On Sunday a party of five, two friends (gyro engineers), myself and two wives, headed from our local Airport at Bristol bound for Linz in Austria.   Although the budget airline industry covers Europe very extensively the closest we could get from Bristol was to Prague in the Czech republic.   From there we drove for four hours in a people carrier and arrived in time for a late dinner.   Next morning we enjoyed perfect sunshine as we drove along the side of the Danube river for 30 minutes to find FD composites, makers of the Arrowcopter.

Martin K, who spoke perfect English, told me that the Company developing the Arrowcopter is small and expected me to be surprised that this meant a team of six.  In New Zealand 54% of companies have no employees so small is not unusual.

The team was formed from an organisation that specialised in R & D in composite materials and the design office is an uncluttered oasis surrounded by displays of previous high tech projects.   There is now much effort moving from first prototype to serial production with everyone of the 800 components detailed and specified on a sophisticated software package.   I always find it fascinating to see coloured components revolving in 3D as the computer offers every conceivable view.

Outside its a different story with various cast-off fibreglass items pushed aside to allow the latest development pride of place.  In the centre of this activity stands the gleaming Arrowcopter prototype on top of a purpose built trailer; exactly maximum width (2.5mtr) to be road legal, this is also the width of the aircraft.

First impression is that the body-shell is more like a modern glider/sailplane than a conventional gyro, there is no flexing of the skin but a firm rigid construction capable of withstanding much force.   Indeed it is explained that the design concept is to create a cocoon to protect both occupants both from impact and from fire.   All fuel tanks, pumps and piping are external to the cockpit;  the engine compartment is separated by a firewall as found in other forms of aviation.  Toe brakes allow differential braking on the main wheels and combined with a castoring nose wheel this creates a very small turning circle.   The rotorhead and blades come straight from AutoGyro although a sleeker design is on the drawing-board, likewise the slim control rods seen on the prototype are scheduled to be replaced by cable controls in the production models.   A large cluster of LEDs are built into each wheel fairing and with navigation and anti collision strobe make for impressive illuminations in flight.   We followed for some 15 Kms to a small grass field used for demonstration flying but, despite an earlier assurance that I would be allowed to fly the machine, it was explained that due to insurance and regulations regarding registration the aircraft could only be flown one-up by the owner.  With an air temperature of 40C I could understand the decision to fly topless although if I had been on board handling in the enclosed configuration would have been essential.   We were  entertained to a good display of flight characteristics that were similar to those expected from any modern machine with a weight of 250/300Kgs , 8.4 Mtr blades and a Rotax 914;  all very satisfactory.

The airfield was host to a flexwing pilot who showed us an interesting way of trailering a Trike!  Behind his vehicle he towed a platform with the wing mounted sideways, the Trike was trailed with the nose wheel lifted and the whole rig was road legal up to 10 Kph.  Note the extra jockey wheel on the downwind axel which is used to resist x-winds on the wing.

Having digested all the development detail available I was well pleased to move onward in the knowledge that we would be welcome back in a years time to actually fly a serial production machine created by pilots for pilots.

After a further night in Lintz, we had allowed time for poor weather, we drove along the Danube before heading North for Prague.   With all day in hand we revelled in the relaxing atmosphere of canal barges and warm sunshine.  A friendly portable GPS navigator helped us along until we reached the old Eastern Block border where the voice died until we offered more money to expand the software!

Our return to Bristol involved doing the tourist bit of enjoying  a night-stop in Prague to discover the fantastic architecture and beauty of a city that was hidden from the West for many years.   By night Prague City is a mecca for young folk on stag/hen outings that involve excessive alcohol but in contrast, rising above human indulgence, stand spires and towers that have seen history develop over centuries.  Since the fall of the iron curtain funds have been directed to clean off the tarnish of time and today it is awe inspiring to take in the beauty of design and elegance created by skilled hands with limited tools and technical support.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under Gyrate Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.