Autogiro: a
"bottle rocket" with radial
By Randy Dufault
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Little gyro, big fun.
This Rotec-rotary powered Little Wing autogyro hearkens back to
aviation’s Golden Age when crystal-ball gazers predicted a 21st
Century world filled with such machines flying from back yards to
offices. Photo by Dave Higdon |
Back in their day,
autogiros had the best safety record of any aircraft type, according to
Ron Herron. Because of that fact and a desire to replicate the classic
lines of the early examples from Cierva and Pitcairn and Kellet, he set
out to build a fun-to-fly autogiro, with a decidedly retro look.
The result of Herron’s
effort is the Little Wing.
Herron’s Little Wing
first flew in 1995 with an 80-hp Volkswagen engine. While the
performance of the craft was acceptable, its appearance with the flat
four-cylinder engine didn’t completely capture the look he was after.
So in 2002, a Rotec
seven-cylinder radial engine was mounted to the front. Rated at 110 hp,
the new engine really improved the performance of the single-seat
homebuilt.
"It’s kind of like
a box of chocolates; you didn’t know what you were going to get,"
Herron said when asked why he switched engines. "It turned out to
be good; real good.
"The Rotec blows the
[old engine] out of the water. There’s just no comparison." It
had okay performance before, but it’s a bottle rocket now. It has
excess power, which I rather enjoy."
Herron’s Little Wing is
a tractor, meaning the propulsion system is in front of the rotor. He
had been flying pusher configuration autogiros and became concerned
about the safety record of the types. With no tractor configuration kits
or plans available, he set out to design one from scratch.
Starting with a J-3
fuselage frame, Herron started working out the unique geometry of a
tractor autogiro. Position of the rotor, position of the landing gear
and length of the fuselage were all critical to building a good flying
machine.
Herron found little in
the way of a body of knowledge on early autogiro design. He blames the
dearth on the emerging helicopter and a desire to keep what was known as
a close industrial secret.
"Most of what was
known was lost," he said. "There was an article in Aero
Digest that showed some incidence angles and the like that I was
able to glean some information from, but I had to figure most of it out
for myself."
Herron has sold about 400
sets of plans for the Little Wing. A number of projects based on the
design are complete and one of them set a world altitude record for
autogiros.
While a kit is not
likely, Herron does offer some pre-fabricated components and support for
builders out of his Mayflower, Arkansas, base.
Herron’s craft is
located in the Rotec booth (400) in the North Aircraft Display area. The
engine is started several times a day in order to demonstrate the sound
and capabilities of the small radial.
More information about the Little Wing
can be found at www.littlewingautogyro.com.
