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Designing Aviation Gauges for Chimera Aviation

The CAI engineering design team have worked closely with Chimera Aviation to design a complete set of aviation gauges for a new, spectacular Autogyro called The Dragon.

An Autogyro (or gyroplane or gyrocopter) is a design of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift and thus flight.  Although similar in appearance to a helicopter, the autogyro's rotor must have air flowing across the rotor disc to generate rotation, with the air flowing upwards through the rotor disc rather than down.  Forward propulsion is achieved with an engine-driven propeller.  The first Autogyro was flown by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva on the 9th January 1923 in Madrid.

In 1967, interest in the Autogyro soared when Little Nellie appeared in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.  The Autogyro had been designed by Ken Wallis, who also piloted Little Nellie in the film scenes.

Chimera Aviation designed The Dragon to provide a compact and versatile aircraft.  The list of potential uses are extensive and include sports and in the military, especially for special forces.  The Dragon has the potential of opening up opportunities for many aviation enthusiasts to climb into the clouds.  As Barry Jones, Chimera Aviation's Managing Director, states on his website, "It was the sheer independence of climbing aboard a simple flying machine and heading into skies that you had never been shown before, alone. Fantastic."

During the design, Chimera Aviation contacted CAI to design and manufacture the aviation gauges.  Four gauges were required to measure the Rotor Speed, Engine Speed (RPM), the Oil Temperature and the Ambient Engine Temperature.  Each gauge had a brushed silver metal bezel and cream white face.  The Chimera Aviation logo features on the two larger gauges (for Rotor & Engine Speed), which were 80mm in diameter.  The two smaller gauges were 52mm.

"This was a fantastic project in which to be involved," said Gavin Roberts, CAI's Managing Director.  "We have very experienced and knowledgeable design engineers who were able to work closely with the Chimera Aviation team.  The final gauges look great and perfectly reflect the image of The Dragon."

For further information on the instrumentation designed and supplied for Chimera Aviation or for details on gauges for any marine, car, motorcycle, or industrial application, please contact us on:

Via our website

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +44 1639 732200

You can also follow us on social media including Facebook (@caigauge) and Twitter (@caigauge) for regular news and technical features.

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Tags: AviationChimera Aviation

Categories: Case HistoriesNew Technology