The Butterfly Monarch 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 ...

, designed and produced by The Butterfly LLC of

Aurora, Texas Aurora is a city in Wise County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,390 in 2020. Geography Aurora is located at (33.055942, –97.509615). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Demogra ...

. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al.: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 177. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011.

Design and development

The Monarch was designed to comply with the US ''Experimental - Amateur-built'' rules. It features a single main rotor, a single-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 ...

with

wheel pants An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

and a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled,

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

dual-ignition Dual Ignition is a system for spark-ignition engines, whereby critical ignition components, such as spark plugs and magnetos, are duplicated. Dual ignition is most commonly employed on aero engines,Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, ...

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-certified aircraft operating ...

engine in pusher configuration. The Monarch's

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 aircraf ...

is made from metal tubing and mounts a two-bladed main rotor with a diameter of , with an electric pre-rotator to shorten take-off distances. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . The tail surfaces are made from

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

. The

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

is of 4130 steel construction, incorporates springs and has a long stroke of to allow almost vertical landings, including descent rates of 500 ft/min (2.5 m/s) at touchdown. The tricycle landing gear is supplemented by a triple tail

caster A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, ...

. Optional equipment available includes a

cockpit fairing An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

with a windshield, rotor brake, auxiliary fuel tank and an airshow smoke system.

Operational history

By December 2012 eight examples had been 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 ...

Specifications (Monarch)

References

External links

*
Official Monarch photos
{{The Butterfly aircraft 2000s United States sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros