AR-1 Gyroplane - US Made begins production

Here are some pictures of prototype showing folding mast with just one bolt out that is standard in all AR-1 and allows use of standard enclosed trailer door height to put the gyroplane in. Also the disconnected tail tube that can make shipping the gyroplane easier. That requires removing two bolts on the plates and loosening the pulley bolt to be able to release tension on rudder cables to take the tail off.

The front suspension is using trailing axle so it will try and straighten out on its own if someone touches down slightly crooked but still has linked rudder giving positive steering control without use of heel or toe brakes that are differential.

The foot pedals in front are adjustable for different size legs with a floor to put your heel down for getting the most comfortable pivot angle for each pilot on their foot. The heel floor is being made a prototype right now.

These will be all standard features. Its taking a bit longer than I hoped but we are making these little improvements now and not trying to compromise to get it right the first time so my first customers are not sitting on stuff that isn't quite there. But its getting very close to game time. These are all things that are improvements and enhancements over AG-1.
 

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Debut @ Anahuac????

Debut @ Anahuac????

Still on target for an Anahuac 2015 debut???

I'ts exciting to hear of all the great things going into this gyro ...& US made too!

Sincerely ...all the best to you - Abid & team! :yo:
 
Abid,
You've come a long ways since your days as a trash talking trike driver !!!!! Hahaha
Keep up the good work,
Randy
 
Abid,
You've come a long ways since your days as a trash talking trike driver !!!!! Hahaha
Keep up the good work,
Randy

Haha. Good one. Trikes are the bomb and only real men can fly trikes :).

Its really different things. I don't think one can get the feeling of trike flying in gyroplanes and vice-versa.
I just sent one trike to NM and I have one being assembled to go to a 777 Captain in Texas who is a DPE in trikes.
I also have an airplane sitting in the hanger for a customer with 912iS and auto-pilot and a freaking TV screen which has more things going on and to set than I wish to even know.

We build all and sell all three but our concentration right now in manufacturing is certainly the gyroplane and that has created an additional 12 jobs here between composite and metal and assembly shops.

IMO: Being able to supply all three categories of aircraft honestly I see as an advantage and I can and have borrowed ideas, design etc. from one to the other. The AR-1 or AG-1 body is nothing more than stretched out the Delta Jet trike body I did in 2005. Same with the landing gear and landing gear fairings. And I for one think AG-1 and AR-1 body is sexier and creates a better airflow around. Its all the effort that went in the original design that continues to pay off dividends a decade later and that was from a trike. Folding mast: You would hardly find a trike without one today. They have been doing it there for 2 decades. It enhances its utility for trailering and portability. I can't believe that the folding mast is still not a standard item in gyroplanes. It ought to be. Why should I buy a trailer and customize its center two feet higher just because? So these little things like folding mast and sleek lines and a nice main metal leaf landing gear matters and trikes go land in many places so those types of things transfer over with little change very nicely.
 
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Still on target for an Anahuac 2015 debut???

I'ts exciting to hear of all the great things going into this gyro ...& US made too!

Sincerely ...all the best to you - Abid & team! :yo:

Thank you Chris. Its been a horrendous amount of work and resources. These 14 hour days are starting to get to me after 6 months straight in my old age :). Use to be that I pulled 20 hours day on a week straight. We have overall not been bad. In about 8 months from zero to close to finish line with all BOMs made, Illustrated Parts Catalog in the works, solid models and drawings for everything and every part going into production short of the last change on the rudder. I am always looking for perfection and speed but my guys remind me that we have been only at it for about 7 to 8 months and have achieved a lot and they are probably right. It can be better though always. Things that look simple are only that way because they have been engineered and can be repeatedly executed with rather complex tooling. They in fact have a lot going on in them. I am sure your Ozzie designer friends fill you in on that aspect as well.

Don't think Anahuac debut for AR-1 is possible but Greg and Chris will be there with AG-1. Flight wise they are almost identical but we did shell out about 30 odd pounds

The last 5% takes 20% of the time or something like that :)
 
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A familiar tune ....

A familiar tune ....

..... yes indeed we are appreciative of the challenges of the start-up in gyro / kit manufacturing! You have condensed into a few months what took TAG aviation several years to reach this point ... totally impressed! :hail:

We'll enjoy catching up with Greg & Chris again! :)

I imagined the Anahuac roll-out would be too ambitious ... given that new processes & improvements always drag the timeline out .... so right about the last 5%!!!:lol: ....Onwards to Sebring in January! :usa2:

Thank you Chris. Its been a horrendous amount of work and resources. These 14 hour days are starting to get to me after 6 months straight in my old age :). Use to be that I pulled 20 hours day on a week straight. We have overall not been bad. In about 8 months from zero to close to finish line with all BOMs made, Illustrated Parts Catalog in the works, solid models and drawings for everything and every part going into production short of the last change on the rudder. I am always looking for perfection and speed but my guys remind me that we have been only at it for about 7 to 8 months and have achieved a lot and they are probably right. It can be better though always. Things that look simple are only that way because they have been engineered and can be repeatedly executed with rather complex tooling. They in fact have a lot going on in them. I am sure your Ozzie designer friends fill you in on that aspect as well.

Don't think Anahuac debut for AR-1 is possible but Greg and Chris will be there with AG-1. Flight wise they are almost identical but we did shell out about 30 odd pounds

The last 5% takes 20% of the time or something like that :)
 
Come see AR-1 gyroplane at Sebring Expo. Except for rotors, engine all other major components are made right here in the US and most in Florida with AN hardware mostly directly from AirFasco manufacturer.

Powered by Rotax 912 or 914 series engine, venerable Averso Stella rotors finishes off the foreign made components on this machine. Everything else right down to the screws are made in the US or made by or for us.

Front suspension - is a "trailing wheel" spider shaft coupling with with CNC milled legs and components that have give to not pass shock load to the pilot seat.

Rear suspension - is a single piece leaf landing gear made of aircraft grade 7075-T6 Aluminum in rectangular shape so as to not bend or flex backwards (a common mistake with round stock in Aluminum) and axles are 3/4" hollow 4130 chromoly axles heat treated and hardened.

NO MORE AIR: The dreaded problems of air driven systems that seems like an elegant solution but can be marred with issues like after pre-rotation solenoid pneumatic valves getting stuck and pilot not able to move the stick back due to pressure pushing forward causing flip overs and damaged gyroplanes and egos or after being stuck a rapid release making the stick come full back much faster than expected because pilot had to hold pressure before against air causing a possible pitch up. Leaking around the rubber seals in actuators, chasing leaks all along the routing of air lines. GONE! We have taken a simpler mechanical and electrical linear actuator approach which is much more reliable, consistent and easy to troubleshoot.

NO cracking pre-rotator brackets - We use steel and over 100's of hours of full pre-rotation and in FEA analysis have seen no issues or cracked and broken pre-rotator brackets causing expensive or dangerous damage

No cracking rotor blades - Averso rotors have never ever reported a crack and use 2000 series Aluminum alloy instead of 6000 series extrusions. I get this question a lot. Not all Aluminum alloys are the same and not all clamping hub bars are the same in design.

Teflon Stainless Steel braided hoses and AN fittings - For a lifetime no replacement oil and brake lines and Milspec 5606 (Automatic Transmission Fluid - ATF) brake fluid with Matco brake cylinder and US made Tracy O Brien C-92 Cub disc brake calipers. No DOT 4 fluid to spill and corrode or worry about paint coming off.

Folding mast - So you do not have to spend time, energy and money to buy customized tall height enclosed trailers - Standard in all AR-1's.

Rotor-head Dampening - To reduce stick shake the rotor head is dampened with a adjustable dampener connected to it

Electric Linear Actuator for Trim - Instead of air driven pneumatic system.

Smaller diameter front wheel - To allow easier job of landing correctly in crosswinds where the front naturally remains up when fuselage is level. Trailing wheel also tends to straighten itself out and yet is linked to the rudder for positive steering control.

Adjustable Pedals in front and back - Both front and back (instructor set) pedals are adjustable for people with different leg heights and different flexibility in their feet joints. Back pedals for instruction can be removed in 30 seconds with a simple pin if the pilot does not want back seat passenger interfering with the rudder like in the fatal accident in Saudi Arabia where just before landing the passenger applied full rudder to one side, causing a crash and a fatality in an MTO.

Quick Removable back stick - Disconnect an electric plug. Remove a couple of pins and the stick is gone. Same logic as above.

Convertible Option - Want to fly enclosed in the winter. Not to worry. The composite body is designed to accept our new canopy that you can add at any time for about $7500 with cabin heat.

Adjustable height front seat: Three height positions for front seat. Remove 2 AN4 bolts and move the seat up or down by an 0.75 of an inch on each position. This also allows in a crash for the bolts to bend and absorb energy instead of passing it all on to the person in the seat. This combined with sturdy yet giving front suspension can make the difference in an unfortunate accident.

Fire Retardant Composites - FAA approved fabric and resin that does not want to burn in an unfortunate crash giving pilot extra time to get out alive.

PERFORMANCE: We have maintained all the essential elements of the AG-1 design that provided excellent speed range, cruise and stability specially in yaw axis not seen in other open cockpit renditions of similar style and lightened the gyroplane up by 45 pounds.

Aircraft Hardware - Because it is an aircraft, we prefer to use AN and NAS hardware in all structural components

US Made - Everything from pre-rotator ring gear to CNC milled front forks to frame to every composite part are made by us or specifically for us. We are following the same rigor as we do in our certified trikes with full shop traveller system and approved vendors with inspections of each major sub-assembly per design drawings and exploded views to make an aircraft quality product that would satisfy construction norms for Part 23 type aircraft.

Local Parts and Support - At least for North America

Our shop is headed by an experienced FAA IA, engineering is done with USF grads directed by me and will soon be hiring more gyroplane trained mechanics and pilots within the central Florida region. Our test flights are headed by Greg Spicola along with design input and our money is all going to Florida economy. We have a dealership established in Texas and in China and Taiwan. Other dealers wanted. CFI's needed.

Come and see us and see where we are taking the US manufactured gyroplane in the shape of AR-1 and hopefully this is just the start.
 
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Sounds awesome Abid!

Sounds awesome Abid!

Have been watching your journey to bring a new-gen US-made tandem gyro to the US (& world) market these past couple of years!

You have really brought together a very nice machine with many of the real issues with the current models ... addressed!

I went from sitting in the first Apollo @ Bensen days a couple of years ago ... thinking NAHHHH .... too tight & didn't like the pilotseat view! ...to my flight with Greg @ Anahuac this year ... being quite impressed with the machine!

For the price-point you are aiming for ...this is shaping up to be a winner!

No disloyalty here to our own "competing" product ...which to be honest has it's own specialty niche ..... just a :yo: to a worthy newcomer in the market!:usa2:
 
Hi Chris:
Thanks. The design was all done starting in Feb this year so it's been just under a year but we started with Apollo design basis. When I found out that Apollo production was behind by 7 to 8 months I was forced to execute what I was planning to do in 2016 to doing it in 2015.
The front seat in AR1 is 2 inches wider then AG1 so you should fit better and also there is 3" adjustability in rudder pedals like your Gyroplane. Even back pedals are adjustable.
The tail has significantly larger vertical area with a equally significantly larger rudder to account for yaw stability with the canopy or without.
I flew the TAG for about half an hour. It's a very nice machine but as you said I think it's a slightly different market segment perhaps. Its all good. A rising tide raises all ships.
 
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Here are some composite parts showing some differences (especially the tail) from AG1 (Apollo). These composites are all US (specifically Florida) production.

Currently 1 blue, 2 red, 1 silver grey, 1 orange and 1 yellow are in production.
We have adjustable foot pedals for both front and back seats, folding masts, detachable tail sections on all of them.

Also, SilverLight Aviation welcomes today Davey Sees (Wachula, FL) as a full time employee at our production facility. Many of you in the US or at least in the Southeast probably know Davey as a long time gyroplane builder, instructor and pilot from the UL exemption days.

The first 2 pictures show the difference between an AG1 and AR-1 tail, notice the fins extensions. The 3rd picture shows the relative difference in rudder size between AG1 and AR-1. The 4th and 5th pictures show some of fuselages being prepped for the frame. There is a bit of a difference between that also between AG1 and AR-1. The silver grey and red fuselages are for our Texas orders.
 

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Abid- Nice! I still thank you for giving my dad a ride in your gyro. I knew that would be his last greatest moment ...and I was right.
 
Abid- Nice! I still thank you for giving my dad a ride in your gyro. I knew that would be his last greatest moment ...and I was right.

Stan:
I thought about your dad and you these holidays. I am glad that we were able to get him to fly the gyroplane on that trip. He seem to be still kicking pretty good then. Thanks for having us and it was our pleasure my friend.
I'll be flying to Mentone and Oshkosh again this year so I hope to stop by your place.
 
Abid- We can go back to the gun range again.. I have some nice pistols and my AR15 you can shoot.
 
Here are some pictures of front adjustable foot pedals, front forks with billet CNC fork legs, front forks have trail built-in and have internal acetal spider suspension, back adjustable foot steering (note the machined notches to tilt the steering to a any distance and angle back pilot likes) and quick removable (for pilots who do not want back seat passengers messing with them).

In one of the pics, one can see behind the pedal that the front seat height is adjustable and unlike its other renditions, we have made the front seat welded assembly attach via AN4 bolts to the main keel frame on purpose. To allow seat height adjustability for different sized torsos, and to allow the AN4 bolt to bend in double shear acting as a part of a crumple zone instead of passing peak shock loads up the spine of the pilot.

The front forks also have acetal spider couplings between CNC billet Aluminum halves in them to provide a long life stiff suspension which comes into real effect when a crash landing happens and saves the structure and the pilot. All AN aircraft grade hardware is used in all structural applications.
The front pedals are also quickly adjusted but beyond that the whole front assembly can be relatively quickly dropped down by removing 3 bolts to service on the bench.

I will post more pics later this week. Come see us at Sebring Expo Jan 20 to 23 in Sebring, Florida.
 

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FARA, in post #25 you said that the parts look simple only because they were engineered

to look like that,I have alway thought that simple works best in aviation,it is however

very hard to make simple work, it requires really good thought and design. A lot of the

things in gyro design is what I call Rubegoldberg parts,you just keep adding pieces until

it works the way you want it to,but it is of course completely unreliable its good

to see you doing it the right way(the air trim being one of the parts that I would have

gotten rid of to). I believe what I have seen puts you way above the others in quality

and design!





Best regards,
 
Abid, careful not to build heavy.

Thanks Eddie

Averso: Trying hard to cut weight sir everywhere it's prudent. That is why there has been some delay. Despite the tail and rudder being much larger than original Apollo it's still about the same weight and our frame is lighter and other composite parts are lighter. So overall the gyro will be lighter than Apollo version but this is meant to be able to take some rigors of training so we don't want pre rotator parts going through rotors or the 0.3 meters drop test of BCAR Sec T is not adequate for that purpose. It needs to handle at lest .4 meter drop test in my estimation for limit load purpose, although in the end the lift on the rotor should actually increase instead of going to 2/3 Lift as is assumed for airplanes.
Merci.
 
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They look Realy good Abid.


Sincerely SWilliams
 
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