Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Two-seat light gyrocopter

Power Plant:

One 119 kw (160 hp) Subaru EJ-22 four-cylinder, four-stroke, carburetted, dual-electronic ignition, liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Firebird was one of a series of gyrocopters designed and built by Paul Bruty at his facility at Ballarat, VIC and was the culmination of much development to produce a cross-country gyroplane for amateur builders, and to provide it in kit form. All components were tested on many gyroplanes over some years and the prototype flew many testing hours before kits began to be made available to purchasers in March 2003.

Mr Bruty, with his father, purchased a Bensen gyro-glider in the early 1960s, which was towed behind a car, eventually fitting a motor  to it, doing some test flying in the Ballarat area. A number of engines were installed during development obtained from drones but these, being two-stroke engines, suffered a number of failures and development slowed until the advent of the Rotax series of engines for ultralight aircraft.

In the late 1960s the Bruty family became involved in the ultralight aircraft field and built a Hovey Wing Ding, and also obtained a gyrocopter which was towed behind a car around local paddocks. A two-seat gyrocopter was then built for training purposes, which was fitted with a Rotax 532 engine, and is assumed to have eventually been the forerunner the Firebird series.

The Firebird was a roomy two-seat gyroplane with side-by-side seating and had a fully enclosed cabin. The doors could be removed for warmer weather flying. Normal power plants installed were the Subaru units, the EJ-22 or the EJ-25, driving a propeller through a gearbox. It was designed to have the thrustline and vertical centre of gravity in line with one another, a horizontal stabilizer being used to fine-tune the natural stability of the design. The kit came with the EJ-22 engine complete with ECU controlled ignition, fuel injection, pre-rotator, rotor brake, brakes, 9.14 m (30 ft) diameter rotor blades, control lock, and dual controls.

Mr Bruty was seriously injured in a gyrocopter accident in November 2007, his Company at that time being known as Firebird Gyroplane Aviation.

A number of Firebirds were sold, one being registered as G-3011 with the Australian Sport Rotorcraft Association. Another registered G-801 was fitted with a 1.82 m (72 in) composite three-blade propeller and had a Neil Hintz Autoflight reduction gearbox fitted to a Subaru 2.5-litre SOHC engine. It had a 90 litre (20 Imp gals) fuel tank and an electric aerorotator.

Examples registered in New Zealand included ZK-REJ (c/n 01), which later crashed at Onamalutu Valley in April 2007 but was rebuilt. It was described on the New Zealand register as a Clarke Rosco Bruty Gyro.