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. It is located in the Central Arkansas region. History Mayflower is a small town located along Inte ...

and founded by Ron Herron. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

s in the form of plans and kits for amateur construction including for the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft exist outside of the United States. In most countries, ultralights are a class of aircraft. A completely different legal concept is valid within the USA. The FAA makes explicitly clear that ultralight vehicles are not air ...

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 Pulaski may refer to: Places * Pulaski Heights, a section of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas * Pulaski Shoal, an underwater landform west of the Florida Keys * Pulaski, Georgia, a town * Pulaski Square, one of the "Squares of Savannah" in t ...

North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the Twin cities, twin city of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock. In the late nineteenth ce ...

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 (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

and

horizontal stabilizer A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, 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 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 aeros ...

and optimized for the US

rules. A Little Wing LW-5 is preserved in the

EAA AirVenture Museum The EAA Aviation Museum, formerly the EAA AirVenture Museum (or Air Adventure Museum), is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft as well as antiques, classics, and warbirds. The museum is lo ...

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

Aircraft

References

External links

* {{Little Wing Autogyro aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft