An aircraft whose lift is developed by the rotor blade system using the principles of autorotation. GYROPLANE is also the official FAA designation for the full sized aircraft.

Rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-driven, except for initial starting, but are made to rotate by action of the air when the rotorcraft is moving; and whose means of propulsion, consisting usually of conventional propellers, is independent of the rotor system.

an aircraft that is supported in flight by unpowered rotating horizontal wings (or blades); forward propulsion is provided by a conventional propeller