The Groen ShadowHawk was a proposed
American autogyro
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. ...
that was under development in the mid-2010s by
Groen Aeronautics
Skyworks Aeronautics Corp., formerly Groen Brothers Aviation, Inc., Groen Aeronautics Corporation and Skyworks Global, is an American autogyro research and development company based in Chicago. The company was founded in 1986 by David Groen ...
of
Midvale, Utah
Midvale is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Midvale's population was 34,124 according to 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Midvale is home to the Shop ...
for the
surveillance role. The aircraft was intended to be supplied complete and ready-to-fly.
[Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 194. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
Active in 2015, by November 2017 the project's webpage had been taken down and development has probably ended.
Design and development
The ShadowHawk was based upon the earlier
Groen Hawk 4
The Groen Hawk 4 was a single engine, pusher configuration, four seat autogyro built in the United States in the late 1990s. Three prototypes, two piston engined and one turboprop powered, were flown but the Hawk did not go into production.
Des ...
and its successful employment in the surveillance role at the
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...
in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
.
The design was to feature a single main rotor, a two-seats-in
side-by-side configuration
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
enclosed cockpit with a
bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility.
The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...
,
tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...
, plus dual tail
caster
A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved.
Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, ...
s and
pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in no ...
engine. The design includes a two-bladed rotor and a four-bladed pusher propeller.
Specifications (ShadowHawk)
See also
*
List of rotorcraft
This is a list of rotorcraft, including helicopters, autogyros, rotor kites and convertiplanes.
A
A-B Helicopters
* A-B Helicopters A/W 95
American Aircraft International
* AAI Penetrator
Aero
*Aero HC-2 Heli Baby
Aero-Ast ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Artist's conception of the ShadowHawk ShadowHawk
Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States
Single-engined pusher autogyros