• 21 Jul 2024 07:45 AM
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AERO Friedrichshafen 2024

By Kenneth I. Swartz
Vertiflite, July/Aug 2024

The largest general aviation event in Europe, long a showcase for electric aviation, has a growing vertical flight presence.

The 30th edition of the AERO Friedrichshafen general aviation trade show on April 17–20 — held near the beautiful shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee) on the southern edge of Germany — far exceeded the organizers’ expectations. This year’s event featured 680 exhibitors from 38 countries and more than 270 aircraft on static display, including a number of innovations and premieres. AERO attracted 31,500 visitors from 81 nations and stands out as a large pilot’s show, with 53% of visitors indicating that they held a pilot’s licence.

This year’s exhibition featured several rotorcraft and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)/advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft designs spread throughout 12 large hangar-size exhibit halls covering more than 1 million ft² (9.3 ha), as well as a one-and-a-half-day AAM conference on batteries and hydrogen; this complemented the “e-flight-expo” forum and presentations, which have been organized annually by Flying Pages’ Willi Tacke since 2009.

AERO also features a Sustainable Aviation Trail where green balloons highlight exhibitors who are particularly dedicated to sustainable aviation. This year, these included Aura Aero, BRM, Diamond Aircraft, Elektra Solar, Geiger Engineering, H55, Kasaero GmbH, Lange Aviation, MGM Compro, Safran Electrical & Power, Pipistrel, VerdeGo Aero, VoltAero, Zuri, several Germany universities, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In addition, Rhyen Aircraft Industry Co. of China brought four electric/hydrogen powered aircraft to the show.

This year marked the first appearance of Leonardo Helicopters, with an AW109SP GrandNew and AW139. It was also the first time the complete Robinson helicopter product line was displayed at AERO, alongside five examples of the Guimbal C23 Cabri, a Bell 505, Germany Army H145 and NH90 helicopters, plus an MBB Bo 105 and a Bell UH-1D from the collection of the Dornier Museum.

This year’s winner of the annual e-flight-expo Award for Excellence in Electric Aviation was VFS corporate member Pivotal from California, which started delivering BlackFly eVTOL aircraft to its first customers in 2023.

In the European Union, single- and dual-seat gyroplanes and helicopters with a maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) not exceeding 600 kg (1,323 lb) are regulated by national legislation. Heavier rotorcraft are certificated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which only recently started drafting flight crew licensing and the operational rules for larger gyroplanes. The weight limit for ultralight aircraft in EU countries was allowed to increase to 600 kg in 2018, with Germany one of the first countries to adopt the new rules.

ELA Aviation

Spanish gyroplane manufacturer ELA Aviation displayed its new Eclipse Revo (short for “Revolution”), which it first announced last year at AERO. The aircraft can take off in less than 33 ft (10 m), which means pilots no longer have to fly from an airport, which is unique among autogyros on sale today.

The company describes the Revo as a runway-independent aircraft with an “instant takeoff” capability, avoiding the historic term “jump takeoff” since a takeoff roll may be required with two passengers and fuel in some conditions.

Development work on the Revo started in 2021; initial test flights were conducted by an aircraft with a 115-hp Rotax 914, but ELA quickly learned that three-to-four times more power was needed to spin-up the rotors. This led to a complete redesign of the belt drive, clutch system and gearbox driving a pre-rotator at the mast, which resulted in a 44-lb (20-kg) weight increase. To achieve a vertical takeoff, the pre-rotator — which is connected to the 160-hp Rotax 916 engine — brings the rotor to 500 rpm, which is 200 RPM more than the 300 RPM required for a rolling runway takeoff on other ELA models.

The Revo is now in production and an application for German ultralight certification has been initiated, but the design changes required to achieve an “instant takeoff” may take longer to certify. In the US, autogyros are operated in the uncertified “amateur-built” experimental category, so no barriers to sales are expected; most US customers come to ELA’s facilities in Okeechobee, Florida, where they complete their own aircraft to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) 51% rule (see “Recreational Rotorcraft Progress,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2024).

ELA was founded in 1996 when flying enthusiast Emilio López Alemany (whose initials are ELA) built the ELA-3, his first motorized autogyro. The tandem-seat ELA-4 followed in 1998 and, after experimenting with various two-stroke and four-stroke engines, ELA settled on the Rotax 914 engine in 2002 to power the ELA-7, which became the company’s first commercial product.

As orders increased, Lopez and his family moved from the Madrid area to an industrial park next to a small airport in the southern Spanish town of Fuente Obejuna, about 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Cordoba. The company’s first aircraft had open cockpits; he worked on developing an enclosed-cockpit two-seater, but the first four designs didn’t meet performance goals.

Emilio Lopez, Sr. left the business in 2011 and his two sons Daniel and Emilio José took over running the business where they had worked since childhood. A breakthrough came in 2014 with the development of the ELA-10 Eclipse, which could be powered by a four-stroke, 100-hp Rotax 912 ULS or a turbocharged 115-hp Rotax 914 engine.

Emilio José Lopez, Jr. began running the business when his brother Daniel left in 2019. He sold the company to a group of ELA customers in 2021, but stayed on and continues to lead the company’s development of new products.

In 2021, ELA introduced the Eclipse Evo (short for “Evolution”), which has a 125-mph (200-km/h) cruise speed. To achieve the high speed, the structure was beefed up, the engine upgraded to a 140-hp Rotax 915 iS, and a lot of work went into reducing the drag around the engine. This resulted in the design of a streamlined engine cowling and a new ram air intake above the cabin on the rotor mast to increase the air flow into the engine compartment.

ELA has today delivered more than 1,000 autogyros, including more than 400 Eclipse models. In addition to the Eclipse, Evo and Revo, ELA sells two versions of the ELA-7 (Cougar and Scorpion), and a crop-spraying model called the ELA Gyro-Tractor.

Argon Aero

Argon Aero was founded by engineer Krzysztof Wronowski, who first entered the gyroplane market in 2007 as the Polish distributor for the French side-by-side Xenon autogyro.

In 2017, Wronowski established his own autogyro manufacturing company called Manufaktura Lotnicza, acquired the rights to the Xenon design and established a factory and flight school at Sobienie Field Airport, southeast of Warsaw.

The company’s first gyroplane was the Argon 915, powered by the Rotax 915iS; it was designed for flight training schools and for traveling short distances. It has a cruise speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and a 22-gal (85-l) fuel tank, which provides four hours of endurance. This is the company’s most popular model.

Two years ago, a push from customers led to the development of the Argon GTL (for Grand Turismo Long), which has a larger rotor and a longer cabin with extra comfort for long touring flights. The stub “wings” on the outside of the cabin can be used as a luggage compartment, to carry extra fuel, or to carry an emergency float system for water landings. It’s the largest autogyro currently in production.

The newest autogyro is the Argon GTL Triple 916iS, which is a three-passenger autogyro designed for family travel. This design is aimed at the US market, which is expected to undergo a regulatory change as a result the FAA’s new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) initiative (see “Recreational Rotorcraft Progress,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2024).

It’s the same size as the Argo GTL but has one seat in the front and two seats in back for passengers. A French customer plans to fly their autogyro across the Atlantic this summer to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Each of these aircraft were certified in Poland first, followed by Germany and other European countries, Turkey, and India.

“While I was developing gyrocopters, my big dream was to develop a helicopter,” said Wronowski in an interview with Vertiflite. Before he set out to design his own helicopter, he flew a wide range of models to determine the features he wanted in his own aircraft.

The Argo AH 2.2 is a two-seat, three-blade helicopter with high-inertia composite rotor blades, Garmin avionics and a three-axis autopilot. It’s powered by a Belgium-made ULPower Aero Engines UL350 iHPS four-stroke, four-cylinder piston engine that generates up to 150 hp at 3,500 rpm. Development began five years ago, and Wronowski made the first flight earlier this year.

Other Helicopters

Konner Helicopter of Italy displayed its K1 S19 two-seat, three-bladed helicopter, powered by a Konner TK-250 turboshaft, alongside the production version of its Hybrid Assistant System (HAS) that can automatically deliver 90 hp of additional power in emergencies. The design eliminates the risk associated with the traditional “dead man’s curve” for the pilot during a hover or power loss in forward flight — delivering an unrivalled safety feature.

In November 2023, dealer Savback Helicopters of Sweden became the exclusive distributor of the turbine-engined K1-S19 and K2 helicopters across the Nordic region (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland) as well as the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Rupp Aircraft

Rupp Aircraft GmbH was a newcomer to AERO, marketing its Phönix FR130 and Phönix FR200 helicopters, derived from the Italian Alpi Aviation’s Syton AH 130, which itself traces its lineage to the venerable RotorWay Exec.

The Rupp helicopters can be powered by the 150-hp Solar T62-32 or the new Neo Engines NEO 200 gas turbine, with 200 shp. The NEO 200 is designed as a drop-in replacement for the Solar turbine, which is underpowered when used in some of the 600-kg ultralight helicopter designs.

Neo Engines was founded in 2020 by aviation enthusiasts Franz Rupp and Thomas Baumgart with the intention of developing a small gas turbine to drive ultralight helicopters.

Avilus Rescue Drone

One of the more unusual vertical flight aircraft on display at AERO Friedrichshafen was the Avilus Grille (“Cricket”) German rescue drone, designed to evacuate wounded soldiers from inaccessible places.

With a tip-to-tip encircling diameter of 7.8 m (25.4 ft), the battery-electric multicopter has six pairs of 7.4-ft (2.25-m) propellers and can carry a 300-lb (135-kg) payload over a distance of 32 nm (51 km). It is equipped with a rear-loading patient compartment and is designed to support a “scoop and run” and “load and fly” concept where minimal bleeding and respiratory control is provided by first responders before transport. In flight, the patient’s vital parameters are constantly monitored and communicated to the ground.

The patient transfer cabin is outfitted with adjustable lighting to provide a bright and comforting cabin. It is equipped with a video system that allows caregivers to communicate and counsel patients in flight.

The project began when a defense contractor asked Prof. Florian Holzapfel at the Technical University of Munich to examine a patient transfer concept, working closely with Prof. Dr. Peter Biberthaler, a trauma surgeon with the TUM School of Medicine and Health. Graduate students with an interest in the technology were engaged to work on the study, then formed a company with the financial sponsor to develop a full-scale system. The university also engaged German military medical specialists to make recommendations regarding the medical features of the drone, as well as the patient monitoring system.

AERO Outlook

Aero Friedrichshafen has grown over the past 30 years from a small show of small piston-powered general aviation airplanes in a small town to a major European event covering mainstream aircraft, sustainable aviation, AAM, military drones and other aviation innovations. The event’s forthcoming decade promises an even greater presence on the global aviation calendar.