Old Design for a 4-Place Personal Air Vehicle

PAV 1+1 Isometric

Carter's original concept for the NASA STTR contract was a 4-place Personal Air Vehicle. For the contract, this was quickly superceded by a 2-Place PAV. Carter has also designed a newer 4-Place PAV, on which it has already begun construction. Nevertheless, significant preliminary design was done on this aircraft. It is fully pressurized, and with a 400 HP engine will have a top speed of over 270 mph and be able to fly at 35,000 ft. We developed a method for automatically controlling rotor collective pitch by purely mechanical means, independent of any electronics. The system will hold the proper pitch vs. rpm from jump takeoff, through high speed cruise, through landing, reducing pilot workload, and keeping the pilot from making any mistakes related to collective pitch.