The Calumet Snobird Explorer is an 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. Whi ...

produced by

Calumet Motorsports Calumet Motorsports Was an American aircraft parts manufacturer and former aircraft kit manufacturer based in Lansing, Illinois and founded by Tommy Milton. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of autogyro parts and at one time ...

Lansing, Illinois Lansing is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Lansing is a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 29,076 at the 2020 census. Geography Lansing is located at (41.565785, -87.545791). It is south of the Chicago city limits a ...

, introduced in May 1997. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 348. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

Calumet Aeronautics acquired the Snobird Explorer design when it purchased the assets of the SnoBird Aircraft Company. Putting the Snobird design back into production, the company name was changed to Calumet Motorsports. The gyro design was later sold to another owner and then back to Calumet Motorsports, although the design remains out of production. The Snobird Explorer was designed as a low-cost, entry-level autogyro, to comply with the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...

, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a single main rotor, a single-seat open cockpit,

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 twin-cylinder, air-cooled,

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

, single-ignition

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

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 ...

. Alternate engines used include the twin-cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. As of 2011 the Ro ...

and the twin-cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, single-ignition 2si 460-F40 engines. The aircraft

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is made from a combination of

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

and

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

and features a tall tail design to reduce engine-induced pitch. The kit was supplied with jig pre-drilled holes and was

powder coated Powder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. Unlike conventional liquid paint which is delivered via an evaporating solvent, powder coating is typically applied electrostatically and then cured under heat or ...

. Its two-bladed rotor has a diameter of . Full fuel is . The standard day, sea level, no wind takeoff with a engine is and the landing roll is .

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that one aircraft had been completed and was flying, with customer deliveries to commence later in 1998. In April 2015 six examples of Snobird autogyros of all manufacture were registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, although a total of 14 had been registered at one time.

Specifications (Snobird Explorer)

References

{{reflist Snobird Explorer 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States ultralight aircraft 1990s United States civil utility aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros Aircraft first flown in 1997

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (Snobird Explorer)

See also

References