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Mon, Jun 01, 2009

Gyros Seek FAA's LSA Blessing

LSA Designation Could Jump-Start Stalled Gyro Sales

The FAA appears ready to let a little sunlight into one of general aviation's darkest statistical corners. The agency is now accepting comments on new petitions from three manufacturers of small gyroplanes, seeking authorization to sell them as Experimental Light Sport Aircraft in the US.

In the 1930s, when early autogyros roamed the earth (thereby beating back the few remaining pterosaurs that had the bad grace to ignore their supposed extinction -- grin), their ability to take off and land with zero ground speed, and their immunity from aerodynamic stalls, resulted in a safety record superior to that of contemporary fixed-wing airplanes. After being made largely obsolete by helicopters, gyroplanes made a comeback in the 1950s as single-seat homebuilts, among which the Bensen Gyrocopter (shown below) was the most famous.

Dr. Igor Bensen was an engineer at General Electric, but many of his imitators were not qualified designers. The next half-century of gyroplane history was marred at times by unstable designs and a culture of self-training, with a commensurately grim fatality rate.

Since the early 1970s, all new gyroplanes available in the US have been experimentals, limiting their market potential to buyers who are willing to also be homebuilders, and leaving qualified innovators with little hope for a return on investment. But in much of Europe, two-place gyros can be purchased factory-built, and registered under EASA's ultralight rules. Newer, stable designs are thriving there.
 
Not surprisingly, now that the FAA is considering these newer designs for ELSA, most of the gyroplane manufacturers ready to run the ASTM gauntlet are based in Europe. The three most recent petitions come from Magni Gyro (shown at top of story) SRL of Italy; AutoGyro GmbH of Germany, whose best-known model is the MT03; and Sport Copter (below), Inc., based in Scappoose, Oregon, which plans to sell an LSA version of its two-place, enclosed-cabin prototype introduced at EAA AirVenture 2007.

 

Two previously-filed petitions also remain under consideration by the FAA:
 
The Xenon (shown below) is an enclosed, two-place gyroplane of French design, manufactured in Poland for ABS Aerolight. Ten factory-built Xenons were grandfathered to ELSA in time for the FAA's deadline in January of 2008, and are flying in the US. The type remains on sale in other international markets while the FAA considers the LSA petition.

Groen Brothers Aviation of Salt Lake City, Utah sought LSA status for its SparrowHawk enclosed, two-place gyroplane. The company ceased manufacturing operations one year ago and is seeking a buyer for the SparrowHawk (below) line.

There's no deadline for comments listed on any of the three latest ELSA gyroplane petitions. Find them by searching "ELSA gyroplane" using the FMI link below.

FMI: www.regulations.gov, www.faa.gov, www.astm.org

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