A vertical take-off and landing aircraft first flown 60 years ago is being revived, with the aim of offering a cheaper and greener alternative to modern helicopters.

“For years we have been looking for a real, practical solution to the needs of advanced air mobility,” said Dr Seyed Mohseni, CEO and founder of UK-based ARC AeroSystems, which is developing the vehicle. “This is an already established solution that was forgotten.”

In the 1960s, a group of former engineers from aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada were developing The Avian 2/180. It was a gyroplane, a type of aircraft that debuted in the 1920s. Also known as autogyros, gyroplanes use a rotor on top for lift and a propeller at the back for forward movement—but unlike a helicopter, the top rotor isn’t powered by an engine. Instead, it’s powered by air passing through the rotor as the vehicle moves forward.

Standard gyroplanes require a runway, but the Avian 2/180 was able to launch vertically via a hopping-style take-off. Avian Aircraft developed a model certified airworthy by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), but it never entered production, and when the company failed in the 1970s the design was forgotten.

Arc AeroSystems’ Pegasus gyroplane is a modified version of the original Avian model, able to launch and land vertically, allowing it to make use of existing helipad infrastructure, and featuring a self-charging, hybrid-electric engine that drives the rear propeller.

“There are clear benefits to using this type of aircraft. The primary one would be that because the rotor is not powered, it doesn’t have any gearbox,” said Mohseni, which he explains results in lower operating and maintenance costs.

Able to carry a pilot and two passengers, although the Pegasus is slower than most helicopters, with a top speed of 160kph (100mph), Mohseni says it could replace them in many use cases, particularly for emergency medical services.

“We are offering an affordable, also a simple, air ambulance that can cover more than 90% of the missions that, normally, helicopters would do,” he said.

Mechanically simple

The cost of helicopter emergency medical services varies wildly depending on the location, circumstances and model, but in the UK, the average cost is £4,165 ($5,730) per mission, according to Air Ambulances UK, which represents the UK’s air ambulance charities, which collectively undertake more than 130 missions a day.

Mohseni said that the Pegasus costs approximately $300 per hour to operate, although that doesn’t include the cost of the pilot and any medics. It will cost around £750,000 ($1 million) to buy.

“Helicopters are quite inefficient fuel-wise,” explained Dr Douglas Thomson, a senior lecturer in aerospace science at the University of Glasgow, who is not connected to ARC AeroSystems.

“They are very complex, and there are many safety-critical components … the autogyro is much simpler, mechanically,” he added.

Thomson said that gyroplanes can be safer than helicopters because the rotor blades autorotate. “If the engine fails, in theory the aircraft will simply descend slowly towards the ground and actually can be controlled quite well into a landing,” he says.

However, he added that “finding an application for them other than pleasure flying has been difficult.”

“One of the biggest issues with autogyros is that they tend to be small. They don’t scale very well … the rotor gets very big very quickly if you want to have a four-seat, six-seat, eight-seat vehicle,” said Thomson.

He added that gyroplanes are difficult to fly and while the Pegasus’ vertical take-off capabilities “would extend the applicability of the vehicle,” pilots would require significant training to be able to do it.

“It’s pretty scary looking,” he said of the take off. “It’s a jump into the air, and it has to be coordinated with increased forward speed, so it’s a tricky maneuver.”

Mohseni acknowledged the jump take-off requires skill but said “it is not more complicated than helicopter take-offs.” To fly the Pegasus, pilots would need a commercial pilot license for rotorcraft, and a specific “type rating” authorization. Mohseni says the company will provide training for pilots to achieve the accreditation.

Air ambulance

The Pegasus has secured a UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) E Conditions certificate, which means test flights can take place, and Mohseni anticipates the first of these will be in February or March this year.

He said that because ARC AeroSystems’ design is based on a model which received Part 27 Type certification from the FAA it will be easier for the Pegasus to achieve airworthiness accreditations than a brand-new vehicle.

But Thomson said that any modifications would require new certifications, which “could be a long and very expensive process.”

ARC AeroSystems has received £12 million ($16.55 million) in a mixture of private and UK government investment, but Mohseni said a further £25 million ($34.5 million) is needed to bring the Pegasus to market.

He said the company is in talks with potential investors and hopes the funding will be secured by the first half of 2026. From that point, he expects the aircraft to be certified in the UK and commercially available within three years.

SkyAngels Air Ambulance, a charity in Norwich, UK, has placed an advance order for 10 Pegasus aircraft, and five more will be commissioned by a Scottish-based pilot training school and aerial service operator.

ARC Aerosystems has also signed an agreement to supply kidney recovery specialist 34Lives with up to 30 of its gyroplanes. Based in Indiana, in the US, 34Lives currently uses an expensive combination of ground transport and private jets to transport the organs to hospitals.

“Organ transplantation is time-critical and relies on efficient transportation to move organs across vast distances,” a 34Lives spokesperson told CNN in an email.

“However, air transportation is typically very expensive. Charter jets, for example, typically cost us $25-30,000 to fly to one hospital from our organ rescue center (and could cost the same amount to fly kidneys to our rescue center from the donor hospital). Helicopters are even more expensive.

“We estimate the Pegasus will cost $500 to 600 per hour to operate (including pilots, fuel, maintenance, and overhead) compared to a jet at $2,500 to $5,000 per hour. This could allow us to reach more transplant hospitals less expensively, but without compromising time efficiencies.”

Mohseni said that although the Pegasus is slower than jets, it will be able to take off outside 34Lives’ facility and transport a donor kidney directly to a hospital, reducing overall transportation time.

Globally, other companies are developing similar gyroplanes. AutoGyro, based in Germany, is developing a vertical take-off air taxi, as well as an air ambulance and a version designed for cargo transport. US-based Skyworks Aeronautics has worked on manned and unmanned vertical take-off gyroplanes for military use and urban mobility.

Many others, such as China’s Ehang and US-based Joby Aviation, are working on other kinds of electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, intended for short trips between urban transport hubs.

With a maximum payload of 280 kilograms (617 pounds), the Pegasus can be fitted with various cameras and sensors and could also be used for observation or the air taxi sector, said Mohseni.

Alongside the Pegasus, ARC AeroSystems is also developing a nine-passenger, winged gyroplane, the Linx P9, which Mohseni hopes will be commercially available by 2030.

Source: CNN