The Vortech Skylark is an American

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

produced by Vortech of

Fallston, Maryland Fallston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,958 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 8,427 in 2000. Fallston is a semi-rural community c ...

. The aircraft is supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction. Vortech also supplies rotor blades for the design.Downey, Julia: ''2005 Trikes 'Chutes and Rotorcraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 22, Number 2, February 2005, page 60. Belvoir Publications. Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', pages 215. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 334. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The Skylark was designed to comply with the US ''Experimental - Amateur-built'' aircraft rules. It features a single main rotor, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, skid-type

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

and a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, in-line

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

, carbureted Hirth 3503

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

. The twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, in-line two-stroke,

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...

has also been used. A cockpit enclosure was optional. The aircraft

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

is made from welded

4130 steel 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common va ...

tubing, with an

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

tail boom. Its diameter two-bladed rotor employs a NACA 0012

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

. The main transmission is of belt and chain type, whileteh tail rotor is driven by a long shaft. The control system consists of conventional helicopters controls. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for pilot and baggage is . The manufacturer estimates the construction time as 300 hours.

Operational history

By 2005 the company reported that 5 were completed and flying. By January 2015 no examples were registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, although one had been registered at one time. The

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

plans have been spreading via

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

under name "Furia".

Specifications (Skylark)

References

External links

* {{Vortech aircraft

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

1980s United States sport aircraft 1980s United States helicopters Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined piston helicopters

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (Skylark)

See also

References

External links