WICHITA FALLS, Texas — For the first time, officials with Carter Aviation Technologies recently left their flight test center at Olney Airport and flew cross country to a welcoming crowd of hundreds at Kickapoo Airport in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“This is the first time we have left Olney and the first time we’ve conducted a public flight demonstration of this nature,” explained Jay Carter. “After we broke the Mu-1 barrier for a second and third time with our second generation Slowed Rotor/Compound [SR/C] prototype, we wanted to get the aircraft in front of the folks of Wichita Falls who have been so supportive over the years.”
The flight demonstration occurred on Saturday, Nov. 16. The aircraft arrived on time at Kickapoo and then performed a flyover and several patterns prior to landing.
“The sight of the Slowed Rotor Compound prototype coming in for a landing was astounding,” exclaimed Joy Parsons, a longtime resident of Wichita Falls. “I’ve waited for years to see this marvelous machine.”
“After we expanded our flight envelope to 200 mph, broke Mu-1 and conducted flights in excess of one hour we knew we were ready to take the vehicle public,” said Larry Neal, Carter’s Chief Test Pilot. “With the Mu-1 milestone behind us, we now plan to focus our attention on demonstrating the long range and extreme endurance capabilities of our aircraft,” said Carter. “We owed Wichita Falls the first of what will be many demonstrations around Texas, the U.S., and to military bases.”
“The capabilities are amazing,” stated Neal. “With all this focus on Mu-1 recently, folks sort of missed the point. It’s really more about achieving exceptional cruise efficiencies and speeds in an otherwise vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This is the real story. Mu-1 is for the engineers, the rest of the aviation community is more interested in bottom line performance.”
When the Mu-1 barrier was broken Nov. 7, Carter said, “This is just the start. With our envelope now expanded beyond Mu-1 and these flights becoming routine, we are now going to attain even higher speeds while demonstrating the extreme range and endurance our technology enables.” (For an explanation of the Mu-1 barrier, click here.)
“And, all this performance is coming from a piston engine [Lycoming TIO-540]. When we switch to turbine power, you better buckle your chin straps,” Neal added.
Carter Aviation is now planning another round of fundraising aimed at performing demonstrations across the U.S.
“We want to take the aircraft across the country to include military bases, which will occur over the next year. We anticipate following those demonstrations with a non-stop non-refueled flight from LA to NYC. In so doing, we will eclipse the Hughes OH-6 world record that has held since 1966,” said Carter.
“I look forward to the day when my son can take his children and grandchildren to the Smithsonian Museum to view the Carter Copter and be able to say he was there to see the first public flight and had a chance to meet the man who broke MU-1,” marveled Mark Edwards, one of the hundreds of Wichita Falls residents that attended the demonstration.
For more information: CarterCopters.com