Skyworks Aeronautics has received financing from Plavo More SPV and has started work to prepare a flying demonstrator for its Hawk 5 aircraft.

The Hawk 5 employs a free-spinning rotor to provide lift and an aircraft engine for thrust, which allows for runway-independent operations. By utilising a high power, pre-rotation system while on the ground, the Hawk 5 is capable of take off from almost anywhere.

However, the Hawk 5 gyroplane boasts a number of benefits over the helicopter. It is much safer; the unpowered rotor is always in autorotation, so in the unlikely event of an engine failure, the Hawk 5's rotor continues to autorotate. This maintains a normal glidepath despite engine failure, keeping the pilot in complete control and enabling a very low speed touchdown.

Additionally, since there is no requirement for helicopter anti-torque transmission systems, the Hawk 5 reduces both cost and complexity of manufacture and operations. At the same time, it significantly increases mission reliability while providing operators greater levels of safety. With its simple but sophisticated aircraft design, the Hawk 5 benefits from operating much like a fixed wing aircraft, making it a true one-of-a-kind reliable aviation workhorse.

“We are looking forward to converting our LOI orders to firm orders once the Hawk demonstrator is flying,” says Yunus Nurilier, board member of Green Otomasyon Enerjil, that placed an order on behalf of a customer for 200 Hawk 5 turboprop aircraft to be put into service for patrol, transport and medevac operations across Turkey late last year.

The Hawk aircraft that Skyworks is upgrading and preparing for flight demonstrations has flown previously, including an eight weeklong security mission for the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command (UOPSC) during the Winter Olympic Games. It was the only rotorcraft that stayed 100 per cent mission ready.

Plavo More president Paul J Alar explains: “Often investors confuse 'no competition' with new, leading-edge, technology. Many times, that simply is not the case. Although simple in concept, the Skyworks Hawk 5 aircraft is a byproduct of decades of incremental improvement protected by numerous patents. The end result is a product that is cheaper to build, cheaper to operate, and most importantly, safer to fly than a helicopter.”

“The Skyworks team is very excited to move this exciting and transformative aircraft capability forward,” adds CEO and co-founder Brigadier General (retired) John E Michel. “The ability to showcase the Hawk 5's operating performance first-hand brings us one very large step closer to our goal of being the first company to commercialise gyrocraft at scale.”