| SARA II | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Two-seat experimental autogyro |
| National origin | South Africa |
| Manufacturer | Council for Scientific and Industrial Research |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | 30 November 1972 |
The CSIR SARA II (SARA - South African Research Autogyro) is a South African two-seat experimental autogyro designed and built by the Aeronautics Research Unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. [1]
As part of the support to South African aircraft manufacturing industry the ARU developed a single-seat autogyro as a research vehicle. [1] Design of the autogyro was started in 1965 and construction followed in April 1967, by 1972 the autogyro, registered ZS-UGL, was ready for tethered tests mounted on a lorry-platform, it made its first free flight on 30 November 1972 at Swartkop Air Force Base. [1] Following the test flights the autogyro was modified. [1]
The autogyro had a box-like fuselage structure made from light-alloy and was fitted with twin fins and rudders with a fixed incidence tail-plane mounted between them. [1] It was fitted with a two-bladed teetering rotor, the rotor could be spun up using a shaft drive through a clutch from the engine. [1] The engine located at the rear was a 180 hp (134 kW) Continental O-360-A air-cooled engine driving a two-bladed constant-speed pusher propeller. [1] The crew sat side by side in the enclosed fuselage with dual controls, entrance is through a forward-opening glazed door on each side. [1] The landing gear was a fixed tricycle type with a self-centering and steerable nosewheel. [1]
Data from [2]
General characteristics
Performance
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