The RotorWay Scorpion is a family of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

s manufactured by RotorWay International.

Design and development

Derived from an original design by B.J. Schramm, the Schramm Javelin evolved into the Schramm Scorpion, both of which were developed by the

Schramm Aircraft Company Schramm may refer to: * ''Schramm'' (film), a 1993 film about Lothar Schramm, the "lipstick killer" * Schramm Inc. (founded 1900), a U.S. manufacturer of drilling equipment * Schramm (surname), people with the surname ''Schramm'' See also * Schra ...

. A new company,

RotorWay Aircraft Inc. The RotorWay Helicopter Manufacturing Company, formerly called RotorWay International, was a manufacturer of kit helicopters located in Chandler, Arizona, United States. The company was founded by B.J. Schramm in 1961 as RotorWay Aircraft. R ...

, was formed to market and produce plans and kits for the Scorpion, described as a production version of the earlier Javelin.Taylor, John W. R.. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1982-83''. Jane's Publishing Company. London. 1982. Production of kits started in 1967 with the original Scorpion model, and ended with the discontinuation of the Scorpion 145 in 1984.

Scorpion

The Scorpion prototype was built in 1966, followed by the production of Scorpion kits in 1968. *Gross Weight: about 700 lb (318 kg) *Useful Load: 425 lb (193 kg) * Range: 160 miles (257 km) * Cruise Speed: 65 mph (105 km/h) *

Rate of Climb In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...

: 900 ft/min at sea level

Scorpion Too

The Scorpion Too, or Scorpion II, was the first two-seater manufactured by RotorWay. It took about 2,000 hours to complete. *Gross weight: 1,125 lb (510 kg) *Useful load: 435 lb (197 kg) *Range: 125 miles (201 km) *Cruise speed: 75 mph (121 km/h) *Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min at sea level

Scorpion 133

Introduced in 1976, the Scorpion 133 was no different from the Scorpion Too, except for the new RW133 engine installed. This engine, the first built by RotorWay, was a 4-cylinder, 4-cycle, engine. In 1977, because of the increased engine power, the length of the Scorpion's blades increased, from to . *Gross Weight: 1,235 lb (560 kg) *Useful Load: 420 lb (191 kg) *Range: with one person, with two people *Cruise Speed: 80 mph (129 km/h) *Rate of Climb: 800 ft/min

Scorpion 145

Produced briefly in 1984, the Scorpion 145 mounted the RW145 engine developed by RotorWay.

Specifications (Scorpion Too)

Notes

References

*Taylor, John W.R.. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77''. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. . *Taylor, John W.R.. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1982-83''. Jane's Publishing Company. London. 1982. {{RotorWay International aircraft 1960s United States civil utility aircraft 1960s United States helicopters Homebuilt aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1966 Single-engined piston helicopters