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The CarterCopter is an advanced aircraft, a combined fixed wing aeroplane/autogyro currently under development by Carter Aviation Technologies.
The design has a rotor a bit like a helicopter (actually it's an unpowered gyrocopter rotor) but it also has stubby fixed wings like a conventional aeroplane, but smaller. It also has a pusher propeller at the back.
Takeoff
At takeoff the pilot angles the rotor flat and spins it up to very high speed then disconnects the engine and changes the angle of the main rotor blades so that the vehicle then leaps into the air. The aircraft's rotor then has enough momentum (due to heavy weights in the rotor tips) that it can hover for a short time safely. The pusher propellor then applies full speed and the vehicle starts to move forwards. As it does so, the air gets forced through the main rotor giving more lift, and spinning it faster; and the vehicle climbs into the air.
Cruising Once the Cartercopter gets up to a forward speed of about 90 miles per hour or so, its stubby, lightweight wings, take over the flying- the pilot then flattens the angle of the rotor blades so it produces hardly any lift and very little drag. The rotor is kept spinning as it keeps the rotor rigid, preventing excessive flapping.
Normally a helicopter or gyrocopter cannot go as fast as its rotor tip speed. This is because the retreating rotor would stop in the air, and the vehicle will essentially 'fall over' due to lack of lift on one side and increased lift on the other side.
However, with the Cartercopter, the fixed wings are keeping the vehicle at the correct angle to the horizon and providing the lift. The rotor is unloaded, so the angle on the rotor induced by the difference in air speeds is very minor. This means that a Cartercopter can actually fly much faster than the tip speed of the rotor. The rotors flap a little as they rotate to deal with the difference in lift between the two sides of the vehicle.
The theoretical maximum design speed is around 500 mph, which is almost twice as fast as any helicopter has ever gone. At present the fastest Carter Aviation have achieved is about 170 mph; which is 50% faster than any other gyrocopter.
The engine power to reach these speeds is 320 hundred horsepower. A helicopter to go the same speed would need almost twice the horsepower. Thus the Cartercopter is about twice as efficient.
The vehicle design outperforms helicopters on every dimension except sustained hover, and should be much cheaper to buy and maintain. It also matches fixed wing aeroplanes- but with near-vertical takeoff and landing; and at only modestly higher cost to buy and maintain than a fixed wing aircraft.
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