The past 4 years have been very busy here at Vertical Performance Systems, LLC. We have finally fully dyno tested the turbocharged and normally aspirated versions of our engine. The turbocharged engine was then installed into our test helicopter and the helicopter was placed back into Phase one flight testing because the installation of the turbocharger qualified as a Major Modification.

VPS has determined that our normally aspirated engine producing 172Hp at sea level will meet the high altitude landing and take off needs of nearly every Rotorway owner. We do not plan on marketing the 236 Hp turbocharged version of our engine for use in the Rotorway helicopters. It may be used in other helicopter and fixed wing applications that require that high level of power production. Flight testing continues as seen in the photos below.

In the photo below Andrew tops off the fuel tank prior to the first test flight with the VPS Turbocharged/Intercooled engine.

In the photo below Andrew Burr briefs our test pilot Orv Neisingh prior to the first flight with the VP Turbocharged/Intercooled engine.

The photo below shows Orv performing the initial hover testing. With full fuel and a single pilot the Turbocharged engine required only 47% throttle to maintain a three foot AGL hover.

During subsequent flight testing the VPS Turbocharged engine was able to power the test helicopter to a stationary OGE hover of 30 ft. AGL using only 52% throttle.

Below Orv lifts off for another circuit around the traffic pattern performing a "maximum performance" lift off utilizing only 56% available throttle.

The below photo was taken by remote camera during a vertical ascent test utilizing 56% throttle for a vertical climb rate of 500 fpm.

We would like to thank Ron Gerot Aerial Photography for the great photographs that he took of the first flights of our VPS Tubocharged/Intercooled engine powered test helicopter.

Our test pilot has around 7,000 hours flying and instructing in a number of Rotorway helicopters over the past twenty years. When he landed from his first flight to altitude in our test ship all he could say was "absolutely unbelievable"!

The turbocharged engine produces approximately 100 hp more than the stock engine that comes with the helicopter. This means that a small increase in collective input required a very small increase in throttle by the throttle correlator.

Flight notes:

1. When throttle is increased to 104% during the initial run up, the Main Rotor RPM increases immediately with no lag. This means that the pilot needs to be gentle on throttle increases to prevent applying too much power to the drive train components.

2. As collective pitch increases, the Rotor RPM increases immediately and at a higher rate than the collective input requiring the pilot to roll off throttle as the collective is raised. The stock engine is continually producing power near the maximum amount of power available when the stock helicopter is flown at gross weight. When collective input is applied on a stock engine, a relatively large amount of throttle travel is required to allow the engine to produce enough power to maintain Rotor RPM as positive rotor pitch is applied.

3. With the VP Turbocharged engine the helicopter performs amazingly. Confined areas no longer present a challenge to the power plant as the helicopter is capable of climbing vertically limited only by the design loading of the drive train and rotor system components. In other words, lack of power is no longer a concern.

4. It is obvious now that this version of the VPS Turbocharged engine will only be sold to individuals who have a high degree of experience flying high-powered helicopters where monitoring the power to the drive train is a normal part of piloting such machines. This Turbocharged engine, in the hands of an inexperienced pilot, could overstress drive train components leading to their failure.

5. In the hands of an experienced pilot, this engine is nothing short of "Absolutely Amazing"!!

To see view our engine during the building process

as well as a component comparison

CLICK HERE

To view the actual dyno run sheets for both versions of the VPS engines

Click Here