The RAF 2000 is a two-seat kit built

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 ...

that was designed by Bernard J. Haseloh. Kits were first manufactured by Rotary Air Force Marketing Inc. in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The marketing and manufacturing rights were sold to the Mocke Family in

Upington, Northern Cape Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in April 2007. They formed UMRTC Eben Mocke to produce the aircraft design.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 187. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16'', page 200. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The RAF 2000 is one of only a few autogyros with type approval from the

Light Aircraft Association The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, and recreational and sport flying. It oversees the construction and maintenance of homebuilt aircraft, under an approval from t ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Development

The RAF 2000 was a development of the single seat RAF 1000 and was designed primarily by Bernard J Haseloh. The aircraft kits were manufactured by Rotary Air Force Inc of Canada until April 2007 when the marketing and manufacturing rights were transferred to UMRTC Eben Mocke located in

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

. As a result of test flying in the UK the RAF 2000 has been documented as being subject to Power Push Over (PPO), whereby the thrust line is above the aircraft's vertical centre of gravity. This results in a power application causing a nose-down pitching moment and increases the risk of tail to main rotor contact.

Design

The RAF 2000 is unusual amongst autogyros in that it does not have a horizontal

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyropla ...

– although aftermarket horizontal tailplanes are available. Like almost all UK-approved amateur-built designs the RAF 2000 is subject to Civil Aviation Authority ''Mandatory Permit Directives'', similar to

airworthiness directives An Airworthiness Directive (commonly abbreviated as AD) is a notification to owners and operators of certified aircraft that a known safety deficiency with a particular model of aircraft, engine, avionics or other system exists and must be correcte ...

for certified aircraft. As of January 2010 these MPDs include repetitive inspections for rotor blade cracks, a one time installation of an emergency egress placard, a one time replacement of control system components and a one time inspection of rudder cables. As a result of a fatal accident the CAA issued an MPD in 2009 which indicates that the design does not fully comply with the required BCAR Section T and that as a result unmodified aircraft are subject to a number of restrictions including flight with doors being prohibited, V_NE limited to 70 mph and crosswind limited to 7 knots for take-off and landing, maximum 15 knots windspeed with a 10 knot gust spread are prohibited from flight in moderate or higher turbulence. Many of these restrictions can be removed by modifying the aircraft with a tailplane/rudder centring spring and new doors, although the 70 mph V_NE is retained on both modified and unmodified aircraft flown in the UK.

Legal actions

The RAF 2000 has been the subject of a number of legal actions. In ''Frost v. Rotary Air Force Marketing, Inc.'' the company successfully defended a suit for the death of a builder, by showing that he had contractually agreed to get specific training and had failed to do so prior to flight and in fact did not even have a pilot's certificate at the time of the crash. In 2005 a lawsuit was filed in a

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

court regarding the death of Ken Becker, who had purchased a used kit from a previous buyer, and failed to contact RAFM to receive the mandatory flight training required of all RAF2000 kit builders. Due to the high costs of defending against the US litigation, estimated at over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

250,000, the company could not afford to defend itself and the suit was decided by default. The company indicated that "slander" arising from the lawsuit resulted in a loss of gyroplane sales, leaving nothing for the plaintiff to collect and the resulting "sale" of the company.

Variants

Three variants are currently available. The primary difference between them is the engine. ;RAF 2000 GTX SE :Equipped with a Subaru

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

carburetted engine ;RAF 2000 GTX SE FI :Equipped with the same engine but it is fuel injected thus making it a little more economical ;RAF 2000 GTX SE FI 2.5 :Equipped with a more powerful Subaru fuel injected engine.

Specifications (RAF 2000 GTX SE)

References

External links

{{commons category
Manufacturer's Website
2000s Canadian sport aircraft RAF2000 Single-engined pusher autogyros