View Full Version : New Sportcopter "Super Sport"
AirHorse1
10-16-2005, 02:04 PM
Has anyone had a chance to see one of these yet? Looks great! I hope it achieves the objectives. :D
http://www.sportcopter.com/Super_Sport_Copter.htm
Chuck Roberg
10-16-2005, 07:47 PM
Hmmmmm, no price listed. If I were to say $50,000. I'd probably be too low.
lopeznoel
10-16-2005, 07:51 PM
This gyro looks like a cross between the AAI Sparrowhawk and the UFO Helithruster from New Zealand.
Ted Eggleston
10-17-2005, 12:40 AM
No actual photo yet on the website, so things may change. I note the 214 HP engine with a potential 300 HP envisaged. Where will it end? The anticipated flight speed is interesting. If you put it down in a heap, some serious dollars are going to haunt you.
Ted
Can one achieve the stated 100mph cruise with 2 blade teeter.
coen
ive flowned 110 in and raf
Caribean_gyro
10-17-2005, 11:49 AM
still a cartoon . when I was going to buy my first 2 seat they had a cartoon of the machine. Now is a diferent cartoon. I will coment when I see the real thing
ChuckP
brett s
10-17-2005, 03:01 PM
It might cruise at 100 mph (assuming it ever makes it to production), but I doubt that it'll do that on the "5-6 gph" fuel consumption they state. That works out to around 40% power from their 214 hp Subaru...
PW_Plack
10-19-2005, 03:45 PM
Chuck R, I'd guess you're right. The powerplant with prop alone will cost as much as the base RAF kit. I don't think there's any intent to compete in the low end of the two-place market.
Chuck P, the original "Sport Copter II" was to be a tandem machine, and it's become clear that most customers prefer a side-by-side, even for training and public-use applications. The parts for the new one, including the molded composite cabin and tail, are sitting in the shop. Some mechanical components have been running for a year on the current tandem trainer. This one won't be a cartoon much longer.
Brett, I'm with you. I would assume you'd only get that kind of fuel consumption at some lower "economy cruise" speed.
Coen, Groen Brothers claims the Hawk-IV can reach "nearly 150 MPH" with its two-blade, 42-foot rotor. Sport Rotors, Dragon Wings, and other teetering rotors have been flown successfully at well over 100 MPH. (~87 knots.)
Heather Poe
10-26-2005, 05:36 PM
Can one achieve the stated 100mph cruise with 2 blade teeter.
According to page 67 of Bruce Charnov's "From Autogiro to Gyroplane", the 4 bladed PCA-2 achieved 98 mph cruise, and a top speed of 118 mph, in 1930.
What is the limiting factor, why does the sparrowhawk not fly that fast?
barnstorm2
10-31-2005, 09:55 AM
I like the tail / hstab!
Heather Poe
10-31-2005, 12:19 PM
What is the limiting factor, why does the sparrowhawk not fly that fast?
A friend told me that he had a Sparrowhawk up to 105 mph, but not at cruise.
Brent_Brown
10-31-2005, 02:00 PM
Cartoon gyroramma
The pick
11-18-2005, 01:08 AM
My Eurgyro (formally) UFO is on field trials at the mo so I will let you know how my little bird makes out
The Last Church
03-04-2006, 05:37 PM
link doesnt work for me
Didn't work for me either but this:http://www.sportcopter.com/
does.
RHerron
03-05-2006, 06:41 AM
Can one achieve the stated 100mph cruise with 2 blade teeter.
How about a sustained average of 108 mph for 6 hours without landing?
....at 75% power or less.
With what gyro is this.
Coen.
scottessex
03-09-2006, 07:43 AM
That would be a "little wing"
http://www.ok.gov/OAC/documents/'Wiley%20Post%20Spirit%20Award'%20Winner%20Andy%20 Keech.doc
Why would this mashine CRUISE at 100mph and no other pusher gyro comes close. And if a company claims something like this, it must not only be able to do this in perfect early morning air with not a drop of wind but rather on a nice hot gusty day when it will be used.
RHerron
03-18-2006, 05:05 PM
And if a company claims something like this, it must not only be able to do this in perfect early morning air with not a drop of wind but rather on a nice hot gusty day when it will be used.
Coen,
It is not a claim, it is a certified fact. And, by the way, the winds on this particular record flight were extremely gusty. This was a closed-circuit flight of just under 700 miles without landing. Only the start of the flight was in the morning. The closed-circuit flight makes any advantage due to a tailwind null and void.
Winds for the straight-line, 700+ mile, non-stop flight a few days later were milder and variable and the flight average was 104 mph. This included a continuous climb from the point of takeoff to well over 14,000 ft. The climb was at about 65 mph so it cut into the flight's average speed.
Takeoff weight was over twice the empty weight of the aircraft for both record flights.
Visit www.littlewingwonder.com
PW_Plack
03-19-2006, 12:59 AM
Ron, I think he was taking issue with the Sport Copter claim, not yours.
Coenraad, Andy Keech's Little Wing demonstrated a combination of speed and efficiency which is rare among gyroplanes, but just getting a high cruise speed by itself is not remarkable, whether on a pusher or otherwise. Top speed is limited mostly by rotorblade pitch. If I understand this correctly, reducing pitch to gain rotor RPM could gain a few more MPH than we usually see.
Groen Brothers' Hawk-IV is a big, 3,500-pound pusher gyro with a 42-fott, two-bladed rotor. It cruises at 132 MPH. It takes a 400-horsepower turboprop to do it, but it can be done. A fully-loaded Super Sport will weigh under 1500 pounds, be more aerodynamic than most pushers, and have 214 horsepower. 75 per cent power is still 153 HP, so seeing a 100 MPH cruise is not unlikely.
The big question will be, on how much fuel? The fuel burn rates listed on the website would only be possible at power settings well below 75 per cent.
Yes i was talking about the SSport "claim" puller gyro's cant be used in saim breath because of obvios design diffirence.The Hawk 4 can olso not be compared because of different rotorhead design and variable pitch on rotor. If one had to take a SH for instance and beef up the motor i,m sure it will not cruise 100mph steady?
RHerron
03-19-2006, 06:52 AM
I thought I had analyzed the thread properly. I shouldn't have hijacked it! Sorry Coen:confused: !
chuter
03-19-2006, 06:55 AM
Ron, I thought he was talking to you too.
RHerron
03-19-2006, 07:03 AM
Ron, I thought he was talking to you too.
Now I feel better! I even went back after my last post and it still looked like it to me, considering the order of the thread. Oh, well.
Sometimes it is hard to tell.
PW_Plack
03-19-2006, 01:52 PM
Coenraad,
SparrowHawks have a published VNE of 100 MPH, but have been flown at 110 or higher in testing at the factory. Sport Copter's Vortex single-place, and no doubt other pushers, have also been tested at these speeds. The Dominator single-place with a Rotax 914 claimed 122 MPH top speed.
If "cruise" is defined as a 75 per cent power setting, then building a maching which "cruises" at 100 is just a matter of building it with enough reserve power.
What is it about the design of pushers, in general, that you believe limits their cruise speeds versus tractor designs?
Thanks for indulging me i will wait and see.
drifter57
03-20-2006, 05:33 PM
Why is an SH not faster? One word. Drag. Monstrous frontal area of the cabin, square mast and keel pieces, gear and wheels, engine bits hanging out all over in the airstream. Streamline it a bit, and I'll bet you get a few knots more out of one.
Hognose
03-22-2006, 06:15 PM
Gyros are draggy by nature. Even the ultra-streamlined, winged, slowed-rotor-compound convertiplane Carter Copter Technology Demonstrator has only gone circa 170.
I have heard some impressive speed claims from some pusher pilots. But note that what Andy Keech did with a Rotax 914-powered Little Wing is not a claim, but an FAI-certified record.
The turbo lets Andy go high for best true airspeed, and to take advantage of winds (most gyro pilots never think about TAS). The slender Little Wing reduces fuselage drag. Andy's a lightweight guy, which helps, and the large fuel tank he uses for long-range flights is pretty close to (not exactly at, but near) the CG, which reduces trim drag.
The relatively low fuselage drag of the Little Wing (compared to its gyro brethren) and the arrangement of thrust vectors (prop and rotor) with respect to the CG mean it is a very stable ship also.
If it were a kit, it would be even more popular. As it is, it appeals to the guy like Andy Keech who knows exactly what he wants. A lot of people have the willies about welding or fabric covering, but the fact is, whatever you decide to build you will learn a lot from the project.
I realise that this is a bit of "thread drift" from the Sportcopter Super Sport, but certainly it's worth talking about.
The Super Sport design looks interesting, and is quite different from other gyros when you look at it. It will need to be actual flying hardware to be taken seriously, of course.
The 214 HP is practically the same as what Jim Vanek says he has on his two-seater (210 HP 2.5l).
cheers
-=K=-
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