KD-67

KD-67
Type:	Gyroplane
Design country:	Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer:
First flight:	1969

The KD-67 is a Czechoslovak gyroplane .

history

The KD-67 Ideal was designed in the late 1960s by engineers Josef Kunovsky and Miroslav Drdla for the aviation clubs of the Czechoslovak military sports organization SVAZARM . The gyroplane was delivered to the flying clubs as a kit, only the rotor blades were manufactured industrially. The device was not self-starting and was started by winch or car tow . At the beginning of the 1970s, the helicopter departments of SVAZARM were dissolved and the continued operation of gyroscopes in the ČSSR was prohibited.

Escape attempt in 1977

When the SVAZARM helicopter sections were disbanded, engineer Vojtech Vala came into possession of an incomplete KD-67. In 1977 he managed to purchase a Walter Minor engine built in 1935. He built this into the gyroplane and tried to fly to Austria from a section of the motorway near Bratislava that was closed for construction work . However, due to the dense ground fog, this failed, Vala landed before the border. He was arrested and sentenced to 13 years in prison. His fortune was confiscated, including the gyroplane. This was handed over to the Police Museum and stayed there until 2000. After that, it was restored by employees of the Czech Aerospace Institute VZLU and was then part of a special exhibition about the Cold War era . Today it is in the Kbely Aviation Museum .

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
Type	School gyroplane
Weight	empty 64 kg maximum 285 kg
Rotor diameter	6.10 m
Top speed	95 km / h
crew	1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information board in the Kbely Aviation Museum
2. ↑ KD-67 data on www.vrtulnik.cz