\' / THE AVIAN GYROPLANE A Progress Report By HARRY McDOUGALL Febrnary, 1964 THE A VIAN GYROPLANE is - essentially an up-dated vers-ion of the pre-war autogyro. In the 1930's the autogyro, using a rotor which revolved freely •in the airstream instead of being driven by the engine, had reached an advanced state of devel opment but research into ithis mode of flight was suspended when the heli copter was perfected as a practical flying machine. The dispersal of the various design teams which had become farnil,iar with the problems of auto-rotating flight caused a hiatus in development which has made the task of the present-day gyroplane designer parti cularly difficult. He must, in effeot, rediscover all the basic principles and then apply them in the context of ad vanced aerodynamics and modern in dustrial technology. Background: The development of the Avian Gyroplane can be traced back to a ~ which started at A vro Aircraft Ltd. when the fate of the Arrow was hanging in the balance and the company was casting about for ways to diversify. A survey car ried out by the company's sales depart ment revealed the existence of a sub stantial market for a 3-5 seat autogyro and design of this project, designated the P.15, was commonced. The P.15 became an incidental casualty when the Arrow was cancel led but the project had by then gener ated considerable enthusiasm among the design engineers concerned and it was they who set up the Avian com pany to construct a similar but smaller aircraft. The A viain Gyroplane has suffered its share of mishaps and the company makes no attempt to minimize the problems that have been in.volved in perfecting the plane. The first proto type was destroyed when a non-com pany pilot •inadvertently operated the collective pitch lever while taxiing. On another occasion the disiintegration of a propeller caused severe struc tural damage. A canopy which came adrift in flight also resulted in damage to one aircrafu: when the pilot was compelled to land the plane with• in adequate directional control because of the increased drag __ at one side~ Sound Design: However, it is not:i- - ble that, although the fourth and fifth prototypes are now flying, no major changes in the overall design have been or are being contemplared. The general configuration of the aircraft with in.-,trument Service £.,tcl.. 122 Laird Drive TORONTO 17 - ONTARIO AUTHORIZED DoT OVERHAUL CANADIAN SERVICE FOR PIPER-MITCHELL AUTO-PILOT over the city without stopping because they had no right to take on or dis charge passengers and freight here. There is now the possibility as a result of pending air route talks with the U.S. that some of this may be changed and Winnipeg may have the chance to enjoy some of the advantages that its geographical position astride inter national and domestic air routes. 1-0-: I t1i :111· 111 • 13 (from page 14) GYROPLANE Subsequent to the demise of the first prototype, new capital was introducecl by Thermo Electric (Canada) Ltd., whose Fred S. Walter is now Aviain's president. The money invested by Thermo Electric is in the form of an interest-bearing loan which may be taken back, at the discretion of the lender, as Avian stock. Recently, Avian has been reorgan ized as a public limited company but at the time of writing had inot com pleted its prospectus for the Toronto Securities Exchange Commission. Although the nearly $JM in funds invested to date has been adequate to support the research and develop ment program, it has not been sufficient to permit all problems to be tackled simultaneously. In particular, the time required to analyze test results has de laved development. The engi·neering manpower avail able, while permitting thorough in vestigations of each specific area in sequence, has been inadequate to en able all the various problem areas to be investigated simultaneously. If more engineering manpower had been available the test program, by this time, THE CHALLENGER ... BY CHAMPION Stamina? She's got it. Strongest airframe in her class. Steady and sure - you're master all the way. FLIT in and out of t iqht squeezes like a gnat. Hop off like a rabbit - bring her in at a walk. What's your purpose - what are your needs? If jt's a ship that pays hel own way, you've got it in the Challenger by Champion. She's a beautiful collection of all those things a plane should be. ~AilWwlt ~ 30 NATIONAL SERVICAIR COMPANY • LIMITED HANGAR 16, MUNICIPAL AIRPORT EDMONTON, ALTA. LEGGAT AIRCRAFT LTD. GORMLEY P.O. BUTTONVILLE, ONT. might have been completed and the plane would possibly have entered the production stages. This shortage of engineering manpower rather than any insuperal:>le technical problem, has been the main reason for the length of the present development program. No Predictions: A \'ian officials are confident that the plane will ultimate ly receive a Certificate of Airworth~ness although they are not making over optimistic predictions of the date when that aim will be achieved. Present in dications are that the test program will be completed ·in early 1965. Surveys to establish the potential market for the aircraft have been con ducted and tentative plans have been made for production. The plans call for 30 aircraft to be produced during the first year. These will be part of the first JOO aircraft which Avian pro poses to sell direct to users. The philo sophy behind this arrangement is that the company will be able to ma·intain a close liaison with users and incor porate any minor changes that are re quested. The second year's production is esti mated at 150; third year, 300; fourth year, 500; and subsequently 700 per year. Avian does not antmpate any difficulty in raising the necessary funds to finance production. However, since the company has at present no product to offer for sale the research and development program must be financed entirely out of capital and this may cause some financial problems. Many enquiries from dealers who hope eventually to handle the Gyro plane have been received, some with offers of substantial deposits, but Avian has made no firm commitments. Tt ROGER LEBLANC (HELICOPTERE • AVIATION) LTD. P.O. BOX 1475 THREE RIVERS, QUE. AIRCRAF'I is fair! y obvious that there is intense interest in the aircraft, which will market, according to present estimates, ~n the $17,000 - $20,000 range. -lcllcrs to the Editor Hangar Rash Sir: Congrntulations to R. L. Jerry for the very fine article, "Hangar Rash - Its Prevention an

The Avian Gyroplane

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