The Vortech G-1, also called the Compcop G-1, is an American

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

that was designed in the 1970s. Plans for amateur construction were originally supplied by Compcop and today are provided by

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 Homebuilt aircraft, amateur construction. Some of their design ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page F-7. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Downey, Julia: ''2005 Trikes 'Chutes and Rotorcraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 22, Number 2, February 2005, page 60. Belvoir Publications.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed long before the adoption of 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, including the category's maximum empty weight of , but nonetheless complies with them. The aircraft has a standard empty weight of and is billed as the "World's Tiniest Homebuilt Helicopter" by the plans supplier. It features a single

main rotor A helicopter main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that counteracts aerody ...

and

tail rotor The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. The ...

, 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 main wheels and nose skid 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 ...

aircraft engine or

Kawasaki 440 The Kawasaki 440, also called the T/A 440, is a Japanese twin-cylinder, in-line, two-stroke engine that was designed for snowmobiles and produced by Kawasaki Heavy Industries until the early 1980s.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's G ...

snowmobile engine. The

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 ...

can also be used. 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 bolted-together

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 ...

tubing. Its main rotor is in diameter. Fuel capacity is . The plans supplier notes this warning:

Specifications (G-1)

References

External links

* {{Vortech aircraft 1970s United States ultralight aircraft 1970s United States helicopters Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined piston helicopters G-1