The Air Command Commander Side-By-Side is an American

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

designed and produced by Air Command International of

Caddo Mills, Texas Caddo Mills ( ) is a rural city in Hunt County, Texas located at the western edge of Northeast Texas. The population was 1,495 at the 2020 census, up from 1,338 at the 2010 census. History Before settlers arrived, the area was the site of a Cadd ...

. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 174. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Commander Side-By-Side provides an unusual gyroplane design in that it has

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

seating. The gyroplane was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built rules. It features a single main rotor, a two-seat open cockpit without a windshield,

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and a four-cylinder, air-cooled,

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

Subaru EJ22 The Subaru EJ engine is a series of four-stroke automotive engines manufactured by Subaru. They were introduced in 1989, intended to succeed the previous Subaru EA engine. The EJ series was the mainstay of Subaru's engine line, with all engines o ...

automotive conversion engine in

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

driving the propeller though a Gilmer belt reduction drive. The aircraft's diameter Rotordyne rotor has a chord of . The Side-By-Side has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . Optional equipment available includes a folding mast, hydraulic wheel brakes and an electric trim system.

Specifications (Commander Side-By-Side)

References

External links

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Photo of the Air Command Commander Side-By-Side
{{Air Command International aircraft Commander Side-By-Side 1990s United States sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros

Design and development

Specifications (Commander Side-By-Side)

See also

References

External links