Freewind Bumble B

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Bumble B
Role Autogyro
National origin France
Manufacturer
Status Production completed (2014)

The Freewind Bumble B (transl. Bumblebee) is a French autogyro that was designed and produced by of Vimory, introduced in about 2013. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied complete and ready-to-fly.[1]

Freewind Aviation seems to have been founded about 2013 and gone out of business in 2014.[2] It is not clear how many aircraft were produced, although at least one example flew.[1]

Design and development[]

The Bumble B features a single main rotor, a two-seats-in tandem open cockpit with composite fairing and a windshield, tricycle landing gear and a modified four-cylinder, liquid and air-cooled, four stroke, turbocharged 122 hp (91 kW) Rotax 912 engine in pusher configuration.[1]

The aircraft has a two-bladed rotor with a diameter of 8.4 m (27.6 ft) and a chord of 21.5 cm (8.5 in). The aircraft has a typical empty weight of 258 kg (569 lb) and a gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb), giving a useful load of 192 kg (423 lb). With full fuel of 75 litres (16 imp gal; 20 US gal) the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is 138 kg (304 lb).[1]

Reviewer Werner Pfaendler described the design as, "a low cost but good quality gyrocopter with excellent flight characteristics".[1]

Specifications (Bumble B 912 Supercharged)[]

Data from Tacke[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Capacity: one passenger
  • Empty weight: 258 kg (569 lb)
  • Gross weight: 450 kg (992 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 75 litres (16 imp gal; 20 US gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × modified Rotax 912ULS four cylinder, liquid and air-cooled, four stroke, turbocharged aircraft engine, 91 kW (122 hp)
  • Main rotor diameter: 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
  • Main rotor area: 57 m2 (610 sq ft)
  • Propellers: 3-bladed composite

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 200 km/h (120 mph, 110 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 150 km/h (93 mph, 81 kn)
  • Rate of climb: 3.1 m/s (610 ft/min)
  • Disk loading: 7.9 kg/m2 (1.6 lb/sq ft)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 194. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN 1368-485X
  2. ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". archive.org. Retrieved 2 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)

External links[]

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