Carter Aviation Enters Fly-From-The-Driveway Sweepstakes

Carter Aviation Technologies says it has developed a gyrocopter that will land and take off vertically. The company says the gyro, based on a commercially available kit-built aircraft, will evolve into the Personal Aerial Vehicle (PAV) the world has been waiting for. We feel the [gyro] can now visually demonstrate that the age of true personal flight is at hand, said Carter President Jay Carter Jr. We now have a vehicle that can safely take off from your driveway, fly 200 miles and then safely land and take-off from a truck stop to refuel, or a restaurant to eat, or a hotel where you can spend the night. Carter adapted technology from its CarterCopter gyro to create the CarterGyro and the result was a rotor system, which, when spun up to 490 rpm, will vault the vehicle and occupant 150 feet straight up before the stored energy in the rotor is bled off and the gyro returns to its normal cruise configuration. Carter plans to apply the technology to a four-place aircraft, with enclosed cabin. It hopes to fly the four-place model by the end of this year.