Duncan Xantus?

luedo34

luedo34

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Does anybody happen to know what became of the tiltwing design Duncan "Xantus" of the late 90s?
Any pictures which are a big bigger?
 
No, I havn´t. Thanks.
But the Duncan website seems to be down...do they still exist?
 
The company itself seems to be still in business as a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility, specializing in business aircraft: http://www.duncanaviation.aero/en/index.php

As of 2008, the Xantus prototype was still airworthy: http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N44CX.html
 
oshkosh99_xantos2.jpg
oshkosh99_xantos1.jpg

[PHOTO CREDITS: AVweb]

For a more recent (late 1990's) project from a small company, check out the Duncan Xantus

V/STOL For The Masses?

It's Two, Two, Two Birds In One!

While the Moller Skycar and CarterCopter have been making news with their attempts to produce a personal V/STOL aircraft, Duncan Aviation of Michigan has been quietly toiling away on its own V/STOL design, and recently announced the first flight of its Xantus tilt-prop aircraft, named after a species of hummingbird. The Xantus looks like a mini version of the Bell/Boeing V-22 tilt-rotor, but with two more engines, and was unveiled to the public for the first time at AirVenture '99. Duncan Aviation predicts the four-passenger tilt-prop aircraft will take off and land vertically, cruise at 290 mph with a range of up to 800 nm, and have a fly-away cost of around $225,000.

After receiving an airworthiness certificate from the FAA on July 7, the aircraft made its first tentative hovering flight on July 11. Xantus designer Terry Duncan is a lead engineer for Williams International and has six inventions on the new Williams GAP engine. Duncan Aviation plans a cautious test program with a logical progression of flights to define the flight envelope of this unique aircraft. Duncan told AVweb that the first step in the flight test program is to explore the hovering characteristics of the Xantus up to a height of about 12 feet, to verify the V/STOL's stability free of ground effect. After the hovering flight envelope has been explored, the engines will be rotated to the horizontal position for a series of conventional takeoff and landing tests from a 12,000-foot runway in Michigan. Only once Duncan feels comfortable with the aircraft after these two phases will he tackle the tricky task of transitioning from hover to horizontal flight. If you're visiting AirVenture '99, the Xantus can be seen parked at booth 91 just north of the D exhibition building. If you're not at Oshkosh, you can check out the Xantus at Duncan Aviation on the Web.

AVweb
Oshkosh 1999 Newswire:
Day One — Wednesday, July 28
http://www.avweb.com/news/osh2002/183910-1.html?type=pf
Click to expand...
 
Airworthy means it was checked by an FAA representative for the experimental category for a list of things that does not include whether the things can actually fly.
As far as I know it never did, right?
 
Great (copyrighted) photo of the Xantus:

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001285021L.html
 
N44CX may have performed some tethered tests, starting 11 July 1999.
If so, does that qualify as flying (leaving the ground under own power)?
I have a b/w picture (cannot reproduce it, sorry) where the wheels seem to have left the ground.
 

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