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The McDonnell 120 Flying Crane, also V-1 Jeep, was a lightweight utility flying crane helicopter designed and built by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation during the 1950s. The open frame fuselage supported the three gas-producers and main rotor mast, with a small single-seat cockpit in the nose, which was originally open, but later enclosed. McDonnell had been interested in the flying-crane concept from just after the war, investigating rotors driven directly by ramjets and compressed air tip jets on the McDonnell XH-20 Little Henry, the cancelled McDonnell 79 Big Henry and the McDonnell XV-1 high-speed compound helicopter. The expected advantages included: inherent angle of attack stability increased inherent pitch and roll damping greatly improved dynamic helicopter stability ability to start and stop in high winds; no need for tracking and no dampers required no possibility of mechanical instability or ground resonance; very low vibration low maintenance due to absence of highly loaded bearings, reduction gears, shafting, and anti-torque rotor automatic rotor speed control. McDonnell started development of a private-venture flying crane helicopter in December 1956, progressing rapidly with a mock-up in January 1957 and the first of two prototypes flying on 13 November 1957, piloted by John R. Noll. The airframe of the Model 120 was very simple, comprising a welded steel-tube open structure, with the three-bladed main-rotor mast and gas-producers attached without covering. Rotor drive was by compressed air rotor-tip jets, fed by three 200 hp (149 kW) gas power AiResearch GTC 85-135 gas-producers. The Model 120 was only ever intended to carry loads under-slung or attached directly to cargo hooks on the underside of the top fuselage beam, including specialised pods. Although aimed at the US Army the Model 120 was also evaluated by the US Navy at the Naval Air Test Center (NATC), NAS Patuxent River, in September 1959. The Model 120 experienced powerplant problems initially, but demonstrated an excellent load to weight ratio of 1.5:1, but despite the proven performance no orders were forthcoming and cancellation of the project in February 1960 signalled the end of McDonnell's helicopter aspirations. Only two examples were built.

The Falconar SAL Mustang, also called the 2/3 Mustang and the SAL P-51D Mustang is a Canadian amateur-built aircraft, originally produced by Falconar Avia and introduced in 1969. The aircraft is a 2⁄3 scale replica of the North American P-51 Mustang and is supplied as a kit or as plans for amateur construction. Since the winding up of business by Falconar Avia in 2019, the plans are now sold by Manna Aviation. In 1963 Falconar partnered with designer Marcel Jurca to produce the Jurca Gnatsum. By 1967, Falconar recommended a large number of changes to the design, which resulted in Jurca leaving the project. The modified aircraft was developed as the SAL Mustang and first flown in 1971 after significant cost overruns. Falconar Aircraft Ltd was sold to George F. Chivers and other investors, and operated as Sturgeon Air Ltd (SAL) with Falconar as an employee until 1973.[4] The SAL Mustang features a cantilever low-wing, a single-seat, or optionally a two-seats-in-tandem, enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, retractable conventional landing gear, including a manually retractable tailwheel and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from wood covered with fibreglass cloth and doped aircraft fabric. Some parts, like the belly air scoop are made from fibreglass. Its 24.8 ft (7.6 m) span wing has an area of 110 sq ft (10 m2) and mounts flaps that may be electrically or manually operated. The cockpit is 24 in (61 cm) wide and the bubble canopy is jettisonable. The aircraft's recommended engine power range is 200 to 350 hp (149 to 261 kW). Engines that have been used include the 200 hp (149 kW) Lycoming IO-360 horizontally opposed engine, the 200 hp (149 kW) Ranger L-440 inverted inline, the 180 to 235 hp (134 to 175 kW) Avia M 337 inverted inline, 230 hp (172 kW) Continental O-470 horizontally opposed, the 200 hp (149 kW) Ford 230 cu in (3.77 L) V6 automotive conversion, as well as other automotive V-6 or V-8 powerplants. Construction time from the supplied kit is estimated as 2500 hours. The paper plans supplied total an area of 450 sq ft (42 m2), weigh 13 lb (5.9 kg) and include a construction manual. An alternative set of plans allows constructing a tandem two-seat version. The plans are very detailed and complete and one builder rated them as "the best I have seen on any homebuilt airplane". The prototype was introduced at the 1971 EAA airshow painted in the same gold and red colors as the Canadian Golden Hawks airshow team. In July 2012 the manufacturer indicated that 18 examples had been completed and flown in the 43 years that the plans and kits had been available.

The Mooney M-18 "Mite" is a low-wing, single-seat monoplane with retractable, tricycle landing gear. The Mite was designed by Al Mooney and was intended as a personal airplane marketed to fighter pilots returning from World War II. The M-18 design goal was extremely low operating costs. The Mite is constructed mainly of fabric-covered wood, with a single spruce and plywood "D" wing spar. The wing aft of the spar is fabric-covered. The airfoil selected for the design was the NACA 64A215. The M-18 represented the first time a NACA 6-series airfoil had been used on a civil aircraft after World War II. The aircraft featured a unique "safe-trim" system. This mechanical device links the wing flaps to the tail trim system and automatically adjusts the horizontal stabilizer angle when the flaps are deflected, reducing or eliminating pitch changes when the flaps are lowered. The Mooney Aircraft Corporation built a total of 283 Mites in Wichita, Kansas, and Kerrville, Texas, between 1947 and 1954. The first seven were powered by belt driven, modified 25 hp (19 kW) Crosley automobile engines, but these proved to be troublesome. Production shifted to the M-18L powered by the four-cylinder, 65 hp (48 kW) Lycoming O-145 powerplant. The original Crosley-powered Mites were recalled and retrofitted with the Lycoming engines at no charge. The later M-18C used the Continental A65 65 hp (48 kW) aircraft engine. The market for the single-seat M-18 was limited, so Mooney later developed the four-seat M-20 to appeal to aircraft owners with families. In the early 1970s, Mooney offered plans for four different home-built versions of the M-18. Factory production of the Mite ended in 1954. Leading up to this, the company was losing $1000 on each plane, which accelerated the development of the M20. Another factor was that Continental had ceased production of the engine used in the Mite due to a lack of demand. A total of 283 Mites were constructed.

The Bensen B-8 is a small, single-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the 1950s. Although the original manufacturer stopped production in 1987, plans for homebuilders are still available as of 2019. Its design was a refinement of the Bensen B-7, and like that aircraft, the B-8 was initially built as an unpowered rotor-kite. It first flew in this form in 1955, and on 6 December a powered version, designated B-8M (M for motorised) first flew. The design proved to be extremely popular and long-lasting, with thousands of sets of plans sold over the next thirty years. The B-8's design is extremely minimalist, with not much more to the aircraft than a pilot's seat, a single tailfin, a rotor, and (in powered versions) the powerplant. In May 1968 a B-8 and B-8M were studied by the USAF under the Discretionary Descent Vehicle (DDV) program as the X-25B and X-25A respectively. In this scheme, it was proposed to integrate combat aircraft ejection seats with a small autogyro or rotor kite to allow downed pilots more control over their post-ejection landing spot. The X-25A and X-25B were used to evaluate the piloting and training requirements of the autogyros. No full-scale operational tests were ever performed. The U.S. Air Force stopped funding the DDV program with the end of the Vietnam War. One B-8M, named Spirit of Kitty Hawk (registration N2588B) was used to make a special commemorative flight exactly duplicating the first flight of the Wright brothers' original Flyer on the sixtieth anniversary of the occasion. This same aircraft was flown by Igor Bensen himself between May 1967 and June 1968 to set twelve world and US speed, distance, and altitude records for autogyros, the largest number of such records to be held by any non-military rotorcraft. Variants B-8 Gyro-Glider - unpowered rotor-kite intended to be towed behind a car B-8B Hydro-Boat - B-8 with a full boat hull intended to be towed behind another boat B-8M Gyro-Copter - standard motorised version, main production type. Usually powered by a McCulloch 4318 engine B-8MH Hover-Gyro - twin, coaxial rotor design with powered lower rotor and autorotating upper rotor, giving it the capability of hovering. Upper rotor and drive propeller powered by separate engines B-8MJ Gyro-Copter - B-8M modified for "jump" take off by a small second engine providing power to rotor head with anti-torque provided by rudder correction under power. B-8MW Hydro Copter - float-equipped B-8M X-25A - B-8M evaluated by USAF. Single example (serial 68-10770) first flown 5 June 1968 and preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base B-8 Super Bug - similar to B-8M but with extra engine to spin up rotor before take-off B-8HD Super Gyro-Copter - development of Super Bug first flown in 1979 with hydraulic drive to pre-rotate rotor rather than separate engine B-8V - B-8 powered by a Volkswagen air-cooled engine B-8W Hydro-Glider - float-equipped B-8 intended to be towed behind a boat X-25B - B-8 evaluated by USAF. Single example (serial 68-10771) first flown 23 January 1968 and preserved at the AFFTC Museum at Edwards Air Force Base. Rotorcraft Minicopter Mk 1 - South African variant with pre-rotator and cockpit fairing. Aeroflyte DGH-1 - 70 hp (52 kW) license-built model from Aeroflyte.

The Changhe Z-10 (Chinese: 直-10; pinyin: Zhí-Shí; lit. 'helicopter-10') is a Chinese medium-weight, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter built by the Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. Designed by 602nd Aircraft Design Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Kamov Design Bureau, the aircraft is intended primarily for anti-tank warfare missions with secondary air-to-air combat capability. The plan to develop a medium-weight helicopter program was initiated in 1994 with the attack helicopter program formally beginning in 1998. The preliminary design of the aircraft was provided by Kamov, while prototyping was conducted by the 602nd Aircraft Design Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The Z-10 first flew on 29 April 2003 and entered Chinese Army Aviation service in 2009. Nicknames of characters in the Chinese classic novel Water Margin have been used to name Z-10 and its light-weight counterpart, the Harbin Z-19 by Chinese Army Aviation Corps; Z-10 is called Fierce Thunderbolt (Pi Li Huo, 霹雳火), the nickname of Qin Ming, while Z-19 is called Black Whirlwind (Hei Xuan Feng, 黑旋风), the nickname of Li Kui. For details of development an history, design, operational history and 8 variants, click here.