Fairey Rotodyne reinvented

[David Eyre]

Hi All,

You might be interested in this article from Flight International – an American company called Groen Brothers Aviation is developing an aircraft based on technology developed for the Fairey Rotodyne. They said the only thing that killed the Fairey aircraft was politics, as Fairey had made progress in resolving the noise issues:

http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/02/21/Navigation/179/204828/Gyro+revival.html

Here’s the Groen website, showing examples of the concept. They have already received a contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a proof-of-concept SAR version:

http://www.groenbros.com/tech/crnt_tech.htm

Another great British idea being developed by the Americans! At least the US government recognises good technology...

Regards,
David

[jabberwok]

If you type Rotodyne into Google and click on the Images tab there is a rather futuristic looking Rotodyne linked to www.style-magic.com. Unfortunately the pages themselves seem to no longer exist but I'm curious where the picture came from.

The Rotodyne was a superb idea and it would be fascinating to see it reborn again. The only problem I see is in keeping the noise levels down - the original wouldn't be tolerated these days.

[cringe]

jabberwok,

From a mention on another website I understood that the picture in question was of a computer model made for a flight simulator software. I haven't seen the pic though, just "followed" the copyright note next to it.