The Niki Kallithea (the best view) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

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 ...

designed and produced by

Niki Rotor Aviation Niki Rotor Aviation is a Bulgarian aircraft manufacturer based in Pravets. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of kits for amateur construction.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory ...

Pravets Pravets or Pravetz ( bg, Правец, also transliterated as Pravec, ) is a town in Pravets Municipality in central western Bulgaria, located approximately from the capital Sofia. Pravets is home town of Pravetz computers. Pravets has a populat ...

, introduced in 2011. The aircraft is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 196. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The Kallithea is a development of the 2009

Niki Lightning The Niki Lightning is a fully enclosed two-seater tricycle autogyro of composite construction, designed and built by Niki Rotor Aviation in Bulgaria. It was introduced in 2009 Design and development The Lightning's cockpit pod accommodates a p ...

, differing mainly in its use of a conventional two-tube tail boom that passes under the pusher propeller instead of mounting the tail boom through the propeller hub. The Kallithea features a single main rotor, a two-seats-in

tandem 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 ...

enclosed cockpit with fold-up doors,

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, liquid and 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 directi ...

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

or six-cylinder,

liquid cooled Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid. Examples of liquid cooling technologies include: * Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling * Liquid cooling and ventilatio ...

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

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 ...

flat six 4-litre gasoline

D-Motor LF39 The D-Motor LF39 is a lightweight Radiator (engine cooling), liquid cooled flathead engine, side-valve four stroke engine, four-stroke flat six engine, flat six 4 litre petrol aircraft engine, produced by D-Motor in Deerlijk, Belgium. It is a der ...

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

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 ...

. The doors can also be removed for flight. 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 a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

structure made from composites and

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

. Its two-bladed

Vortech Vortech, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Fallston, Maryland. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of rotorcraft in the form of plans and kits for amateur construction. Some of their designs also comply with ...

Sport Copter Sport Copter Inc is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Scappoose, Oregon. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of ...

rotor has a diameter of and a chord of . The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is .

Specifications (Kallithea)

References

External links

* {{Niki Rotor aircraft Kal 2010s Bulgarian sport aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros

Design and development

Specifications (Kallithea)

See also

References

External links