CarterCopter Back In The Air

The CarterCopter folks, who have been grounded since their one-and-only flying technology demonstrator crashed last June, were back at the show yesterday with some new ideas. They showed off a new design for a smaller version of the gyroplane, which they hope will fulfill the dream of a Personal Air Vehicle. “This aircraft will allow true point-to-point travel,” said company president Jay Carter Jr. It will have four seats and cruise at about 200 mph, and pilots can land in hotel parking lots and fuel up at automotive gas stations. To test their theories, the company flew to the show in a small one-seat gyroplane, stopping at several parking lots along the way. That aircraft was built from a stock gyroplane with Carter’s own prop and landing gear added. The new four-seat PAV design is already under construction and should be flying within the year, and ready to show about a year after that. The company plans to build three copies at once to avoid the lengthy delays that plagued their prior research anytime their one and only demonstrator was down for repair or refit.