04/05/07

The Twinstarr gyroplane or autogyro was created in 1995 at Farrington Aircraft Corp in Paducah, Kentucky.

Farrington Aircraft sold and assisted in the assembly of Twinstarr gyroplane kits and also sold the Air and Space 18a Certified gyroplane.

The A&S 18a

Farrington Aircraft was owned and operated by Don Farrington. Some I have spoken with say that Don Farrington designed and created the Twinstarr while others say that was designed by Don Farrington and Tom Davey* and possibly others. If I find more data or actual witnesses I will update this text.

Don Farrington and Doug Marker in the first Twinstarr.

Don had planned on calling the gyro Twinstar (with 1 r) but added a second R so it would not be confused with other aircraft called Twinstars.**

Twinstarr Production

Production continued from 1990 through to 1999 with about 20 to 25 kits produced. The exact number is not known.

The frame was factory welded in Kentucky from 4130 Chrome Molybdenum aircraft steel. The airframe included: dual controls, differential hydraulic toebrakes, (some nosewheels were steerable some were castoring) 4-point seat harnesses, Adjustable seats, fiberglass pod, Electric pre-rotator (soft-start), RAF 30 blades and rotorhub.

The engine is a Lycoming O-320 B2C (from Robinson R-22's) in 150 or 160 horsepower configurations.

Production Ceased when the owner of Farrington Aircraft, Don Farrington died of a heart attack and his wife, not a fan of aviation, dismantled the company and auctioned off the assets. Farrington employees, customers and lifelong friends were unable to keep her from undoing the years of effort Don and his employees had put into the business and the sport.

 Attempts are now being made to bring the aircraft back into production.

Twinstarr Versions

The is only one Twinstarr version however, many kits show minor differences in length, frame tubing and chosen rotorhead. Don Farrington was testing an optional enclosure but the added drag caused performance problems even with the rudder length extended. Several people reported that Don said he was not happy with the enclosure yet and was unacceptably difficult to fly. Unfortunately, counter to Don's wishes the enclosed Twinstarr was sold to an untrained pilot who damaged the aircraft.

Another planned option for the Twinstarr was jump-take-off. This would allow helicopter-like takeoff for the Twinstarr. This would be achieved though the use of a variable pitch rotorhead. Only one was created and it's last known location was in a hangar with John Potter. John Potter a close friend of Don's passed away from health difficulties in recently.

Twinstarr Today

Twintarrs are actively used as trainers and cross country gyroplanes and build hundreds of hours each flying season. It is believed that only two Twinstarrs have been wrecked (no fatalities) and both were damaged by untrained pilots. The location of the damaged Twinstarrs is unknown but FAA records show that they were shipped overseas so they are likely in the possession of Woody De Saar.

Twinstarrs are used weekly as trainers in Indiana, Ohio and the Netherlands. Contact the PRA for information on gyroplane training and certification.

Two unfinished kits are currently being assembled and are expected to be airworthy soon.

Twinstarr Future

After Don Farringtons death his wife dismantled the company and auctioned off the assets before Dons friends and employees could mount a defense to save the company.

Woody De Saar, a European helicopter pilot purchased the plans, jigs and remaining hardware for the Twinstarr gyroplane. He claims to have purchased some rights to the Twinstarr but exactly what rights these pertain to are unclear. He as reserved the internet domain name Twinstarr.com but as of this writing no web page exists for the domain.

Woody apparently uninterested in continuing production of the Twinstarr (in the US) took the Jigs and materials to Europe and began working on a new version on the Twinstarr to be sold in the EU market called the TwinstarrLite. Woody has been working part-time on starting up a company and getting his TwinstarrLite design approved for use in the UK.

Woody wrote an article for Rotorcraft the PRA's official publication and has shown a modified Twinstarr with many of the features he plans on incorporating into this TwinstarrLite design. However, in the 6 years since he bought the jigs not a single Twinstarr, TwinstarrLite or any parts have been produced.

Twinstarr owners, fans and those desiring to purchase a Twinstarr have been quite upset because the Twinstarr was in full production in the United States and thus requires none of the improvements or work being done by Woody in the UK for the gyroplane to be produced in the US.

US Twinstarr fans watched the Jigs, materials and plans for the Twinstarr go overseas and sit useless and idle when they could have been used in full production here in the US for the past 6 years. Many think that the Twinstarr materials should have been put to work here in the US by local hobbyists and engineers while Woody spent his time on the EU certifications.

Is all hope lost for the Twinstarr returning to production?

No.

As more people are trained and see the Twinstarrs in operation desire grows for new machines to enter the market. Twinstarr owners want a source for support, parts and the better insurance that is available to machines in production.

While Woody claims to be still planning on producing Twinstarr gyroplanes (see side link TwinstarrLite), several groups in the US are planning on taking some action of their own.

Since patent and manufacturing rights are only good for 7 years and more than this time has passed the door is now open for the reverse engineering of the Twinstarr by anyone with the time, knowledge and will to do so in the United States. Several people have been discussing forming a group that will begin releasing plans then parts and finally kits to make brand new Twinstarrs!

Another avenue is being taken by Brent Drake a Twinstarr owner and pilot. He has sent Woody email and public posts on the Rotary Forum asking Woody to send him the materials to produce Twinstarrs in the US while Woody works on the UK model. As of this writing Brent has received no email nor has Woody posted any reply to Brent.

If you would like to participate in reverse engineering the Twinstarr contact Barnstorm2 on the Rotary Forum.

If you would like to work with Brent Drake in his attempt to contact and work out a deal with Woody he also can be contacted on the Rotary Forum.

Updated information:

*Twinstarr was created by Don Farrington and Tom Davey, who did the calculations and stress analysis and design.-source Woody

**The second "R" was added after a snooty letter was received from Aerospatiale, accusing plagiarism of their AS355 Twinstar, which is the twinengine version of the Astar. Thus a second R was added at the back to take away the confusion.