Sun, Sep 26, 2004
First international kit-built aircraft takes to the air in
Moscow
Groen Brothers Aviation, Inc. has announced the first
international flight of its SparrowHawk Gyroplane, designed and
manufactured by GBA's American Autogyro. Alex Lameko, owner of
American Autogyro of Moscow and builder of the kit built
SparrowHawk, was pleased and excited with the performance and
stability of the aircraft.
Test pilot Dmitry Rakitskiy reported a very smooth flight in
ideal weather conditions. David Groen, GBA President & CEO said
"We are delighted to see the first of what will be many SparrowHawk
Gyroplanes in international skies. SparrowHawks are currently under
construction by our dealers in Canada and New Zealand." American
Autogyro also has authorized international dealers in Costa Rica,
Ecuador, Bahamas and South Africa in addition to representatives in
Korea and India. American Autogyro is building a solid dealer
network here in the U.S. and currently has twenty authorized U.S.
dealers.
"We've come a long way
in the less than two years since American Autogyro began" said Jim
Mayfield, President of American Autogyro and Chief Technical
Officer of Groen Brothers Aviation. "We're not only getting a great
reaction from the general aviation community, but high interest
from those new to the joy of flying. With kit sales already at more
than fifty aircraft, GBA is ramping up production for the
SparrowHawk market to provide aircraft for its dealers worldwide."
The SparrowHawk, an enclosed, centerline thrust, two-place
kit-built gyroplane, is dynamically and statically stable and
provides great safety advantages over earlier kit designs. The
large two-place cabin with a width of 44 inches, more than 4 inches
wider than a Cessna 172, provides great visibility and comfort for
the pilot and passenger.
The SparrowHawk is also
being offered as a fully assembled aircraft designed specifically
for aerial observation. The SparrowHawk APV (Airborne Patrol
Vehicle) model offers unequaled low cost aerial observation
capabilities to both US and international government agencies.
In addition to its SparrowHawk, American Autogyro designs and
produces stability augmentation kits for other manufacturers' kit
built gyroplanes.
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