The Butterfly Monarch

Monarch
Role Autogyro
National origin United States
Manufacturer The Butterfly LLC
Status In production (2012)
Unit cost
US$18.995 (kit, 2011)

The Butterfly Monarch is an American autogyro, designed and produced by The Butterfly LLC of Aurora, Texas. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.[1]

Design and development

The Monarch was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built rules. It features a single main rotor, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 64 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 engine in pusher configuration.[1]

The Monarch's fuselage is made from metal tubing and mounts a two-bladed main rotor with a diameter of 8 m (26.2 ft), with an electric pre-rotator to shorten take-off distances. The aircraft has an empty weight of 360 lb (160 kg) and a gross weight of 630 lb (290 kg), giving a useful load of 270 lb (120 kg). The tail surfaces are made from Kevlar. The landing gear is of 4130 steel construction, incorporates springs and has a long stroke of 18 in (46 cm) to allow almost vertical landings, including descent rates of 500 ft/min (2.5 m/s) at touchdown. The tricycle landing gear is supplemented by a triple tail caster.[1][2]

Optional equipment available includes a cockpit fairing with a windshield, rotor brake, auxiliary 6 U.S. gallons (23 L; 5.0 imp gal) fuel tank and an airshow smoke system.[2]

Operational history

By December 2012 eight examples had been registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration.[3]

Specifications (Monarch)

Data from Bayerl and The Butterfly[1][2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Capacity: one passenger
  • Length: 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
  • Width: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
  • Height: 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
  • Empty weight: 359 lb (163 kg)
  • Gross weight: 628 lb (285 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 7.5 U.S. gallons (28 L; 6.2 imp gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 582 twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two stroke aircraft engine, 64 hp (48 kW)
  • Main rotor diameter: 26 ft 3 in (8 m)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Tennessee Propellers wooden

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 70 mph; 60 kn (112 km/h)
  • Cruise speed: 62 mph; 54 kn (100 km/h)


References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al.: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 177. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  2. 1 2 3 The Butterfly LLC (November 2012). "The Monarch Butterfly Specifications". Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Federal Aviation Administration (30 December 2012). "Make / Model Inquiry Results". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
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