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The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft. Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels.
An autogyro, or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate.
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide forward thrust during cruising flight. During forward flight the rotor is unpowered and free-spinning, like an autogyro, and lift is provided by a combination of the rotor and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines a rotorcraft as "supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors".
Ira Donald “Don” Farrington was an American pilot and aviation entrepreneur famous for his knowledge of gyroplanes.
The Air & Space 18A is a gyroplane that was manufactured in the central United States between 1965 and 2000.
The Platt-LePage XR-1, also known by the company designation PL-3, was an early American transverse rotors helicopter, built by the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company of Eddystone, Pennsylvania. The winner of a United States Army Air Corps design competition held in early 1940, the XR-1 was the first helicopter tested by the USAAF, flying in 1941. The flight testing of the XR-1 proved troublesome, and although continued testing showed that the design had promise, other, improved helicopters were becoming available before the XR-1 was ready for service. As a result, the development of the aircraft was terminated in 1945.
The Cierva C.8 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in England in 1926 in association with Avro. Like Cierva's earlier autogyros, the C.8s were based on existing fixed-wing aircraft fuselages – in this case, the Avro 552.
The RAF 2000 is a two-seat kit built autogyro that was designed by Bernard J. Haseloh. Kits were first manufactured by Rotary Air Force Marketing Inc. in Canada. The marketing and manufacturing rights were sold to the Mocke Family in Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa in April 2007. They formed UMRTC Eben Mocke to produce the aircraft design.
The Preceptor N3 Pup is a family of ultralight, tube-and-fabric, high-wing, homebuilt aircraft. Kits were produced and marketed by Preceptor Aircraft, of Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The company was operating on a limited basis, actively selling plans online, but seems to have gone out of business in 2016.
The Wallis WA-116 Agile is a British autogyro developed in the early 1960s by former Royal Air Force Wing Commander Ken Wallis. The aircraft was produced in a number of variants, one of which, nicknamed Little Nellie, was flown in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Little Nellie and another sixteen of his autogyros are currently on static display with his second cousin at Wallis & Son Land Rover showrooms in Barton, Cambs.
Skyworks Aeronautics Corp., formerly Groen Brothers Aviation, Inc., Groen Aeronautics Corporation and Skyworks Global, is an American autogyro research and development company based in Chicago. The company was founded in 1986 by David Groen and his late brother Jay Groen in Salt Lake City, Utah. David Groen remains as Senior Advisor.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft between 1984 and 2021. The Australian Government purchased 75 A and B variants of the F/A-18 in 1981 to replace the RAAF's Dassault Mirage III fighters. The Hornets entered service with the RAAF between 1984 and 1990. Four Hornets were destroyed in flying accidents during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Air Command International, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer originally based in Wylie, Texas, later in Caddo Mills, Texas and now in River Falls, Wisconsin. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of kits for amateur construction for the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles and the US Experimental - Amateur-built aircraft categories.
The Farrington Twinstar is an American two-seat autogyro that was designed and produced by Farrington Aircraft of Paducah, Kentucky, a company owned by Don Farrington. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction. It first flew in 1993.
Little Wing Autogyros, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Mayflower, Arkansas and founded by Ron Herron. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of plans and kits for amateur construction including for the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules.
Raven Rotorcraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in El Prado, New Mexico and formerly of Boulder Colorado. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of kits for amateur construction and reduction drives for three and four cylinder Geo Metro and Honda automotive engines for aircraft use.
Wombat Gyrocopters was a British aircraft manufacturer based in St Columb, Cornwall and founded in 1991 by Chris Julian. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form kits for amateur construction.
The Calumet Snobird Explorer was an American autogyro designed and produced by Calumet Motorsports of Lansing, Illinois, introduced in May 1997. Now out of production, when it was available, the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
Calumet Motorsports was an American aircraft parts manufacturer and former aircraft kit manufacturer based in Lansing, Illinois, and founded by Tommy Milton. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of autogyro parts and at one time produced whole aircraft kits for amateur construction in the US including FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles category.
References
- 1 2 3 Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 323. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1
- ↑ Federal Aviation Administration (March 27, 2015). "Make / Model Inquiry Results". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- ↑ "MIA00LA133". National Transportation Safety Board . Retrieved March 27, 2015.