Jay Carter’s innovative CarterGyro “personal air vehicle” will be introduced at Sun ‘n Fun, following a demonstration at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Sun ‘n Fun, slated for April 4-10, will be the last stop on a flight called FutureFlight I.
The CarterGyro is based on an earlier personal air vehicle built under a NASA award in cooperation with Georgia Tech. Carter believes that similar aircraft eventually will replace cars for trips of 200 miles or more.
The flight plan is from Atlanta to Lakeland, following Interstate 75, with stops at Sunoco gas stations, South Georgia Technical College, the Longhorn Steak House at Tifton, Ga., Gainesville (Fla.) Harley-Davidson, and the Florida Natural History Museum. It is intended to show that a similar vehicle could be parked in a typical garage, take off on a vacation trip from a backyard, stop for fuel at a gas station, visit a restaurant and spend the night at a hotel, landing next to automobile parking lots.
Carter believes the production version will revolutionize transportation in general, not just the aviation industry.