Auto-gyro's Cavalon at Aero Friedrichshafen this week
The newest addition to the gyrocopter genre arrived at Aero
Friedrichshafen this week in the form of a side-by-side,
fully-enclosed, composite construction
Cavalon
gyrocopter. The
gyrocopter is to the helicopter what the microlight is to
traditional small aircraft. Invented in 1923 by Spaniard Juan de
la Cierva, the gyrocopter uses quite a different layout to the
helicopter to give it stability at low speed. It is cheap to
run, takes off and lands on a ridiculously small footprint, and
has a powered pusher propeller in addition to an unpowered main
rotor.
Certification for the EUR65,000 Cavalon is almost complete in
Germany and France, and AutoGyro will assist with certification
documentation for other countries. Additionally, there are still
ten units up for grabs in this year's production run.
The closest competitor to the Cavalon is the
Xenon
gyrocopter built in Poland, though the Xenon has the
one-axle cyclic control while the Cavalon has a two-stick
arrangement and the Cavalon stores its fuel outside the cabin.
Copyright © gizmag 2003 - 2010 To subscribe or visit go to:
http://www.gizmag.com