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A flying car or roadable aircraft is a type of vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft. As used here, this includes vehicles which drive as motorcycles when on the road. The term "flying car" is also sometimes used to include hovercars and/or VTOL personal air vehicles. Many prototypes have been built since the early 20th century, using a variety of flight technologies. Most have been designed to take off and land conventionally using a runway. Although VTOL projects are increasing, none has yet been built in more than a handful of numbers.
An autogyro, or gyroplane, is a type 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.
Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and a self-taught aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of a rotorcraft called Autogiro, a single-rotor type of aircraft that came to be called autogyro in the English language. In 1923, after four years of experimentation, De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype.
The CarterCopter is an experimental compound autogyro developed by Carter Aviation Technologies in the United States to demonstrate slowed rotor technology. On 17 June 2005, the CarterCopter became the first rotorcraft to achieve mu-1 (μ=1), an equal ratio of airspeed to rotor tip speed, but crashed on the next flight and has been inoperable since. It is being replaced by the Carter Personal Air Vehicle.
The Bensen B-8 is a small, single-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the 1950s. Although the original manufacturer stopped production in 1987, plans for homebuilders are still available as of 2019. Its design was a refinement of the Bensen B-7, and like that aircraft, the B-8 was initially built as an unpowered rotor-kite. It first flew in this form in 1955, and on 6 December a powered version, designated B-8M first flew. The design proved to be extremely popular and long-lasting, with thousands of sets of plans sold over the next thirty years.
The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), as part of its Rotax brand.
A rotor kite or gyrokite is an unpowered, rotary-wing aircraft. Like an autogyro or helicopter, it relies on lift created by one or more sets of rotors in order to fly. Unlike a helicopter, gyrokites and rotor kites do not have an engine powering their rotors, but while an autogyro has an engine providing forward thrust that keeps the rotor turning, a rotor kite has no engine at all, and relies on either being carried aloft and dropped from another aircraft, or by being towed into the air behind a car or boat or by use of ambient winds for the kiting. As of 2009, no country in the world requires a license to pilot such a craft.
The Carter PAV is a two-bladed, compound autogyro developed by Carter Aviation Technologies to demonstrate slowed rotor technology. The design has an unpowered rotor mounted on top of the fuselage, wings like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft mounted underneath, and a controllable pitch pusher propeller at the rear of the fuselage. Heavy weights are placed in the rotor tips to enhance rotational energy and to reduce flapping.
Carter Aviation Technologies is a privately held aviation research and development company based in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States.
The KB-2 Freedom Machine is an autogyro designed by Ken Brock based on the designs of the Bensen B-8.
The Rotor Flight Dynamics Dominator is an American autogyro designed by Ernie Boyette of Rotor Flight Dynamics of Wimauma, Florida, and made available in the form of plans and kits for amateur construction.
The Layzell Merlin is a British autogyro that was designed by Scottish designer Jim Montgomery and produced by Layzell Gyroplanes of Quedgeley, Gloucester. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
The Rotor Flight Dynamics LFINO is an American experimental autogyro that was designed by Ernie Boyette and Dick DeGraw, with a single prototype produced by their company Rotor Flight Dynamics of Wimauma, Florida. The aircraft was intended as a proof-of-concept for evaluation for police or paramilitary use.
Celier Aviation is an aircraft manufacturer, founded by Raphael Celier in France in 1993. The company was moved to Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland in 2006 and Safi, Malta in 2017. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros available in kit form and also as fully assembled aircraft.
Trixy Aviation Products GmbH is an Austrian aircraft manufacturer based in Dornbirn, that was founded by Rainer Farrag. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros.
North American Rotorwerks LLC is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Tukwila, Washington, founded by John Vanvoorhees. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of kits for amateur construction.
Gyro-Kopp-Ters is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Lake City, Florida and founded by brothers Bob and Arden Kopp. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of kits for amateur construction.
AutoGyro GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Hildesheim. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of fully assembled, ready to fly aircraft.
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.
References
- ↑ Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, pages 185-186. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
- ↑ Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 330. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1
- ↑ "Rotor Flight Dynamics". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ↑ Boyette, Ernie (2006). "History" . Retrieved December 24, 2014.
- ↑ O'Brien, Kevin (April 5, 2006). "Bensen Days: LFINO Leaps Into Public View". Aero News Network. Retrieved December 15, 2014.