Manufacturer's Showcase Lets Makers Show Their Wares

The lead plane in the first manufacturer's showcase last week was an RAF2000 gyroplane. Indeed, two of the first three participants in the forum were gyroplanes, bringing plenty of attention to this fascinating but very small corner of sport aviation.

Gyroplanes have a rotor, like a helicopter, but the rotor isn't powered. Instead a propeller pulls the aircraft forward through the air, and airflow passing through the rotor (rather than engine power, like a helicopter) spins the rotor, which in turn provides lift. They're simpler than helicopters, have much less onerous maintenance requirements, and the kits tend to be very easy and quick to build.

This lead gyroplane, N41CL, is an RAF 2000 GTX SE built by owner Chuck Lukas, and is based in nearby Appleton. The machine won a Bronze Lindy here at Oshkosh in 2003. The workmanship and finish on the gyro is, as you might expect from an award winner, beautiful.

Chuck didn't fly the machine; it was flown by his instructor, Duane Hunn of Saginaw, Michigan. Duane is one of the most experienced gyro CFI's, with over 8,000 hours in gyroplanes, mostly in factory-stock RAF 2000s like Chuck's.

Chuck and Duane give a slight Mutt and Jeff impression. Chuck is tall and spare; Duane, short and stocky. They clearly respect and have confidence in one another.

The stability and control characteristics of the gyroplanes in general and the RAF 2000 in particular have been controversial for some years. This has led to long and angry arguments between RAF exponents and detractors, mostly on the internet, due to the relatively low concentration of gyros in any one place. Chuck is aware of the arguments, but doesn't listen to them any more.

"I don't even know where that is taking place any more," he says ruefully, probably referring to the internet gyro forum at rotaryforum.com or the Australian forum.

As we watch, Duane prerotates the rotor to get it close to flying speed and then feeds in some throttle. The weather is hot, 99 degrees F and muggy. The gyro accelerates slowly; Duane adds more throttle in two more steps and the machine is finally at full throttle (in a gyro, you don't add all the throttle right away, you have to manage the acceleration of the rotor to flying RPM).

Chuck watched proudly as Duane lifted off in about 250 feet and climbed out. He made several passes in the beautiful machine before guiding it in to a landing and taxiing back. Chuck walked out to trade places with Duane and taxi his own machine back to parking, and the show went on.

The next aircraft wasn't even experimental -- well, this particular one might have been, but not the ones you can buy: The Adam A500 cabin-class push-pull twin. While Adam is certainly a general aviation manufacturer, like many of the new breed of aircraft it has strong EAA roots. In fact, the initial proof-of-concept craft for Adam, the M309, was crafted by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in 1999 and appeared here in 2000 and 2001.

Compared to the M309, the A500, now in production for customers, is significantly larger and has better access through an airstair door (the 309 featured a round overwing hatch). The A500 is the first pressurized piston twin to be developed in many years. Adam is working to extend the limitations on A500 certification, to certify the A700 twinjet, and to obtain production certification from the FAA, all at once -- an ambitious program.

After several fast and slow passes by the A500, another gyroplane jumped into the sky: the Golden Butterfly trainer, flown by designer Larry Neal. The Golden has a 2.5 liter Subary engine, compared to the RAF's 2.2, and it's considerably lighter. This translates into dramatic performance.

The Golden Butterfly is a tandem, open two-seat trainer constructed primarily of anodized aluminum tubing. The aircraft is remarkably tall -- over eleven feet. The instructor sits in the back with his knees at the level of the student's shoulder blades. This gives the instructor unparalleled visibility in all normal attitudes. Key instruments are repeated in a small pod for the CFI or BFI. The aircraft is soloed from the front seat.

Unfortunately, the Manufacturer's Showcase forum didn't allow Larry to show off the Golden Butterfly's best parlor trick: It's G-Force Landing Gear, that absorbs high levels of vertical energy, allowing safe landings that look to the uninitiated like bone-crushing crashes. Larry did highlight the gyroplane's climb and handling as best he could.

The showcase continued with an Air Creation trike, a very well-built trike from France, and several other Light Sport Aircraft, including aircraft from Italy and Russia.

FMI: www.airventure.org, www.raf2000.com, www.adamaircraft.net, www.thebutterflyllc.com, www.aircreation.fr