Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle#On display

{{Short description|Experimental US Navy & Marine Corps helicopter}}

{{Infobox aircraft begin

|name= XRON-1 Rotorcycle

|image= File:Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle 4001.jpg

|caption=Rotorcycle conducting a test flight

}}{{Infobox aircraft type

|type=Helicopter

|national origin= United States

|manufacturer=Gyrodyne Company of America

|designer=

|first flight=23 November 1955

|introduced=

|retired=

|status=

|primary user= United States Navy

|more users=

|produced=

|number built=10

|developed from=

|variants with their own articles=

|developed into=Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH

}}

The Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle (originally designated HOG) was a tiny, single-seat helicopter designed under contract for the United States Navy. in the mid-1950s. It later was redesigned for a U.S. Marine Corps requirement for a small personal helicopter that would fulfill an array of roles, including observation, liaison, small unit tactical maneuvers, and which could be dropped to downed airmen behind enemy lines to facilitate their escape.{{cite journal|journal=Popular Mechanics|date=July 1956}}

Development

Gyrodyne purchased the assets of Bendix Helicopters in 1949, including the Model 2C coaxial helicopter which provided the technology for the XRON-1. In 1951 the Model 2C was demonstrated to the Navy with shortcomings noted in autorotation control. The XRON-1 was demonstrated under a new Navy contract NOas 55-388-c for a lightweight single man helicopter.

Design

Gyrodyne's design was an open-framework helicopter with coaxial rotors, which was evaluated with three different power plants (two reciprocating, one turbine).

The XRON-1 used a manually started 40 hp two-cycle engine with a gross weight capability of 500 lb. The fuselage is a simple box-beam construction. The rotor uses co-axial blades which alleviate the need for an anti-torque tail rotor. Yaw control is provided by rotor tip mounted "tip brakes" providing differential torque between the rotors. Gyrodyne patented the control on 24 October 1954 Patent No. 2,835,331.{{cite web|title=XRON history|url=http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/xron_history.htm|accessdate=7 June 2011}} There is a small inverted V-tail for control at forward speeds. The rotors are laminated wood construction. The mast is pressure lubricated and becomes a cooling surface for oil inflight. The landing gear consists of three small wheels.{{cite journal|journal=Sport Aviation|date=November 2011}}

Operational history

File:Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle making water landing.jpg

The first flight was in November 1955. The two-cycle engine was prone to overheating and other engines were added to the program for testing. The Marine Corps also tested one XRON-1, and three YRON-1 prototypes.{{cite book|title=Historic naval aircraft: from the pages of Naval history magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/historicnavalair00polm|url-access=registration|author=Norman Polmar|year=2004|publisher=Brassey's|isbn=9781574885729}}

The Marine Corps eventually concluded that both the RON, and the competing Hiller ROE Rotorcycle were too heavy and too difficult to fly and abandoned the project. The United States Navy, however, had noticed the compact size and high load-carrying capacity of the RON, and in 1960 awarded a contract to Gyrodyne to produce a radio-controlled drone version of the Rotorcycle, to be used as an Anti-Submarine Warfare platform. Using the dynamic components of the RON, this was eventually developed as the Gyrodyne QH-50.

The Rotorcycle went on to win the prize for most maneuverable helicopter at the Paris Air Show in 1961, and was selected for a 1964 trade fair in Morocco by the United States Department of Commerce.

A two-place enclosed "gyrocycle" commercial variant was proposed after initial tests.{{cite journal|journal=Sport Aviation|date=December 1958}}

Variants

;XRON-1:Prototype

;YRON-1:

:* Powered by a {{cvt|55|hp|0}} 4-stroke Porsche YO-95-2 model Model GP-702/1 600cc variant with {{cvt|17|ft|0}} diameter rotors.

:* Powered by a {{cvt|55|hp|0}} Solar YT62 turbine model with {{cvt|17|ft|0}} diameter rotors.

:* Powered by a {{cvt|72|hp|0}} 4-stroke Porsche YO-95-6 engine variant - Rotor diameter increased to {{cvt|20|ft|0}}, 5 units built and tested at NAS Patuxent River and Camp Pendleton.

:* Powered by a {{cvt|62|hp|0}} Solar T62 gas turbine engine and {{cvt|15|ft|0}} diameter rotors.{{cite journal |title=Helicopters of the World |journal=Flight International AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, MISSILES |date=27 May 1960 |volume=77 |issue=2672 |pages=p.p.711–718, 725–730}}

:* Powered by a {{cvt|72|hp|0}} 4-stroke Porsche YO-95-8 DSN-1/QH-50A engine. {{cite web|url=https://www.luminativtol.aero/gyrodyne-xron-yron-1|title=GYRODYNE XRON - YRON|accessdate=25 Oct 2022}}

:* Powered by a {{cvt|125|hp|0}} Electric Engine with 50 Min endurance. {{cite journal|title=Luminati Creates Vertically Integrated VTOL Development Business|journal=Vertiflite|author=Kenneth I Swartz|date=January 2020}}

Surviving aircraft

=Australia=

4008 – XRON airworthy with Coax Helicopters of Parramatta, New South Wales.{{cite web |title=Aircraft Register [VH-XRN] |url=http://www.casa.gov.au/search-centre/aircraft-register?reg=XRN |website=Civil Aviation Safety Authority | date=16 November 2023 |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=14 July 2024}}
4015 – XRON airworthy with Coax Helicopters of Parramatta, New South Wales.{{cite web |title=Aircraft Register [VH-YRN] |url=http://www.casa.gov.au/search-centre/aircraft-register?reg=YRN |website=Civil Aviation Safety Authority | date=16 November 2023 |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=14 July 2024}}

=United States=

4005 – XRON-1 on static display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.{{cite web |title=Gyrodyne XRON-1 'Rotorcycle' |url=http://neam.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135 |website=New England Air Museum |access-date=14 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402003811/http://neam.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135 |archive-date=2 April 2016}}
4012 – YRON-1 on static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.{{cite web |title=Gyrodyne YRON-1 Rotorcycle |url=http://www.pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/gyrodyne-yron-1-rotorcycle |website=Pima Air & Space Museum |access-date=14 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Airframe Dossier - Gyrodyne YRON-1 Rotorcycle, s/n 4012 USN |url=http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=58133 |website=Aerial Visuals |access-date=14 July 2024}}
4013 – YRON-1 on static display at the Hickory Aviation Museum in Hickory, North Carolina.{{cite news |last1=Aguiari |first1=Moreno |title=A de Havilland Otter Arrives at The Hickory Aviation Museum |url=http://www.vintageaviationnews.com/aviation-museum-news/de-havilland-otter-arrives-at-the-hickory-aviation-museum.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Vintage Aviation News |date=17 January 2024}}
4014 – XRON-1 on static display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in New York, New York.{{cite web |title=Gyrodyne XRON Rotorcycle |url=http://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/exhibits/atrium/gyrodyne_xron_rotorcycle.html |website=Cradle of Aviation Museum |access-date=14 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Airframe Dossier - Gyrodyne XRON-1 Rotorcycle, s/n 04014 USN |url=http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=38012 |website=Aerial Visuals |access-date=14 July 2024}}
XRON-1 in storage at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York.{{cite web |title=Outdoor Exhibit Yard |url=http://www.buffalonavalpark.org/exhibits/outdoor-exhibit-yard |website=Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park |access-date=14 July 2024}}
XRON-1 on static display at the National Museum of Transportation in Saint Louis, Missouri.{{cite web |title=Gyrodyne XRON-1 Rotorcycle |url=http://www.tnmot.org/collection/gyrodyne-xron-1-rotorcycle |website=National Museum of Transportation |access-date=14 July 2024}}
RON on static display at Patriots Point in Charleston, South Carolina.{{cite web |title=Location Dossier - Patriots Point Naval and Marine Museum (USS Yorktown) |url=http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/LocationDossier.php?Serial=3606 |website=Aerial Visuals |access-date=14 July 2024}}

Specifications

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62Taylor 1961, p. 261.

|prime units?=imp

|crew=1

|capacity=

|length m=

|length ft=11

|length in=6

|height m=

|height ft=

|height in=

|empty weight kg=

|empty weight lb=550

|gross weight kg=

|gross weight lb=832

|max takeoff weight kg=

|max takeoff weight lb=906

|more general=

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name= Porsche YO-95-6

|eng1 type= 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine

|eng1 hp=72

|rot number=2

|rot dia m=

|rot dia ft=20

|rot dia in=

|rot area sqm=

|rot area sqft=314

|max speed kmh=

|max speed mph=78

|max speed kts=

|cruise speed kmh=

|cruise speed mph=60

|cruise speed kts=

|range km=

|range miles=55

|range nmi=

|ferry range miles=112

|ferry range note=(overload weight, auxiliary fuel)

|endurance=

|ceiling m=

|ceiling ft=12400

|g limits=

|climb rate ms=

|climb rate ftmin=1140

|lift to drag=

|disk loading kg/m2=

|disk loading lb/sqft=

|more performance=

|avionics=

}}

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{cite book |title=The Rotorcycle |publisher=Gyrodyne Company of America }}
{{cite book |last=Rawlins |first=Eugene W. |title=Marines and Helicopters 1946–1962 |year=1976 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=History and Museums Division Headquarters, United States Marine Corps |pages=89 }}
{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Rod |title=Airlife's Helicopters and Rotorcraft |year=1998 |location=Shrewsbury, UK |publisher=Airlife Publishing |pages=220 |oclc=438025217 |isbn=9781853109683}}
{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=John W. R. |authorlink=John W. R. Taylor |year=1961 |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1961–62 |location=London |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.}}
{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Michael J. H. |year=1989 |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |location=London |publisher=Studio Editions |pages=455 }}