Carter Aviation Technologies, LLC (Carter) is moving forward with securing partners to begin production of CarterCopters at a variety of size classes. In the meantime, Carter has developed a configuration that can break the rotorcraft world records for speed, range, and altitude – records that have been unbroken for half a century. “We had this concept on the boards for several years and decided it was time to move forward,” explained Jay Carter. “We expect to achieve speeds in excess of 400 kts, distances greater than 2,000 nm, and altitudes of over 50,000 ft.” To achieve this performance, Carter will employ two Honeywell TFE731-20 turbofans coupled with its Slowed Rotor / Compound (SR/ C™) technologies. The installed power from these turbofans will also give the aircraft the ability to break the time to climb record for rotorcraft.

This configuration will make an ideal VTOL Business Jet that could provide point to point transportation for up to 6 passengers and cruise at 400+ kts for up to 2,000 miles. Carter envisions this aircraft once demonstrated will open up other possibilities for other variants both larger and smaller with different mission profiles – downtown city to city transportation, point to point cargo and humanitarian support for developed as well as undeveloped countries, Medevac, UAVs, diesel powered SR/C aircraft driving Carter scimitar props for extreme efficiencies, etc.

“Our slowed rotor technology allows the aircraft to fly at 525 mph (450 kts) without the rotor advancing tip speed exceeding Mach 0.95,” pronounces Jay. “The slowed rotor (no variable speed transmission required) reduces the rotational drag so dramatically that the rotor drag becomes only about 10% of the total aircraft drag – basically a function of the rotor wetted area.” This drag reduction is a function of the rpm ratio cubed – dropping the rotor rpm from 300 to 100 reduces the rotational drag by a factor of 27. Carter intends to demonstrate not only record breaking performance, but also continue to demonstrate other critical features such as unparalleled safety with an auto-rotating high inertia rotor that acts as a built in parachute that can operate at any altitude or speed and extremely quiet cruise flight performance, something lacking at various levels in today’s conventional rotorcraft fleet.

“Everyone likes the idea of high speed and long range with exceptional cruise efficiencies, but one of the little known features of a CarterCopter is ride quality in cruise flight,” described Jay. “With a tall tilting mast supported with flexible supports, the rotor loads are essentially isolated from the fuselage. What this means to the crew and passengers is a jet smooth ride, which is dramatically improved over today’s helicopters.” Carter is now formulating business plans to secure partners and assemble a team to complete the detailed design, fabrication, and ultimately the record breaking demonstration of this exciting new CarterCopter configuration. Jay will be describing this new CarterCopter at Sun n’ Fun on Sat April 9th at 9 am in room 9. Come join us then.