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Anita C. Infante, 309 853-5328
For Immediate Release 4/04

Carter Receives NASA STTR Award for a Personal Air Vehicle Design

Wichita Falls, TX - Carter Aviation Technologies (Carter) and the Georgia Institute of Technology are pleased to announce that they have been awarded a 2003 NASA Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I contract to research a design for a Personal Air Vehicle (PAV). The contract was awarded under the STTR topic, Personal Air Vehicle Research for Rural, Regional and Intra-Urban On-Demand Transportation. NASA is performing preliminary design studies of Personal Air Vehicle missions, concepts, and technologies for the purpose of augmenting on-demand personal transportation mobility and capacity. The Carter/GA Tech team proposal was one of 45 out of 179 submissions that received a 2003 STTR award. In their topic area, the Carter design proposal received the only award given for a vehicle design.

Under the Phase I research, Carter will develop a preliminary PAV design based on their slowed rotor/compound (SR/C) aircraft technology. Jay Carter, Jr., President of Carter Aviation Technologies, will be the Project Manager. Georgia Tech's Aerospace Systems Design Lab (GT/ASDL), under the direction of Dr. Daniel P. Schrage, Director of the Center for Aerospace Systems Analysis, will provide theoretical modeling of the SR/C concept.

Carter's preliminary aircraft design will include the cockpit, tilting mast assembly, pre-rotator, landing gear, control systems and new computer control and data collection electronics. In addition, Carter will make a preliminary engine selection. Carter's preliminary design for the PAV is similar to their current Carter-Copter prototype. Carter's SR/C technology, using the CarterCopter prototype, has been in flight-testing since 1998.

Georgia Tech's objective in this study is to model and understand the performance benefits of the Carter, two blade, teetering rotor at high advance ratios. The momentum theory model for gyroplanes (which was subsequently applied to helicopters) was developed in the 1930's through the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The model adequately predicts the rotor lift coefficient, drag and flapping for low tip-speed ratios to 0.4, however, the model has significant limitations for application to gyroplanes at higher tip-speed ratios. Carter's ultimate goal for their SR/C technology is to achieve speeds at tip ratios close to 5.0. It is the task of Georgia Tech to develop a physics based model for high-speed gyroplanes including blade element inflow models over speed ranges covering tip-speed ratios of 0.4 to 5.0.

The goals for NASA's PAV research are: to reduce small aircraft community noise; simplify the operation and improve the safety of small aircraft; and reduce small aircraft acquisition cost. With almost 10 years of research and development spent on SR/C technology, Carter has significant data supporting its technology in reference to those specific goals.

Reduce community noise: Carter's patented propeller and rotor combine to quiet operational noise. The lightweight, computer controlled, scimitar propeller is designed for quiet efficiency. The highly swept tips reduce propeller noise. The Carter rotor operates at a lower disk loading than conventional helicopters which greatly reduces rotor noise during takeoff and landing. Landing approaches in autorotation with the engine at idle are extremely quiet.

Simplified pilot operations: Simple, fixed-pitch autogyros are the least difficult type of aircraft to learn to fly safely. A conventional autogyro and a Carter gyroplane having the same hp to weight ratio will fly the same during VTOL and at low speeds. In the Carter PAV design, a combination of automated controls for collective, rotor flapping, rotor RPM and pylon tilt will greatly simplify pilot operations.

Type rating is also simplified. Helicopter pilots can usually earn an autogyro rating with one hour of dual instruction. A fixed-wing pilot can earn the rating with 10-15 hours of dual instruction.

Increased level of vehicle safety: The SR/C PAV propeller will be fully protected by twin tail-booms that prevent accidental contact with ground personnel. VTOL and STOL capabilities will allow pilots to avoid ground barriers and permit safe landings in emergency situations or in small landing areas. The SR/C rotor is always in autorotation, creating an aircraft that is stall-proof - entirely eliminating the "dead man zone." The Carter 24 ft/sec landing gear will cushion hard landings without damage to the aircraft or injury to passengers.

Reduced acquisition cost: The Carter PAV is being designed to provide a reduced parts count and simplified construction. The airframe shell is fiberglass. Carter's patented rotor has a single 'I' beam-shaped spar that extends from blade-tip to blade-tip, simplifying rotor construction. The fuselage, propeller and rotor designs combine to offer high flight efficiency, thus reducing operating costs.

Carter's goal is to design a Personal Air Vehicle that will provide safety and economy while giving millions of people much greater mobility. Carter estimates that a fast-build kit based on their PAV design with VTOL, a 1000-mile range, and speeds up to 200 mph would cost $55,000 (less engine and avionics) with as few as 1000 kits being manufactured per year.

A viable PAV design will relieve overcrowded urban airports and provide needed economic benefit to more rural areas where small heliports could be integrated. Small business enterprises would become more competitive due to ease of travel and transport. The importance of this developing technology cannot be overstated, both in terms of its contributions to the economic prosperity of an increasingly global marketplace, as well as increased opportunity for human aid and benefit.

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Carter Aviation Technologies
Anita C. Infante, GA Marketing & Licensing
9729 E. 3000th Street, Kewanee, IL 61443
Phone or Fax 309 853-5328