Photograph:
Harley Newman Gyrocopter ‘Australia II’ at the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown, NSW (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Australia
Description:
Single-seat sport gyrocopter
Power Plant:
One 74 kw (100 hp) modified BMW four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- TBA
History:
Harley Newman was an avid gyrocopter operator for many years and developed a series of single-seat machines for sporting purposes. His first machine was fitted with a 2200 cc modified Volkswagen engine and had a mechanism for a hydraulic pre-spin of the rotor blades and twin rudders. Named ‘Australia’, it had good performance but on 13 September 1986 it crashed, killing Mr Newman.
Before his death Mr Newman built a further machine, known as ‘Australia II’. This had a 900 cc turbocharged BMW motor bike engine converted for use in a gyrocopter. It had a streamline fibreglass cabin, hydraulic pre-spin for the rotor, instruments, hydraulic disc brakes, electric starter, radio, cabin controlled adjustments for the advancement and retarding of the engine which altered the fuel mixture, a single rudder, and direct oil flow from the hydraulic pump to the hydraulic motor in the rotor head. The fuel tank was integral in the fuselage. It was considered to be technically advanced for its time.
Although some testing of the machine was carried out relating to the development of the engine, the machine was never flown prior to his death and eventually was donated to and placed on display on its trailer at the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown, NSW. One of Mr Newman’s machines, ‘Australia’, was taken in 1981 to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA and displayed at the annual Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Fly-in.