Layzell Cricket

Short description: Single-seat autogyro

Cricket

Campbell Cricket G-AXVM

General information
Manufacturer| Campbell Aircraft
Cricket Gyroplanes
Layzell Gyroplanes
Designer|

Peter Lovegrove

Number built| 43
History
First flight| November 1969

The Layzell Cricket is a single-seat autogyro produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally built by Campbell Aircraft as the Campbell Cricket, first flying in 1969.

## Development and design

In 1959, Campbell Aircraft acquired a licence to build Bensen Aircraft autogyros, and exclusive rights to sell Bensen designs in the UK. It flew its first aircraft in August 1960,[1] and produced progressively improved versions of the Bensen autogyro from a factory in Hungerford, Berkshire, before moving to Membury airfield in 1967.[2]

In 1969, the autogyro enthusiast Peter Lovegrove designed a new autogyro, the Campbell Cricket, to avoid problems with existing autogyros such as the Bensen. The Cricket was powered by a 75 hp (56 kW) modified 1600 cc Volkswagen air-cooled engine instead of the two-stroke engines used by the Bensens in order to improve reliability.[3] It was a single-seat autogyro, with a steel tube fuselage structure, covered by a glassfibre nacelle. The pilot sat in an open cockpit. The autogyro had a two-bladed metal rotor, which could be fitted with an optional mechanical drive from the engine to pre-spin the rotor prior to take-off.[4] The four-cylinder engine was mounted behind the pilot and drove a two-bladed fixed pitch pusher propeller.[3][4] A fixed tricycle landing gear was fitted, while tail surfaces consisted of a single fin and rudder mounted on a tailboom.[4]

In June 1969 parts of the new design were flight tested on a Bensen B-8. This was followed by the full prototype, aircraft registration G-AXNU, which made its first flight on 7 August 1969.[3] Production started later that year, reaching a rate of two per week by 1970.[3] Forty-seven Crickets were built by Campbell Aircraft by April 1972.[4][lower-alpha 1]

In February 1984, R. J. Everett Engineering of Sproughton, Suffolk flew the first example of the Everett Autogyro,[6] a derivative of the Cricket[7] powered by a 1600 cc or 1830 cc Volkswagen engine.[6] Everett started work on construction of an initial batch of 25 Everett Autogyros, of which 16 had been sold by 1987.[6] In 1996, Lovegrove designed an updated version of the Cricket, the Cricket Mk 4, powered by a Rotax engine and meeting the current safety requirements of the Popular Flying Association. Plans for the Cricket Mk 4 were sold by British Gyroplanes of Wallingford.[7] In 2000, Lovegrove built a single Cricket Mk 5, fitted with a horizontal stabilizer.[7]

In 2003, the first prototype of the Layzell AV-18, registration G-CBWN, (also known as the Cricket Mk 6A), designed to be built from kits, was built, with a Permit to Fly being granted in March 2005. A second example was reported to be under construction in 2007.[7] The type remained for sale in 2011, although by July 2012 the company website had been removed from the internet.[8][9]

## Specifications (Mk.6)

Data from Taylor and Bayerl[8]

General characteristics

* Crew: one
* Length: 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
* Empty weight: 310 lb (141 kg)
* Gross weight: 650 lb (295 kg)
* Fuel capacity: 36 litres (7.9 imp gal; 9.5 US gal)
* Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 582 twin cylinder two stroke, liquid-cooled, aircraft engine, 64 hp (48 kW)
* Main rotor diameter: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
* Main rotor area: 380 sq ft (35 m2)
* Propellers: 3-bladed composite

Performance

* Maximum speed: 63 mph (102 km/h, 55 kn)
* Cruise speed: 52 mph (83 km/h, 45 kn)
* Rate of climb: 650 ft/min (3.3 m/s)
* Disk loading: 1.71 lb/sq ft (8.3 kg/m2)

## Notes

1. ↑ Other sources (e.g. The Helicopter Museum), state that Campbell built 33 Crickets.[5]

## References

1. ↑ Taylor 1965, p. 142
2. ↑ March 1970, p 395
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 March 1970, p 394
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Taylor 1975, p. 201
5. ↑ "Campbell Cricket". https://helimuseum.com/heli.php?ident=cricket-2.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Taylor 1988, p. 297
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Taylor 2008, p. 592
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 182. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
9. ↑ Layzell Gyroplanes (n.d.). "Gyro Kits". http://www.gyrokits.com/.

* Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10006-9.
* Jackson, Paul, ed (2008). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2008–2009. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-3275-3.
* March, Peter R. (October 1970). "Campbell Cricket: Britain's best-selling gyroplane". Aircraft Illustrated 3 (10): 394–396.
* Taylor, John W. R. (1965). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1965–66. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd..
* Taylor, John W. R., ed (1975). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1975–76. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0-354-00521-9.
* Taylor, John W. R., ed (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988–89. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.
* Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 225.

## External links

* Layzell Gyroplanes website archives on Archive.org

Template:Layzell Gyroplanes aircraft

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