Groen Brothers Aviation Achieves 3rd Milestone in High Speed Rotorcraft
August 19th, 2006
Groen Brothers Aviation, Inc. announced that the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has passed GBA’s submission for the third Milestone of its contract to design a proof of concept high speed, long range, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Phase One, of what is potentially a multi-year $40 million four phase program, began with a fifteen month $6.4 million award to perform trade studies, develop appropriate risk mitigation, perform extensive advanced computer modeling of the entire vehicle, develop the preliminary design for the Heliplane and complete the rotor system design.
As previously announced, this modern rotorcraft, named by DARPA as the “Heliplane,” is designed to exploit GBA’s gyrodyne technology. A “gyrodyne” can be considered as an airplane that does not need a runway. It offers the VTOL capability of a helicopter, the fast forward flight of an airplane, and the safety, simplicity and reliability of a GBA gyroplane. The goal of this proof-of-concept demonstrator is a greater than two-fold improvement in speed and range performance over a conventional helicopter. The Heliplane will have a cruise speed of 400 mph and an unrefueled range of 1,000 nm (1,152 miles). The proof-of-concept aircraft will also carry a 1,000 lb payload.
The objective expressed by DARPA is to obtain performance out of a rotary-wing aircraft that is comparable with fixed-wing airplanes in speed and efficiency. This aircraft type could be the next generation rotor wing aircraft, meeting economy and performance goals not considered achievable by any other type of VTOL aircraft.
Salt Lake City based Groen Brothers Aviation’s team includes: The Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; Adam Aircraft Industries with locations in both Colorado and Utah; Williams International with locations in both Michigan and Utah; and a highly renowned team of aerospace consultants including key members of the rotor-wing science cadre at Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State University, and the University of Maryland, as well as top rotor-wing scientists from throughout industry. On the Government Team under DARPA, the GBA team is receiving important support from NASA Ames and the Army’s AFDD team at NASA Ames Research Center in addition to leading Rotorcraft Technologists who for decades led much of this nation’s advanced rotor-wing aircraft development efforts.
Groen Brothers Aviation’s contract with DARPA is based upon the “gyrodyne” concept long espoused by Groen Brothers Aviation and extensively researched by Georgia Tech. A gyrodyne is similar in appearance to an airplane with a helicopter rotor mounted on top. And, like a helicopter it is capable of hovering and vertical takeoff and landing. Unlike a helicopter, however, a gyrodyne’s rotor is driven by rotor blade reaction drives powered only during hover, takeoff and landing. During forward flight, like a gyroplane, the rotor is not powered. Forward thrust is provided by engines typical of an airplane. This use of reaction drives for rotor power and main engines for forward thrust eliminates the need for much of the cost, weight, and complexity found in helicopters, while permitting much higher forward speeds.
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