.

Dave: Go to their youtube page. They have 3-4 other shorter videos of it. One does show an approach (rather steep) & landing. Although, the camera switches to another view point on the landing itself, & it, along w/ the strong beat of the music @ that exact point, makes me believe they are two different landings.

I love the looks of the machine! It looks like an ultralight. But, using what I'm guessing is the Mosquito kit helicopter canopy, couldn't possibly meet the FAA's FAR-Part 103 rules.
 
According to their Facebook page... yes.
Possibly the european ultralight (don't they call them microlights?) rules.
I seriously doubt they meet the FAA's 103 regs weight restrictions, w/ the canopy/fairing.
 

They say 35 hp and 220 lbs empty, 440 lbs maximum
6 liters/h in level flight
Best climb slope 395 ft/mn at 82 mph
Electrical starter
Hydraulic launcher
20.000 Euros
 

They say 35 hp and 220 lbs empty, 440 lbs maximum
6 liters/h in level flight
Best climb slope 395 ft/mn at 82 mph
Electrical starter
Hydraulic launcher
20.000 Euros

1. Worldwide, gyro pilots haven't been able to fly on only 35 hp. Actually, Pollini's stats come to 36.5 hp). Once up in the air, yeah, & even a bit less that that in level flight, but not enough horses for taking off & climbing out w/ rotorblade drag.

Ralph Taggert & his flying partner, Don Chubb, found the Kawasaki 440 engine's claims of 40 hp to be exaggerated, & believed it to be highly likely to be only 35 hp, by it's output & their lack of being able to fly w/ it. They reported the Rotax 447 was accurately 40 hp, & performed well for their ultralight gyro.

2. I'd believe the 220# w/out the fairing/canopy & glass or polycarbonate windscreen, & w/out the weight of a hydraulic prerotator.

3. 6 L. per hr. fuel consumption also is unheard of in a gyro. Sounds very reasonable in a very light airplane.

4. Their several videos do not show any takeoffs from a dead stop, nor the rotors being prerotated, just like Dennis Fetter's Air Command videos left that part out. Only climbing out. Any FAA Part 103 gyro doesn't/hasn't any room in the weight portion of the regs to carry the weight of a hy. pump, hoses, & fluids.

5. Price could be barely believable, but remains to be seen, as sales occur. Lowest price worldwide for a single place, flying gyroplane being sold to the publc...

I'd be concerned about the airframe aviation quality features if the weight & price hold to their stated values. Also, if the rotors are extruded, they aren't as lightweight as traditional aluminum skinned ones.
The photo taken from the ground looking up @ it overhead in flight shows a tapered keel from mast to tail. Maybe a box, (or composite) keel there?

The prop seems too small for good thrust, as well as being high thrustline. The horizontal tail appears too small to easily overcome that design flaw. Their video's music drown out the sounds of the engine, prop, & rotorblades, masking the sounds that enables gyro pilots to discern about their flying characteristics.

The three pilots shown on their Facebook page looks to be stout fellas, and not very lightweight pilots that might be able to fly on so little hp.

Their webpage shows other designs they have in the pipeline (computer designs, not actual photos). Also, they mention their development $$ are co-funded from the European Union. The Airbus of the rotorcraft world. Eurocopter Jr. Sounds like it is an unlimited pocketbook until the EU purse-strings holders get tired of sending their euros into the black hole...

Although I don't believe the accuracy of their numbers ( and, what aircraft design's numbers are entirely believable until others verify them?), I love this design, and hope it is successful!
 
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The great thing about the Polini is the actual weight of the engine, The old rotax 447 weighed 82.5 lbs with a "B" gearbox and pull start and put out 39Hp.
The Polini weighs 43 lbs with elec starter and puts out 36Hp. So take 40 lbs right off the gyro for the engine weight.

Slo Joe has this engine on a gyro in Florida, a Bensen style simple gyro with 22ft dragon wings, yes it flys, Says it is kind of scary landing with any wind because it is so light, but with carbon fiber etc, I think it would be doable.

Right now I have an ultralight gyro under construction right now airframe, rotorhead, and engine weigh 190 lb.

Bensens B-13 (?) with the Kiekhaefer engine was right around 200 lbs,

I am sure they are not using a mosquito pod, but one styled similar, and with carbon fiber it probably doesn't weigh more than a few lbs.
 
The fact that an 82 mph best climb speed is listed in their specs immediately takes it out of consideration for US Part 103. That spec also suggests a long runway and high takeoff speeds might be needed, and the wheels don't look robust enough for a takeoff from "any piece of grass" as advertised.

I don't see any obvious scheme for tuning out two-per-rev stresses on the boxed mast, and there's visible two-per-rev camera shaking in parts of the video. The engine website shows fuel consumption of 2.9 liters per hour at 66 pounds of thrust using a 59-inch prop, and max thrust of 231 pounds static at sea level. Six liters per hour in a modern EFI four-stroke would work out to about 25 HP, but the Thor Polini 250 is a two-stroke with a float-type carb, so clearly the efficiency claim doesn't pencil out for a gyro, unless it's in a descent.

I'm excited to see this development, but realistically the Nano looks like a potential source of kit parts for an Experimental Amateur Built gyro in the US. The airframe would likely have to gain some weight to support a realistic engine and landing gear, and I'd want to know there was enough H-stab to mitigate the power-pitch coupling likely with the high thrustline. But even if a practical machine came out at 280 pounds empty with 40-50 HP, that could be a fun option.

Looking at the other designs on the website, my first impression is that this is an enterprise built specifically to attract government development grants. In my opinion, the Nano has likely graduated from vaporware only because it was the cheapest of the designs to prototype to keep the money flowing. I hope I'm wrong.
 
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The fact that an 82 mph best climb speed is listed in their specs immediately takes it out of consideration for US Part 103.
At 2m/sec climb my math works out to about 54MPH
 
It is likely there was a confusion between MPH and KPH. 82 KPH is about 49.2 MPH. A reasonable speed.
 
The fact that an 82 mph best climb speed is listed in their specs immediately takes it out of consideration for US Part 103. That spec also suggests a long runway and high takeoff speeds might be needed, and the wheels don't look robust enough for a takeoff from "any piece of grass" as advertised.
I looked at their web site and only the fuel capacity disqualifies it from part 103 operation.

Maximum speed was listed at ninety kilometers per hour (49kts).

Best rate of climb was listed at 45 kilometers per hour (24kts).

Weight was listed at 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

Fuel tank capacity listed at 20 liters (5.28 gallons).

They even thought about safety.

“Of course - for your safety - it is worth training in piloting before you take a seat in NANO and start. A few hours of flight with the instructor in another two-person machine will be helpful.”

I feel a few hours of training may not be enough.
 
Best rate of climb was listed at 45 kilometers per hour (24kts).

Where do you see that Vance?

Performance:

  • Never exceed speed - Vne 110 km/h
  • Maximum speed - Vmax 90 km/h
  • Minimum speed - Vmin 35 km/h
  • Cruising speed - 70 km/h
  • Maximum climb speed 2 m/s
 
My simulations tell me that the 36.5 Hp of their very light engine can take off 440 lbs at 31 mph and go up to 500 ft / min at 44 mph with a propeller of 59 inchs
The hydraulic launcher is in my opinion the lightest of all technologies (my project shows to me 10 lbs all included to transmit 3 hp)
The mast box and keel in thin sheet are much lighter than usual extruded tubes.
Reduce all these weights also allows a lighter landing gear and finally the 220 lbs are very believable.
My only doubt concerns the consumption of 6 liters / h in horizontal flight, because I find that the power required at this moment on the propeller shaft is 24 hp
 
FusionCopter confirmed to me:
"Our prerotation system is designed to give 350 RPM. 320 RPM is on the
safe side :)
The ROTOR 7 m x 0,16 - we designed our own more effective profile.
We achieve 3 m/s at 60 km/h but for a pilot of 80 kg. For a pilot of 100
kg the performance is 2 m/s.
And we use 6 l/hour in normal flight. 9 l/hour in very intensive tests."

Reducing the chord keeps the Rrpm high enough for a normal coning with lighter blades. More profile drag but even less induced drag .
The stiffness in torsion / bending of the blades given by the extruded aluminum is then correctly exploited.
 
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FusionCopter asks me to correct. I transmit:
Dear Jean
I have seen that you placed info about Fusioncopter NANo on the rotary
forum....
Please correct it, since there is some misunderstanding.

1. The RPM in flight is 320-350.

2. Inicial RPM given by hydraulic system is 220.

3. The Rotor of the NANO is eventually 7 m x 0,175 (no 0,16 - my mistake)

Best regards

Jacek
 
I looked at their web site and only the fuel capacity disqualifies it from part 103 operation. Maximum speed was listed at ninety kilometers per hour (49kts).

Yes - The website has been changed since I saw the 82 MPH spec. Jazzenjohn, you're probably right - a mistake in units when first posted.

They just started pre-sales November 18, so I guess its understandable if a few mistakes got through. The biggest improvement in the site since I first looked: If you select English, it stays in English. Before, I had to keep re-selecting English on every page. Glad they fixed that!

I'm still skeptical that this two-stroke can have a BSFC equal to the best new four-strokes. The engine manufacturer also specifies a max of 5% ethanol content in the fuel. That could make things interesting here in the US.

I wouldn't want to be a beta tester, but I hope this turns out to be a safe, affordable option for single-place enthusiasts.
 
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