The Carter Technology Demonstrator Trainer (CTD-T) is a heavily modified Butterfly autogyro, being used as a platform to test Carter technologies. The major modifications to the aircraft in the configuration for these tests included the Carter propeller & the two-setting Carter prop pitch control mechanism, the Carter designed mechanical pre-rotator, the Carter smart strut on a Carter designed main gear, and a slightly modified commercially available nose gear with more stroke and a larger tire than the original nose gear. The original rotor was still on the aircraft. The aircraft performed very well in the tests. The pilot commented that the thrust from the Carter propeller was like "a kick in the pants" compared to the original prop. He was able to fly straight and level at around 20 mph airspeed, performed several zero-roll landings, and could perform short takeoffs in about 20'.

For most of these tests, the windspeed was around 8-10 mph. For the video where it looks like the aircraft is hovering (Slow Flight Into the Wind), the windspeed was closer to 20 mph.

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Pictures

Videos

Note the multiple possible types of landing approaches.

Short Takeoff 1 (886 kB) Short Takeoff 2 (974 kB) Short Landing Fast Approach (1,106 kB) Zero Roll Landing High Approach (705 kB) Zero Roll Landing On Grass High Approach (861 kB) Zero Roll Landing On Grass Low Approach (930 kB) Slow Flight 1 (1,299 kB) Slow Flight Into the Wind (1,199 kB) Slow Flight Behind a Tractor (655 kB) High Speed Pass (799 kB)