The GBA-DARPA Heliplane was a proof-of-concept, long-range, VTOL aircraft intended to cruise at twice the speed of conventional helicopters.[1] It was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and designed by Groen Brothers Aviation (GBA), which has since been re-branded as Skyworks Global.
DARPA's objective was to achieve performance with a rotary-wing aircraft comparable to that of a fixed-wing plane. The concept combined technical aspects of a gyroplane, which GBA had been working on since the late 1980s,[2] with a fixed-wing business jet.
The work was part of a potential multi-year, US$40-million, four-phase program. GBA, along with Georgia Tech, Adams Aircraft Industries, and Williams International, worked on Phase 1 of that program, a 15-month effort funded at $6.4 million. Phase 1B of the program was managed by Georgia Tech, using GBA as a subcontractor. Phase 2 development was to include a "subscale wind tunnel demonstration in the high-speed, high-altitude wind tunnel at NASA Langley and the building of a full-scale tipjet nozzle. Phase 2 anticipated to be a substantially bigger undertaking (valued at $24-28 million)."
Due to issues with noise generated by the tipjets, the program was terminated by DARPA in 2008.[3]
In 2012, Groen Brothers Aviation was acquired by investor Steve Stevanovich as it was collapsing and nearly bankrupt, and was renamed Skyworks Global in 2017.[4] In July 2019, Skyworks partnered with Northrop Grumman-owned Scaled Composites to develop a VertiJet gyrocopter prototype, aiming for a 348kn (644 km/h) cruise and a 1,000nmi (1,850 km) range; it was projected that the aircraft would fly within 18–24 months.[4] Intended to fulfil the US Marine Corps’ armed escort requirements disclosed in April 2019 for a rotorcraft that could match the performance of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey; it was also projected that a commercial gyrocopter carrying four passengers could be built for less than $10 million.[4]