Pilot – June 2018

28 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero

Rotorheads Extra: Chimera Dragon

Making its debut at AERO
Friedrichshafen in April, Chimera
Aviation’s Dragon GBT 1170
offers potentially the lowest-cost
entry to rotary-wing aviation,
the aircraft cleverly combining
a flexwing trike unit with a
‘direct control’ autogyro rotor.
The trike is based closely on
the design used by a leading
microlight manufacturer, the
rotor is production item of US
manufacture and the machine is
powered by a BMW motorcycle
engine – all of these are proven
items, which bodes well for the
GBT 1170’s development.
The whole project is the
inspiration of former Army Air
Corps helicopter pilot Barry
Jones, an instructor who won
fame in 2004 through his attempt
to circumnavigate the globe in
an autogyro. “At the moment,
the available sport autogyros
command a price that precludes
many a would-be pilot,” he
says. “When you consider how
similar, in construction terms,
sport autogyros and flexwings
are, it’s hard to see how the
price difference is justified. If I
could produce an autogyro, as
if I were producing a flexwing..
I could deliver a very capable
flying machine to the market at
a sensible price.” To judge by the
asking price at AERO, this is very
much what he has achieved.
There are historical
precedents to both the make-

up of the Dragon and the

way it is controlled. “When

the first autogyros flew, they

were converted aeroplanes,”

says Jones. “In 1932 Cierva,

the inventor of the Autogiro,

introduced direct control in

which he was able to tilt the

Rotor Hub thereby achieving

directional control and negating

the need for [subsidiary] ‘wings’.”

Direct control is very similar

to the way pilots of current

Flexwings control their aircraft.

When Pilot interviewed Barry

at Friedrichshafen, he reported

that flight testing had gone very

well, thirty hours being logged

and the aircraft performing well.

The direct control arrangement

precludes the usual flexible drive,

so the rotor is spun up using an

electric drive originally designed

for the Bulldog autogyro, shown

at Friedrichshafen in 2015. That

project foundered after Barry’s

business partner withdrew,

but the Dragon, representing

much more of a ‘back to basics’

approach and designed to appeal

to a wider market, looks very

much set to succeed.

New British

autogyro

PHOTOS: PHILIP WHITEMAN

ABOVE: there were often

more people than this

surrounding the novel

design at AERO

BELOW LEFT: power

comes from a BMW

motorcycle engine,

multiple ducts ensuring

proper cooling

BELOW RIGHT: Barry

Jones and the Bulldog at

Friedrichshafen in 2015

ABOVE: rotor is spun up using an electric motor

BELOW: unbeatable price for a factory-built autogyro