This Irwin hasn't met PPRUNEner's!
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This Irwin hasn't met PPRUNEner's!
Groen Brothers Designing Cargo Gyroplane for UPS, FedEx
Proof-of-concept prototype most-innovative use of a Skymaster airframe
By ANN reporter Juan Jimenez
What do you do when you are a gyroplane company and both UPS and FedEx tell you that if you can produce an aircraft that will haul a one-ton standard cargo container and land in less than 300 ft with a suitable approach at towns with no airports, they will buy it from you?
You build it. In what no doubt has to be the winner of the “Most Innovative Use Of An Old Airframe” award, GBA took a Cessna 337 Skymaster airframe and turned it into a proof-of-concept gyroplane, designated the Groen 6G. The result is the kind of aircraft that spins heads but leaves people wondering “I know I’ve seen that before somewhere…”
As the images of the aircraft show, the engine had its front and rear engines stripped. The rear engine area is replaced by clamshell doors and the front engine is replaced with a turboprop configuration. The seats are removable to fit the standard UPS and FedEx 2,000 lb cargo containers.
The vertical stabilizers were turned upside down to clear the rotor blades. The flight controls were ripped out and replaced with rotary wing cyclic and collective controls.
“The beauty of this aircraft,” said Irwin Feher, Marketing Rep for GBA, “is that it can operate all day long at 100 to 200 feet. You ask a traditional helicopter pilot to do that and he won’t give you the time of day!”
(Do you believe this guy? - RW-1)
Since the rotor head is much simpler in design, maintenance is minimal. The turboprop engine installed on the aircraft at this time is a Rolls Royce 250, but models up to 440 shp are being considered.
The proof-of-concept aircraft has not yet flown, but is expected to do so in about two weeks. A production prototype is still on the drawing board.
FMI: Sun 'n Fun space MD 13-C, or www.gbagyros.com
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Marc
Proof-of-concept prototype most-innovative use of a Skymaster airframe
By ANN reporter Juan Jimenez
What do you do when you are a gyroplane company and both UPS and FedEx tell you that if you can produce an aircraft that will haul a one-ton standard cargo container and land in less than 300 ft with a suitable approach at towns with no airports, they will buy it from you?
You build it. In what no doubt has to be the winner of the “Most Innovative Use Of An Old Airframe” award, GBA took a Cessna 337 Skymaster airframe and turned it into a proof-of-concept gyroplane, designated the Groen 6G. The result is the kind of aircraft that spins heads but leaves people wondering “I know I’ve seen that before somewhere…”
As the images of the aircraft show, the engine had its front and rear engines stripped. The rear engine area is replaced by clamshell doors and the front engine is replaced with a turboprop configuration. The seats are removable to fit the standard UPS and FedEx 2,000 lb cargo containers.
The vertical stabilizers were turned upside down to clear the rotor blades. The flight controls were ripped out and replaced with rotary wing cyclic and collective controls.
“The beauty of this aircraft,” said Irwin Feher, Marketing Rep for GBA, “is that it can operate all day long at 100 to 200 feet. You ask a traditional helicopter pilot to do that and he won’t give you the time of day!”
(Do you believe this guy? - RW-1)
Since the rotor head is much simpler in design, maintenance is minimal. The turboprop engine installed on the aircraft at this time is a Rolls Royce 250, but models up to 440 shp are being considered.
The proof-of-concept aircraft has not yet flown, but is expected to do so in about two weeks. A production prototype is still on the drawing board.
FMI: Sun 'n Fun space MD 13-C, or www.gbagyros.com
------------------
Marc
