The Wombat Gyrocopters Wombat, sometimes called a Julian Wombat, is a British

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 Chris Julian and produced by Wombat Gyrocopters of St Columb,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, introduced in 1991. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 335. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Development

Julian was known as a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

speedway racer. He decided to design his own autogyro and on 4 November 1991 the CAA issued the Wombat a restricted ''Permit to Test''. It was test flown at the St Merryn airfield in Cornwall. In May 1997, when Julian was 60 years old, he was killed in the crash of a different model gyroglider at the Kemble airfield. After Julian's death the Wombat design rights passed to former helicopter pilot Mark Harrisson in July 2000. Harrisson had intended to put the aircraft back into production, but in 2013 instead donated the prototype to

The Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

, where it arrived on 9 July 2013.

Design

The Wombat was designed to comply with the British ''Amateur-built'' aircraft rules. It features a single main rotor, a single-seat semi-enclosed cockpit with 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. ...

and 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 ...

, plus a 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, ...

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 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 ...

, single-ignition

Rotax 532 The Rotax 532 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary valve engine, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF cat ...

engine in pusher configuration. 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 aircraf ...

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 ha ...

tubing. Its two-bladed Dragon Wings aluminium rotor has a diameter of , including a hub bar. Rotor cyclic control is via torque-tubes. The rudder is constructed with a composite skin over a foam core. The aircraft lacks a horizontal stabilizer. The Wombat has a typical empty weight of . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is .

Operational history

In April 2015 no examples were registered in the United Kingdom with the CAA. Although a total of four had been registered at one time, all have had their registrations cancelled by the CAA.

Aircraft on display

- prototype Wombat G-WBAT

Specifications (Wombat)

References

{{reflist

External links

Photo of a WombatPhoto of a Wombat in The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-MareA flying 'Wombat'
in the Stornoway Gazette, 2009

Wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . All three of the extant species are members of the family Vombatidae. They are ada ...

1990s British sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros Aircraft first flown in 1991