Single-seat experimental helicopter, designed by B.J. Schramm and sold in kit form from 1968.
General information
It was the first helicopter conceived from the outset for amateur construction, with the aim of making vertical flight accessible at a contained cost. Technically it follows the classic layout with a two-blade main rotor, anti-torque tail rotor and skid landing gear. From the single-seat Scorpion a family of two-seat models was derived, the first of which, the Scorpion II, is now preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Rotorway continues to produce amateur-built helicopters.
Length
8 m
Empty weight
220 kg
Max speed
100 km/h
Service ceiling
3,500 m
Endurance
1 hour
History of aircraft I-SCOR
Giancarlo Zanardo and Giacomo Naibo began building the Scorpion on a very significant date: the day of the Moon landing, 16 July 1969, from a kit supplied by the American firm Rotorway. After about two years it was completed and made its first flight. It is fitted with a 75 hp Johnson engine. It was the first Italian amateur-built helicopter authorised for flight testing by the Italian Aeronautical Register (RAI, today ENAC). Construction followed the experimental-build regulations, since the RAI would only introduce the simplified regime of Circular 15 in 1972.