The Irkut A-002 is a three-seat,

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 ...

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 ...

developed in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

through the 2000s by the United Constructor Bureau for Light Aircraft team of the Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association (IAPO) "Irkut" as the first independent product. Take-off is possible when wind speed exceeds 8 m/s, otherwise a running start of up to 15 m is necessary. The riveted covering is made of duralumin. The first produced consignment consisted of five autogyros. The A-002M is a further development.

Design and development

The A-002 has an enclosed, streamlined cabin accessed by large, windowed side doors. The two front seats have dual control, and there is a third seat behind. The fully enclosed, pusher-configuration flat-four AviaSmart engine is situated behind the cabin with a pair of cooling air intakes above its roof. The propeller thrustline is at cabin roof height. The two-blade rotor is mounted on a tall streamlined pylon at the rear of the cabin. In flight the rotor is undriven, but it can be spun up by the engine for jump starts made with no take-off run. Without this spin-up, take-off requires a run of . The A-002 has

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

tail surfaces mounted on a short boom joined to the bottom of the cabin/engine pod. The

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

carries a mass- and horn-

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevator (air ...

and an

all-moving tailplane A stabilator is a fully movable aircraft horizontal stabilizer. It serves the usual functions of longitudinal stability, control and stick force requirements otherwise performed by the separate parts of a conventional horizontal stabilizer (whic ...

at ⅓ fin height. The A-002 has a fixed, wide track

tricycle undercarriage 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 ...

with main wheels on

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

spring legs. The first flight was on 6 July 2002. Production of five A-002s began in August 2002, but production was halted for further development and no deliveries were made until 2004,. Several revisions were made, including much-enlarged engine air intakes and the addition of endplate fins to the tailpane. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the A-200 increased from , and both the rotor and fuselage were significantly extended. The more recent A-002M upgrade further raised the MTOW to . There have been tests of four- and six-bladed propellers. In 2005 the autogyro project participated in the Russian Innovation Contest where it was declared that at least 150 units should be sold to pay back the project. In 2006 a renewed version with an AviaSmart engine and a new extended main rotor was named A-002M. In 2008 it was declared about the certification of such autogyro type that year according to the actual aviation rules, however, even by 2012 the certificate has not been received yet. In 2010 they published a specification for a heavier version of A-002M at higher cost. The possibility of jump take-off remained, but it is not considered regular any more due to enhanced load on the bearing structure. It was also reported about developing of the unmanned version. One case of the autogyro's experimental operation by the IrkutskEnergo company in 2006 is known; no further cooperation with this company was reported.

Operational history

By late 2003 twenty A-002s had been ordered by Susuman Susumanzoloto OAO, a mining company which had received two, and by Irkutskehenergo OAO, which had received another two for power-line inspections. Five had been delivered by 2007.

Variants

;A-002: Original version. ;A-002M: Heavier upgrade, specification released 2010.

Failures and incidents

On July 24, 2012, at 17:15 local time the autogyro Irkut-A002M made an emergency landing to the moorland near Bokovo, the Irkutsk region. The lone pilot was uninjured. The preliminary version stated that the failure was caused by a crack in the oil header of the main rotor forced-start drive, which caused oil leakage in the autogyro's general oil system. The inexperienced pilot did not notice loss of oil pressure and continued the flight. The apparatus crash-landed on the main rotor autorotation and suffered severe damage attributed to poor piloting.

Specifications (A-002M prototype)

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title= Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2011-12, last= Jackson , first= Paul , year=2011, publisher=IHS Jane's, location= Coulsdon, Surrey, isbn=978-0-7106-2955-5, pages=470–1 {{cite web , url=http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraftsearch=Irkut+A-002 , title=A-002M Images , access-date=5 December 2011 {{cite web, url=http://avia-smart.com/uk-B-H4K.html, archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117090811/http://avia-smart.com/uk-B-H4K.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=17 January 2013, title=The AviaSmart engines manufacturer's website, access-date=10 September 2012 Single-engined pusher autogyros 2000s Russian aircraft