is keen; it’s their business. At the same time, individual pilots increasingly raise similar questions.
Top-Four Questions
I’ll address some common inquiries before getting into specifics of the LAMA meeting. The following reflects questions I’ve often heard, along with my responses. As you read these, remember, I am merely one reporter describing discussions I’ve heard. Disclaimer: Information in this article is not official and may not reflect what FAA is planning.
Aero ’23 Continued — Superpowered Niki Aviation Cruiser Gyroplane Shows Stylish Innovation
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 Day 2 — Handsome & Affordable… Introducing the All-Metal Belmont that May Fit Your Budget
Do you think you can find Latvia on a map? Do you know anything about the country? You’ll know more after reading this article.
I was underinformed about Latvia and had no awareness of its aviation capabilities. Hint: Latvia is east of Sweden, well north among the Eastern European countries. It is reasonably distant from hostilities in eastern Ukraine. One Latvian company’s ability to build a good-looking airplane is seen in nearby images.
I was alerted to visit Belmont by my journalist friend, Marino Boric, who suggested I have a look at Belmont primarily because it carries quite an agreeable price point: €96,000. At today’s exchange rate ($1 = €1.09), that translates to $105,000 before shipping and related transport expenses.
I realize everybody’s budget is different. Nonetheless, after the world has experienced at least 20% inflation over the Covid years (many experts believe inflation has been considerably higher), $105,000 for a airplane that looks like what you see in these images is, I believe, quite a bargain in 2023.
Aero ’23 Day 1 — Superveloce = Superfast… Speed Propels Porto Aviation to Records & Sales
In the last couple years a rivalry erupted among companies in Europe aiming to be the fastest LSA-type aircraft*. I have previously reported on Porto Aviation and its fast-flying ways.
Setting aside the politics of FAI-recognized record flights, no question remains that designer Alberto Porto is determined to create a very fast-flying aircraft. Check this article with more about speed attempts and to see images of a fixed-gear version called Siren.
Gear up with an adjustable prop and flown at common cruise altitudes, it’s clear that Superveloce lives up to its name.
What could the typical pilot expect while flying Superveloce? Porto Aviation lists the cruise speed at 75% power from Rotax’s 915iS at 200 knots true airspeed at 9,000 feet. Compared to other LSA I have examined, this tops the list (although some other fast designs aren’t too far behind).
Porto Aviation, previously quartered in Switzerland, is now a bit further south in Italy.
Aero Friedrichshafen Prepares to Open — Preview as Europe’s Top Show Takes Shape
Aero is open! Yesterday, after flying across the Atlantic and despite starting to run low on energy and affected by the time zone change, a small group of us eagerly took a walk through Aero’s cavernous 12 halls to get a early peek.
As I’ve observed many times, the night before, mere hours ahead of the show opening, the exhibits look chaotic. With packing boxes and parts strewn everywhere it seems impossible vendors can be ready in time. Aside from a few well-heeled organizations — those larger businesses that can pay outsiders to set up their exhibits ahead of time — most companies were scrambling furiously to be ready by opening day… which is now today.
Yet it always works, magically perhaps. Once again, late hours turned into a show by Wednesday the 19th, opening day. The show runs through Saturday the 22d. If you’re in Europe, I hope you’re coming.
Aero Friedrichshafen Opens Wednesday — Intriguing Aircraft and Flying Gear Of All Kinds
You know the expression: “What goes up, must…”
What goes up must come down and after it does, something needs to stop it. Here’s where one company has staked its claim. France’s Beringer left the high-speed action of motorcycles for even faster aerial machines …yet slowing them to a gentle stop is a matter the company takes very seriously.
Judging from all the easily-recognized Beringer hardware I see gripping the wheels of our favorite aircraft, the company appears to be doing remarkably well.
Happy Birthday, Beringer!
In the rolling hills of Woodruff, South Carolina, at Triple Tree Aerodrome, Beringer Aero USA celebrated its 10-year anniversary in the fall of 2022.
Beringer and its team of 32 employees, has progressively moved up in the ranks of widely-used wheel and brake systems, distinguishing themselves by the safety, reliability, and innovation of its distinctively-colored products.
At Beringer in France, a team of 25 designs, certificates, and manufactures its products while their seven-person USA division “focuses on retail and warehousing for the North-American market, providing customer support and local contact to its customers.”
The leaders of Beringer reported, “We did not set out to create ‘good enough’ wheels and brakes.
Aero Friedrichshafen 2023 — JH Aircraft’s Popular Corsair Debuts e-Motion at Europe’s Best Show
OK, I admit it. I’m a huge fan of Aero Friedrichshafen. This show packs a lot of delight into four days and 12 gymnasium-sized exhibit halls.
In 2023, many of the aircraft on display are known to Americans. However, Europe tends to produce more proof-of-concept projects than we see in America. This is partly as European governments subsidize certain developments, such as when a designer engages a national university. The builder gets technical assistance. The students get real-life experience.
Help with these costs yields many interesting designs but few make it to market. However, novel ideas can find their way into other, marketed designs.
Other projects are carried, just like in America, by entrepreneurs that simply will not stop until they reach their goal. Jörg Hollmann of JH Aircraft is a driven engineer who has steadily developed and improved his super-light Corsair lookalike. For Aero 2023, he has something new… again!
Nisus Gyro “Spacecraft” — Faceted Yet Sleek, Side-by-Side, and Loaded with Cleverness
All week at Sun and Fun 2023 my eye kept drifting to a rather distinctive gyroplane. We’ve seen side-by-side before (AutoGyro, Magni, and Rotorvox, the latter being closet to Nisus). I liked those for the same reason as most pilots. Generally, we enjoy sitting next to our cabin mate although some prefer the “dual solo” configuration of fore-and-aft tandem seating.
Since it wasn’t side by side that did it, was it the way the canopy seemed to hinge forward and nearly off? Was it the dual-boom empennage?
No, it was something much simpler.
Several years ago, Cadillac redesigned their line of luxury cars with what I’d call a “faceted” look, that is, body panels composed of straight or flat surfaces with angular lines (something like the “facets” that help a cut diamond catch the light). I had car-geek friends that simply hated Cadillac’s look.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- …
- 145
- Next Page »