CSIR Sara II

SARA II
SARA II
General information
Type	Two-seat experimental autogyro
National origin	South Africa
Manufacturer	Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Number built	1
History
First flight	30 November 1972

The CSIR SARA II (SARA - South African Research Autogyro) is a South African two-seat experimental autogyro designed and built by the Aeronautics Research Unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Development

As part of the support to South African aircraft manufacturing industry the ARU developed a single-seat autogyro as a research vehicle. Design of the autogyro was started in 1965 and construction followed in April 1967, by 1972 the autogyro, registered ZS-UGL, was ready for tethered tests mounted on a lorry-platform, it made its first free flight on 30 November 1972 at Swartkop Air Force Base. Following the test flights the autogyro was modified.

Design

The autogyro had a box-like fuselage structure made from light-alloy and was fitted with twin fins and rudders with a fixed incidence tail-plane mounted between them. It was fitted with a two-bladed teetering rotor, the rotor could be spun up using a shaft drive through a clutch from the engine. The engine located at the rear was a 180 hp (134 kW) Continental O-360-A air-cooled engine driving a two-bladed constant-speed pusher propeller. The crew sat side by side in the enclosed fuselage with dual controls, entrance is through a forward-opening glazed door on each side. The landing gear was a fixed tricycle type with a self-centering and steerable nosewheel.

Specifications

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in) fuselage
Width: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Max takeoff weight: 840 kg (1,852 lb)
Fuel capacity: 136 L (36 US gal; 30 imp gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-360-A 4-cyl. air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 130 kW (180 hp)
Main rotor diameter: 2 × 11.13 m (36 ft 6 in)
Main rotor area: 97.2 m² (1,046 sq ft) NACA 8-H-12 section teetering rotor
Propellers: 2-bladed Hartzell constant-speed propeller, 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) diameter

Performance

Maximum speed: 154 km/h (96 mph, 83 kn)
Cruise speed: 122 km/h (76 mph, 66 kn) *Min flying speed: 48 km/h (30 mph)
Never exceed speed: 193 km/h (120 mph, 104 kn)
Service ceiling: 4,267 m (13,999 ft)
Rate of climb: 4.066 m/s (800.4 ft/min)

References

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Taylor 1973, pp. 174-175
↑ Taylor, John W.R., ed. (1975). Jane's all the world's aircraft, 1975-76 (66th annual ed.). New York: Franklin Watts Inc. ISBN 978-0531032503.

Bibliography

Taylor, John W.R., ed. (1973). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74. London, United Kingdom: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0-354-00117-5.

[Janes-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Taylor 1973, pp. 174-175

[JAWA75-76-2] Taylor, John W.R., ed. (1975). Jane's all the world's aircraft, 1975-76 (66th annual ed.). New York: Franklin Watts Inc. ISBN 978-0531032503.