An intriguing autogiro project

Being a hardcore aerospace and aviation fan (while obsessing with Futurama) I'm always on the lookout for awsome and unique aircraft developments.

This new joint US-Pakistani project is no exception. It is a current development for a military modification to the Air Command series by my American friend Travis E.Britt (also known as Stingray on most forums) and a Pakistani engineer named Rehan K.Janjua.

It goes by a lot of names currently... "Rehan 2011" / "Mini-Cobra" / "GyroCobra"... with the registration AP-ZAZ.

Info:
http://sites.google.com/site/stingrayslistofrotorcraft/rehan-janjua-ap-zaz

If you can remember correctly Rehan was one of three engineers in Rawalpindi who were responsible for Pakistan's first locally-built and flown autogiro, an Air Command bird (see video below), and the very same to undergo this new "Gyro-Cobra" modification.

First question that comes to mind is simply; why?
Well for one it looks cool, but another is that this aircraft is planned to have an extra seat added to the original single-seat layout, plus addition of modern all-weather navigation and control tech. I spoke with Travis at his web forum via personal messaging about this aircraft and he says this is to be used for such roles search-and-rescue (O_O) and will be fitted with external long-range fuel tanks.

I'm not sure how this will work with an ultralight bird like this but maybe it will be a spotter or supplier for aircraft better suited for the actual role? Who knows... certainly not Stingy when I asked this detail, and apparently Rehan isn't available at the time to ask personally. Darn :P

My personal guess is this will be an armed aircraft for fast-attacking ground targets (well, the new cockpit look and the fact the bird is small enough - and proposed to be fast enough - to miss could hint at it) or for assisting SAR in a hot battlefield as a light gunship. Again, who knows.

It's cool being friends with those who are accomplishing awsome things. XD