Maiden flight of Arrowcopter!

Updated information on the Arrowcopter AC10

Updated information on the Arrowcopter AC10

I talked to the manufacturer yesterday and got some new information about the production status of the Arrowcopter AC10.

The manufacturing will be done in an autoclave by the Austrian company Carbotech Composites (www.carbon.at), absolute professionals when it comes to carbon fiber development and manufacturing. The forms will be completed in a week or two and manufacturing of parts is slated to begin mid December. The initial production run will be five machines, all of them sold already.

I got a couple of pictures from the manufacturing plant located in Salzburg.

Here is a production stand for one part of the Arrocopter fuselage:

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This photo shows the form for the two rudder halves:

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This form is used to make the race car style seats:

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Here is a rendered 3D image of the production version of the AC10. This differes in some small details from the prototype picture that's found earlier in this thread. The production version is 4% bigger overall, has acti collision lights and strobes included and some other minor changes. Here are some views:

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The rotorhead has double teeter bearings and is machined out of a single aluminum block. The rotor itself is a a single piece composite rotor. The downside of that is that it will be hard to transport. The benefit is closer tolerances in alignment, balancing and tracking.

I am really excited when I see the progress of such a great machine nearing serial production.

Greetings, -- Chris.
 
It is a very beautiful machine.
 
Certainly is a dream machine...'dream on!':Cry:
 
A dream, no other terms serves it justice. This is going to be a hit, regardless of the price.

Kai.
 
One-piece-rotor should not be a problem. This thing is made to fly and if it keeps what it promises concerning Vmax (200 km/h) there is no need to move it on the streets. :lol:

We will see if the Arrowcopter fulfills what it promises.......... (´cause then it could easily be that one will be mine :lol:)
 
Will they have kits? what about engine choices there seems to be a very nice alternative to the 914 here in the states that will reduce the price a great deal.
 
Hi John ! No kits, how should that work ? The entire gyro is made of carbon-fibre, mast included, You can´t just glue the parts together.

Cowling is optimized for Rotax, only smaller dimension motors could be installed, if at all. This is one of the "new-age" gyros that can´t be assembled in one´s garage (unfortunately)
 
Originally Dietmar Fuchs (the manufacturer) had thought about offering a 130 HP BMW engine as a third option to the Rotax 912 and 914. The BMW is off the table at this point. I guess the Arrowcopter has so many new features that a new engine would be just this one too many. Maybe later, though?

-- Chris.
 
Ya know that Teasin with this kinda thing will cause Blindness and possible Head Trama.

SOMEBODY Wake Me Up....

All jokes aside... Keep Us Informed.. If This is REAL

Steve
 
Hi Steve ! Unfortunately it IS REAL ! This is why I started to spare every penny in my piggy-bank ;) .............. but, phew, next models of Arrowcopter will be available for delivery only by the end of 2010, so enough time for the piggy-bank ...........
 
I must say that from all appearances, Mr. Fuchs has addressed the critical issues of stability; the machine looks to be CLT and the horizontal stabilizer is correctly positioned in the center of the propeller slipstream. Also, fuselage taper looks to be adequate to avoid flow separation between the widest part and the propeller.

I’m not keen about styling flourishes but Flash Gordon styling sells as well today as it did in 1959 for Cadillac.
 

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To combine style and function without sacrificing either is an art. If someone manages to do that I commend him for it.

Let's wait and see until we get first hand accounts of how the Arrowcopter does in the function department. From what I've heard about brief testflights of the prototype, he exceled.

-- Chris.
 
Will they have kits?

Hi John ! No kits, how should that work ? The entire gyro is made of carbon-fibre, mast included, You can´t just glue the parts together. ...This is one of the "new-age" gyros that can´t be assembled in one´s garage (unfortunately)

To resurrect an old thread...

The USA version is a kit; no factory-made versions allowed here at this time. It is an EAB, not an E-SLA, but can be flown by a Sport Pilot or higher.

The USA distributor is Dr. Claudius Klimt of Baltimore, and he can be contacted by e-mail at:

[email protected]

(His is a beautiful red one with black and white accents. I'm jealous.)

For a more up-to-date video, here's one of Serial # 001 of the production version from May of 2011:

Arrow-Copter AC10 SN001.m4v - YouTube
 
Hi Chris,
Can the arrowcopter be fitted with floats? Any plans? Would make one incredible machine if it had composite floats with repositionable wheels..I dont doubt the Arrowcopter developers could make provision for an add-on float option but I'm afraid the price will be way out there. Not too many people can afford one now, not to mention with a float option. Have u guys thought about a float option, or its not even a consideration.
 
Hi Chris,
Could it be mated to existing floats using the current axles for the rear wheels as a connection point to the floats on the back side, and on the front, using the carbon fiber shell of the fuselage on the front through a connecting rod to the float on the front side kind of similar to the MTO 3 on floats option??
 
Hi Victor,

the float option is currently not on our radar screen. We do have auxiliary tanks and baggage compartments planned that will attach to the underside of the wings.

If you want float and you have a kit version, you can just adapt what's out there to fit the ArrowCopter.

-- Chris.
 
Having been a seaplane instructor, and seen the results of various attempts made to marry floats and gyros, I really don't see a big future, or reason to do it.
 
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