The Air Command Commander Side-By-Side is an American
autogyro designed and produced by
Air Command International
Air Command International, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer originally based in Wylie, Texas, later in Caddo Mills, Texas and now in River Falls, Wisconsin. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form ...
of
Caddo Mills, Texas
Caddo Mills ( ) is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,338 at the 2010 census, up from 1,149 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Caddo Mills is located in western Hunt County at (33.064748, –96.229040). Texas State Hig ...
. 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 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 ...
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'', 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 g ...
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 automotive conversion engine in
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 nor ...
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)
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-Astra ...
References
External links
*
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