Wisconsin Company Targets Q2 2024 Customer Ship Date

Originally based in Wylie, Texas, Air Command International is an American manufacturer of FAR Part 103 gyroplane kit aircraft.

The company’s inaugural offering, 1984’s singleseat, Air Command Commander, was a tremendous success, with over twothousand kits being shipped during the machine’s 19year production run. Subsequent models included the Air Command Commander Elite, which was alternately supplied as a kit for amateur construction and a conversion kit for its Commander forebear; and the twoseat Air Command Commander SideBySide, an unusual gyroplane featuring a twoseat open cockpit, tricycle landinggear, and a 115horsepower Subaru EJ22 powerplant.

In 2016, Air Command International was purchased by Joe Covelli, who moved the company to River Falls, Wisconsin and promptly set about designing and developing a new, singleseat inheritor to the Commander legacy.

The inchoate machine, known as the Air Command International Integrity, sports a spartanbutrobust airframe, a tricycle undercarriage, and a decidedly al fresco pilot station, the amenities and environmental system of which consist entirely of the pilot’s wardrobe.

What the Integrity lacks in creaturecomforts, however, it more than compensates for by way of a remarkable powerplant, excellent performance, and outstanding fueleconomy.

Among myriad improvements to the original Commander design, Covelli et al. have made noteworthy strides in adapting a 1000cc fourstroke Polaris engine indigenous to the Minnesotabased powersports icon’s RZR ATV to aeronautical application. The watercooled, normallyaspirated, electronically fuelinjected mill makes a reasonable 85horsepower and a stunning fourhundredpounds of thrust—the latter by dint of a 68inch Warp Drive pusherpropeller. Plans are reportedly in the works to produce additional engine options; a onehundredhorsepower, normallyaspirated powerplant and a 140horsepower, turbocharged motor, both deriving of extant Polaris architectures.

The 85horsepower Polaris engine by which Air Command International’s Integrity gyroplane is powered runs at eightthousand RPM and incorporates a Rotax E Box redrive as well as an adapter purposedesignedandbuilt by Air Command senior designengineer Keith LeMire.

All told, Air Command International anticipates Integrity kits—which include engines and rotorblades—will commence shipping in 2024’s secondquarter. Prospective owners should be prepared to part with $35,000.

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