Carter PAV

PAV
On display 2014
Role Compound autogyro
Manufacturer Carter Aviation Technologies
First flight 5 January 2011
Status In test
Number built 2
Developed from CarterCopter

The Carter PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) is a two-bladed, compound autogyro developed by Carter Aviation Technologies to demonstrate slowed rotor technology. The design has an unpowered rotor mounted on top of the fuselage, wings like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft mounted underneath, and a controllable pitch pusher propeller at the rear of the fuselage.[1][2] Heavy weights (75 pounds or 34 kilograms each)[3] are placed in the rotor tips to enhance rotational energy and to reduce flapping.

Development

When the CarterCopter was damaged in 2005 due to a gear up landing caused by pilot error, the cost of repair was deemed higher than the cost of making a new aircraft with the added benefit of incorporating lessons learned from the first aircraft. Design of the PAV was begun during 2005.[4][5] Several changes and development problems occurred along the way; twin boom was deemed unnecessary, so a single boom was constructed, and flaws in rotor blades and hub were revealed during testing and then corrected.[6][7]

On 16 November 2009, the AAI Corporation (a division of Textron) signed a 40-year exclusive license agreement[8][9] with the company concerning all unmanned aircraft systems, one of which was intended to deliver 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of cargo similar to the unmanned Kaman K-MAX, but over a future range of 1,300 nautical miles (2,400 km)[8][10][11] compared to the demonstrated 150 nautical miles (280 km) or more of the K-MAX.[12] The agreement committed CarterCopters to developing the technology to maturity, in exchange for exclusive rights to develop UAVs for the next 40 years. The first product in the AAI agreement[10] was to be an autonomous slowed rotor/compound (SR/C) aircraft based on the Carter Personal Air Vehicle.[13][14][15]

"Critical Design Review" (CDR) for AAI Corporation was performed around January 2010 when the prototype was already being built. Usually a CDR is performed before a vehicle is built.[3]

In 2014, Carter said they bought back the license from AAI[16] and is seeking production partners outside USA,[17][18] hoping for production 3-5 years later.[19]

Testing

The PAV was Taxi run in Autumn 2010[3][20] at Olney Airport after FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate[21] on 27 July 2010, and performed traffic pattern movement on 2 December 2010, piloted by Larry Neal at the controls and co-pilot Robert Luna.[3][22] Larry Neal was also one of the pilots of the CarterCopter at Olney in 2005.[23][24]

The first flight occurred on 5 January 2011 at Olney without wings and lasted 36 minutes, which qualified Carter for a milestone payment.[25][26][27]

Carter stated that the PAV performed its first zero-roll jump take-off on 18 January 2011,[22] to a height of 120 feet (37 m). Eight jump take-offs were performed.[22] There are some electrical issues with the aircraft, and it is not in volume production.[28][29]

The PAV flew traffic patterns with wings at Olney in January 2012,[30] and has since flown winged test flights. It flew a few hours at a time, but its flight certificate restricted it to within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Olney.[31]

As of June 2012, development of the PAV is a year behind schedule[32] due to various technical problems,[33] and a delay of a further year was caused by rotor RPM software control issues.[34] Carter received funding from the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation in 2010 to complete the PAV.[35][36][37][38] Carter views the lack of a PAV flight simulator as a mistake, and attempts to build one. The previous CarterCopter was designed using a flight simulator.[33]

Carter says that the PAV has a Lift to drag ratio of 10-15,[39] and reached an advance ratio of 0.85 in 2012.[40][41]

According to Carter, the PAV reached Mu-1 on 7 November 2013. It also achieved a speed of 174 kn (322 km/h; 200 mph), and the rotor was slowed down to 113 rpm.[42][43] The PAV flew its first public show flight outside Olney when it flew to Wichita Falls later that month.[44] Carter says the PAV has achieved a speed of 204 miles per hour (328 km/h) at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,900 m), a Mu of 1.13[34][45] and an L/D of 11.6[46]-15. Carter has applied to the FAA to change the PAVs certificate from research and development to demonstration.[47]

The second PAV (called PAV-II, registration N210AV) was flight approved in March 2014,[48][49] and demonstrated at Sun 'n Fun air festival and MacDill Air Force Base in 2014, both in Florida.[50] In July 2014 it was displayed at Oshkosh Airshow. Carter says it has flown 186 kn (344 km/h; 214 mph) at 18,000 feet (5,500 m).[17] The first non-Carter pilots flew the aircraft in 2015.[51]

Design

Computer aided design and X-plane flight simulation were used during development.[2][52] Unlike the twin-boom CarterCopter, the PAV has a single tailboom.[53][54] A tilting mast allows the rotor to be tilted 15 degrees forward and 30 degrees aft to allow different centres of gravity and wing angle-of-attacks.[54][55]

Helicopter rotors are designed to operate at a fixed RPM[56][57][58] (within in a narrow range of a few percent),[59][60] whereas Carter uses RPM ranges between 100-350.[61] Most aircraft have two energy parameters (speed and altitude) which the pilot can trade between,[62] but Carter technology attempts to use rotor rotation as a third energy parameter.[63][64]

The purpose of the Slowed Rotor/Compound aircraft is to enhance the flight envelope compared to fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and traditional autogyros,[29] by minimizing the dangerous areas of the stall speed diagram/Height-velocity diagram[64][65] as well as moving the speed limit up.[66]

The PAV has traditional airplane-like controls (Vernier type[3]), but the stick also controls the rotor.[19] Most controls were automated in 2011,[21][67] and jump-takeoff is performed at the push of a button.[19] Materials used include glass fiber, aluminum, titanium, and steel, as well as autoclaved carbon/epoxy prepreg with aramid honeycomb core on the PAV-II.[68] The tip weights had been made of tungsten, while the current (2013) are made of steel.[69]

Suppliers for the aircraft include Blue Mountain Avionics for avionics and air-to-ground video and telemetry, and Sky Ox Oxygen Systems as the PAV is not pressurized.[55] 60 channels of information convey sensor measurements from the aircraft to a ground computer, and 4 video cameras tape the flights.[22] The engine is equipped with a performance enhancement system by Nitrous Express.[70]

Operation

The PAV has flight characteristics similar to other Carter aircraft. When stationary on the ground, the engine powers up the flat pitch rotor to 370 RPM,[3] and the engine is then disengaged from the rotor to provide full power to the propeller.[61][67]

External media
Images
PAV in flight 1 2
Video
PAV jump take-off, with wings

The rotor now has substantial rotational energy due to the tip weights (usable temporary power equivalent to 1,000 horsepower or 750 kilowatts),[71] and the rotor blades are pitched to push air down and lift the aircraft in a jump takeoff.[61][72] While altitude is reached, the aircraft transitions into forward flight using the pusher propeller, and the rotor shifts to autorotation (windmilling) with air flowing up through the rotor. As speed increases, the air flow increases rotor RPM like other autogyros. Once sufficient airspeed is reached (around 70–85 miles per hour or 113–137 kilometres per hour)[73] for the small wings to provide lift, rotor blades are feathered to reduce rotor speed to 100 RPM[61][74] and minimize drag, and lift is provided mostly by the wings[1] when speed reaches 150 miles per hour (240 km/h).[73] Rotor lift is reduced to 10%, and flight efficiency is somewhat below that of a commercial jet plane.[75]

Specifications (PAV)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft[13][76]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

CarterCopter

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Fairey Rotodyne, Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne, Sikorsky X2, Eurocopter X3[80]

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Warwick, Graham. Carter flies VTOL hybrid Aviation Week, 26 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 Guevarra, Daniel. Carter PAV Is Getting Plenty Of Attention At EAA AirVenture AvStop Online Magazine, 29 July 2009. Archived on 13 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Archive 2010 Carter Aviation, 5 January 2010. Mirror Retrieved: 7 August 2010. Archived 6 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Archive 2006" Carter Aviation, 2 January 2006. Mirror. Retrieved: 7 August 2010. Quote: "For the past several months, Carter has been designing a new aircraft" Archived 27 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "CarterCopter prototype in the works" Texomas, 20 December 2006. Retrieved: 26 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Carter 4-Place PAV Jane's Information Group Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 20 July 2010. Retrieved: 9 September 2010. Archive
  7. ↑ All archives Carter Aviation, 2003-2010. Mirror. Retrieved: 7 August 2010. Archived 6 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. 1 2 Textron Subsidiary To Develop Carter Rotor Technology AVweb, 18 November 2009. Retrieved: 1 May 2010.
  9. ↑ Page, Lewis VTOL gyro-copter flying car mates with killer robot The Register, 20 November 2009. Retrieved: 1 May 2010.
  10. 1 2 AAI Corporation (November 2009). "AAI and Carter Aviation Technologies Enter Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Slowed Rotor/Compound Technology". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  11. ↑ AAI Corporation via Reuters (November 2009). "AAI and Carter Aviation Technologies Enter Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Slowed Rotor/Compound Technology". Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Team K-MAX demonstrates successful unmanned Helicopter Cargo resupply to U.S. Marine Corps, Lockheed Martin press release, 8 February 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  13. 1 2 Textron and Carter Aviation or Lockheed Martin might build DARPAs flying Hummer Next Big Future 29 August 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  14. ↑ Warwick, Graham. "Perseverance Pays Off for CarterCopter" Aviation Week, 20 November 2009. Retrieved: 9 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Wichita Falls aviation company lands lucrative deal" Seven News, undated. Retrieved: 28 January 2014.
  16. ↑ Lombardi, Frank. "Q&A with Carter Aviation CEO Jay Carter" Rotor&Wing, 6 May 2014. Retrieved: 1 August 2014. Archived on 6 May 2014.
  17. 1 2 Trimble, Stephen (30 July 2014). "Carter reveals turbine plan, investor talks for VTOL prototype". FlightGlobal. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Carter Aviation Technologies Seeks Investors For PAV Prototype" Aero-News, 3 September 2014. Retrieved: 27 September 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 Moore, Jim. "Carter seeks factory" Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 21 May 2015. Retrieved: 16 July 2015. Archived on 22 May 2015.
  20. ↑ "Carter PAV Heads to Flight-testing" Mirror. Carter, 24 October 2010. Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. 1 2 Wood, Janice. Carter PAV heads to flight testing General Aviation News, 25 October 2010. Retrieved: 15 November 2010. Archived on 7 January 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Aircraft Completes First Phase Of Flight Testing KAUZ-TV NewsChannel 6, 26 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011. Archived on 3 November 2013.
  23. ↑ You Say You Wanna Revolution? Carter Copter Tests New Rotor Aero-News, 6 April 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2011. Archived on 5 April 2012.
  24. ↑ Crosbie, Katie. Carter Aviation Technology announces new contract Texomas, 7 October 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2011. Archived on 2 October 2011. Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  25. ↑ Wood, Janice. Carter PAV hits first milestone General Aviation News, 17 January 2011. Retrieved: 21 January 2011. Archived on 18 February 2014.
  26. ↑ Carter PAV Completes 1st Funding Milestone Flight Aero-News, 18 January 2011. Retrieved: 21 January 2011. Archived on 5 April 2012.
  27. ↑ Paur, Jason. New autogyro is an alternative to flying cars Archived 4 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Wired (magazine), 21 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011. Archived on 4 March 2014.
  28. ↑ ANN Special Feature: Carter PAV flight test update - 01.20.11 Aero-News, 20 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  29. 1 2 Guyot, Fareed. Carter Personal Air Vehicle completes Phase-One flight testing EAA Air Venture, 21 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  30. ↑ January Meeting page 9 Texas Rotorcraft Association, February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  31. ↑ Shores, Gary et al. "Minutes of the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation" page 3, 21 June 2013. Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved: 2 September 2012.
  32. ↑ Shores, Gary et al. ""Minutes of the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation" p2, 18 April 2012. Mirror, page 12 Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  33. 1 2 Shores, Gary et al. "Minutes of the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation" , 29 June 2012. Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved: 29 November 2012.
  34. 1 2 "Carter Aviation Considered for Multi-Billion Dollar DOD Contact" Texomas, 24 January 2014. Retrieved: 26 January 2014.
  35. ↑ Shores, Gary et al. "Minutes of the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation" p1-3, 18 June 2012. Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved: 20 July 2012.
  36. ↑ Shores, Gary et al. "Minutes of the Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation" p2, 4 June 2012. Wichita Falls Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved: 26 November 2012.
  37. ↑ Shores, Gary & Carter, Jay. Resolution 132-2009 mirror City of Wichita Falls, Texas, 6 October 2009. Retrieved: 4 January 2011.
  38. ↑ "Carter Signs $4 Million Incentive Agreement"
  39. ↑ "Carter Aviation Reaches Major Milestone" Carter via Helicopter Association International, 4 December 2013. Retrieved: 5 December 2013.
  40. ↑ "Carter Says Prototype Aircraft Beating Helicopter Efficiencies In Flight Tests". Aero-news Network. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  41. ↑ "Carter prototype 2.5 times better lift-to-drag than helicopters". Carter press release. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  42. ↑ Deener, Sarah. "Slowed rotor has high-speed implications" Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 13 November 2013. Retrieved: 11 November 2013. Archived on 28 May 2015.
  43. ↑ Tatro, Jon. "Carter Aviation repeats historic mark - breaking the MU-1 barrier" Carter, 8 November 2013. Retrieved: 11 November 2013.
  44. ↑ "Area company shows off new aircraft" Times Record News, 23 November 2013. Retrieved: 25 November 2013. Photo
  45. ↑ "Carter vehicle breaks records" Times Record News, 28 January 2014. Retrieved: 28 January 2014.
  46. ↑ O'dell, Bob. "January Meeting" page 7 Texas Rotorcraft Association, February 2014. Retrieved: 28 August 2014. Archived on 3 September 2014.
  47. ↑ Warwick, Graham. "Lockheed/Piasecki Team Tackles Cargo UAV" Aviation Week, 24 February 2014. Retrieved: 26 February 2014. Archived on 3 January 2015.
  48. 1 2 Federal Aviation Administration (2014). "FAA Registry - PAV2, N210AV". Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  49. ↑ "N210AV" Flight Aware. Retrieved: 2 September 2013
  50. ↑ Grady, Mary. "Carter Shows Off VTOL Capabilities" AVweb, April 8, 2014. Retrieved: April 10, 2014. Archived on 13 April 2014.
  51. ↑ "Carter Copter soaring again" Times Record News, 24 September 2015. Retrieved: 29 September 2015. Archive
  52. ↑ Fisher, Mark. CarterCopter Technology Demonstrator, Pilot’s Operating Handbook X-Plane, 2002. Archived on 16 March 2012.
  53. ↑ Carter PAV 2+2 Mirror. Jane's all the world's aircraft, 25 November 2008. Retrieved: 9 September 2010. Archived 2 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  54. 1 2 Carter PAV nearly complete AirPlanes, 7 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  55. 1 2 Plack, Paul. Carter Aviation Technologies announces development partners Aero-News, 1 August 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011. Archived on 5 April 2012.
  56. ↑ Croucher, Phil. Professional helicopter pilot studies page 2-11. ISBN 978-0-9780269-0-5. Quote: [Rotor speed] "is constant in a helicopter".
  57. ↑ John M. Seddon, Simon Newman. Basic Helicopter Aerodynamics p216, John Wiley and Sons, 2011. Retrieved: 25 February 2012. ISBN 1-119-99410-1. Quote: The rotor is best served by rotating at a constant rotor speed
  58. ↑ Robert Beckhusen. "Army Dumps All-Seeing Chopper Drone" Wired June 25, 2012. Retrieved: 12 October 2013. Archived on 22 April 2015. Quote:The number of revolutions per minute is also set at a fixed rate
  59. ↑ The UH-60 permits 95–101% rotor RPM UH-60 limits US Army Aviation. Retrieved: 2 January 2010
  60. ↑ Trimble, Stephen (3 July 2008). "DARPA's Hummingbird unmanned helicopter comes of age". FlightGlobal. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014. The rotor speed on a typical helicopter can be varied around 95-102%
  61. 1 2 3 4 Moore, Jim. "Carter seeks factory" Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 21 May 2015. Retrieved: 28 May 2014. Archived on 22 May 2015.
  62. ↑ Sinclair, Edward J. (24 March 2005), The Army Aviator's Handbook for Maneuvering Flight and Power Management (PDF), United States Army Aviation Branch, p. 20, retrieved 6 January 2011
  63. ↑ Marker, Doug. Doing Vertical Take-offs and Landings with an Unpowered Rotor 2 November 1999.
  64. 1 2 NASA goals 1A+B Mirror. Carter Aviation, 24 March 1999. Retrieved 25 September 2011. Archived 30 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  65. ↑ Carter, Jay Jr. Q-&-A Audio at 16m. Popular Rotorcraft Association, 16 February 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010
  66. ↑ Carter, Jay Jr. Webinar at 7m35s and 29m20s. Popular Rotorcraft Association, 16 February 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010
  67. 1 2 Page, Lewis. 'Personal Air Vehicle' VTOL jump-copter in key flight test, The Register, 24 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  68. ↑ "What slump? Oshkosh gathering shows GA on an upswing" Composites World, 4 August 2014. Retrieved: 5 August 2014. Archive
  69. ↑ "Carter Personal Air Vehicle completes first flights with new rotor" Carter Aviation, 29 August 2013. Retrieved: 2 September 2013.
  70. ↑ "Testimonials". Archived on 4 May 2012.
  71. ↑ "What a Concept!" Aerospace manufacturing engineer, 26 May 2010. Retrieved: 18 October 2014.
  72. ↑ Carter autogyro revealed Loop, 27 July 2009.
  73. 1 2 Warwick, Graham. "VIDEO: Carter's Hybrid VTOL Flying" Aviation Week, 31 January 2011. Retrieved: 9 March 2014.
  74. ↑ Interview with Jay Carter at Oshkosh 2009 (1m0s) Aero-TV, 27 July 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  75. ↑ Warwick, Graham. Compound Concept Aviation Week, 28 February 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012. Paper edition or paywall
  76. ↑ Jane's All the World's Aircraft. 2004.
  77. 1 2 "2+2 Place Personal Air Vehicle & UAV" Carter Aviation. Retrieved: 2 September 2013.
  78. ↑ Federal Aviation Administration (March 2012). "FAA Registry N110AV - Name Inquiry Results". Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  79. 1 2 Registration data for N110AV FlightAware. Retrieved: 9 September 2010.
  80. ↑ Green, Ronald D. Flight Plan 2011 - Analysis of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, Rotorcraft Developments p18, U.S. Department of Commerce / International Trade Administration, March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012. Quote: "Several companies--including Sikorsky, Eurocopter, and Carter Aerospace Technologies--are developing compound helicopters to combine vertical/short take-off-and-landing capabilities with one or more propellers for increasing forward speed over conventional helicopter design.
Bibliography
External video
Close-up of Olney test flight
Official video of flight tests, no wings
Official video of flight tests, with wings
PAV jump take-off with wings
PAV jump take-off, and slowed rotor at 112rpm on YouTube
External images
PAV at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
PAV on display at Oshkosh 2010
PAV with wings Archive
PAV "hop" Archive
PAV cockpit
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