The Vortech Meg-2XH Strap-On 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 and produced 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 ...

Fallston, Maryland Fallston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,958 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 8,427 in 2000. Fallston is a semi-rural community c ...

. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit and also in the form of plans for amateur construction. Vortech also supplied rotor blades for the design.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 334. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. While listed as available early in 1998, by the end of that year the aircraft was no longer listed on the Vortech website.

Design and development

The Meg-2XH Strap-On was designed to comply with 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 . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a single main rotor, a single fold-up seat and a

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

. The aircraft is supported by a partial frame when on the ground, but take-off and landing are both accomplished by foot and the aircraft is worn like a

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

, hence the name. The helicopter was designed to be powered by a single jet engine producing . 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 ...

frame 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 and has a diameter two-bladed rotor. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the maximum pilot weight is . The fuel capacity gives the aircraft a range of . It has a top speed of and a cruise speed of . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied bolt-together assembly kit as 30 hours.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that three kits had been sold, were completed and flying.

Specifications (Meg-2XH Strap-On)

References

{{Vortech aircraft Meg-2XH 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States helicopters Homebuilt aircraft Single-turbine helicopters

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (Meg-2XH Strap-On)

See also

References