Pitcairn Autogiro

Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:07 pm

Soon to fly in Ohio:

And from 1935 or so (lower), and post WW2 (upper):

Footage of a similar one:

http://www.autogyro-rc.com/user/Kellett_1.wmv

Last edited by Baldeagle on Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:02 pm

That is cool! Any more info on it?

Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:37 pm

It's a 1932 Pitcairn PA-18 with a Kinner R-5 engine of 160hp. It has actually been ready to fly for some time, but FAA paperwork glitches have held things up. Hopefully they will be sorted out before the cold weather gets here.

Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:15 pm

That's great.

I can't wait untill I see pictures of it in the air.

Where in Ohio?

Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:12 am

repeat question..... where in ohio :?:

Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:18 am

Original or replica?

Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:37 pm

It's an original, and is in the Dayton area.

Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:59 am

And Andrew King gets the honors, eh? Seen the ship....even has a part of mine on it!
Notice the added vertical fins in the before/after pics.

That's a pretty nice Mooney Mite behind it.

Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:12 pm

Awsome,

Are you going to fly it in airshows? I'd like to see that.

Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:06 am

The plan is certainly to get it out in public as much as possible. We hoped to have it at Oshkosh this year, but an FAA paperwork SNAFU prevented that.

Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:01 am

Wow! Now that will be cool to see.

Eric

Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:47 am

Are any others currently flying, or will this be the only one?

Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:27 pm

This will be the only vintage autogiro flying, although there is a sister ship being restored in New Jersey, which should be ready in the next couple of years. It's possible that there's one or two others out there somewhere being restored, but I don't think that there are any others that will fly in the near future.

The only other fixed rotor, winged autogiro to fly in the last 40 years was Steve Pitcairn's, now in the EAA Museum, still flyable I think, but not likely to fly any more. I've heard that in the '60s there was a vintage Cierva autogiro that flew in Spain, but don't know anything about that one.

We've been in touch with Steve for pointers on what to expect, and have also had extensive conversations with Johnny Miller, who is now 101 years old and still living by himself, and who was a well known autogiro pilot back in the '30s.
http://www.dmairfield.com/people/miller_jm/index.htm

Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:42 pm

Wow. I find it hard to believe that there are none flying right now. I look forward to seeing this one take to the air. PLEASE post some pictures for us! I've always thought they were pretty cool.

Tim

Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:27 pm

I have a question based on my ignorance of the type- how does this example being restored relate to the Beech-nut one(s) that Earhart flew?

Thanks! Keep up the good work, it's looking wonderful! I can't imagine how neat it will sound.

kevin