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Little Wing Autogyros, Inc. is an American
Little Wing Autogyros, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry.
...
based in Mayflower, Arkansas
Mayflower is a city in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,234 at the 2010 census, up from 1,631 at the 2000 census.
History
Mayflower is a small town located along Interstate 40 southeast of Conway (Faulkner County) ...
and founded by Ron Herron. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of plans and kits for amateur construction including for 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 ...
rules.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 326. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page F-5. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Downey, Julia: ''2005 Trikes 'Chutes and Rotorcraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 22, Number 2, February 2005, page 57. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 206. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485XBayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 182. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
The company is jointly owned by Ron Herron and his fiancée, Kristine Irvin. Herron is an instructor of aviation maintenance instructor at Pulaski Technical College, North Little Rock, Arkansas and also formerly ran an aviation maintenance facility, ''Little Wing Aviation''.
Herron set out to design a safer autogyro, after experiences flying the Bensen B-8M
The Bensen B-8 is a small, single-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the 1950s. Although the original manufacturer stopped production in 1987, plans for homebuilders are still available as of 2019. Its design was a refinement of t ...
in the mid-1970s. The company's designs use an unusual control system, common to all the Little Wing Autogyros, that was designed by David Kay in the early 1930s. It uses a mast that is fixed fore-and-aft, but which pivots laterally for banking the aircraft. Longitudinal control is achieved by an elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
and horizontal stabilizer
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 gyroplan ...
system, designed to eliminate power-induced bunt "push-over" accidents.
The company has produced a whole line of single and two-seat autogyros, based on light aircraft fuselages, from the Little Wing LW-1
The Little Wing Autogyro is a series of conventional one and two place autogyros with a tractor engine layout using modern engines and produced by Little Wing Autogyros, Inc. of Mayflower, Arkansas.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's ...
to the Little Wing LW-5. The Little Wing Roto-Pup is based on the Preceptor Ultra Pup 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 aerospa ...
and optimized for 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 ...
rules.
A Little Wing LW-5 is preserved in the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh.
History
Oshkosh was ...
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Aircraft
References
External links
* {{Little Wing Autogyro aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft