“Showers Skytwister Choppy”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Showers Skytwister Choppy is an American helicopter that was produced by Showers-Aero of Milton, Pennsylvania, introduced in 1992. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied in the form of CAD plans for amateur construction.^[1]^[2]

Design and development

The Skytwister is an modernized and updated version of the Adams-Wilson Hobbycopter, also called the "Choppy", as redesigned by Ben Showers.^[1]^[2]

The Skytwister was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built aircraft rules. It features a single main rotor, a two-bladed tail rotor, a single-seat open cockpit with a windshield and skid-type landing gear. The standard engine used is a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition {{convert|64|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Rotax 582 powerplant with a 2.58:1 reduction drive, which replaces the original Choppy's motorcycle engine.^[1]

The aircraft fuselage is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing. Its two-bladed Fleck 2706 aluminium alloy main rotor is made as an extrusion and has a {{convert|21.50|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} diameter. The tail rotor has a diameter of {{convert|36|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}. The aircraft has an empty weight of {{convert|320|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and a gross weight of {{convert|670|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}, giving a useful load of {{convert|350|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}. With full fuel of {{convert|5|u.s.gal}} the payload for pilot and baggage is {{convert|320|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}.^[1]

The designer estimated the construction time from the supplied plans as 300 hours.^[1]

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 200 sets of plans had been sold and 12 aircraft were completed and flying.^[1]

By April 2015 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of one had been registered at one time.^[3]

Specifications (Skytwister)

|genhide=
|crew=one
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=15
|length in=8
|length note=
|width m=
|width ft=5
|width in=8
|width note=
|height m=
|height ft=6
|height in=8
|height note=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=320
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=670
|gross weight note=
|fuel capacity={{convert|5|u.s.gal}}
|more general=

|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=85
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=65
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=1000
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading lb/sqft=1.8
|disk loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
|avionics=
}}

See also

References

1. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 331. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. {{ISBN|0-9636409-4-1}}
2. ^¹²{{cite web|url = http://all-aero.com/index.php/component/content/article/35-helicopters/copters/1519-ben-showers-aero-skytwister|title = Ben Showers Aero Skytwister|accessdate = 5 April 2015|author = AllAero|year = 2015}}
3. ^{{cite web|url = http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/AcftRef_Results.aspx?Mfrtxt=&Modeltxt=SKYTWISTER&PageNo=1|title = Make / Model Inquiry Results|accessdate = 5 April 2015|last = Federal Aviation Administration|date = 5 April 2015}}

External links

5 : Showers aircraft|United States sport aircraft 1990–1999|United States helicopters 1990–1999|Homebuilt aircraft|Single-engined piston helicopters