Gyroplanes

[Cat Driver]

I'm sort of just killing time waiting to get bored enough to go to bed and got to wondering what all you people think of flying Gyroplanes?

[AdamB]

Never got to fly one ... but they seem like a good compromise. I'd love to try, in any case.
Are there any flying in Canada?

[desksgo]

I'm sort of just killing time waiting to get bored enough to go to bed and got to wondering what all you people think of flying Gyroplanes?

They're 1000 times cooler than non-flying Gyroplanes. But I am biased, I suppose.

[. ._]

I'd love to fly one. I wonder if you count as fixed wing total time or rotary wing total time.

Technically it does have a rotary wing, but I doubt helicopter insurance companies would recognize it.

Cat, don't make me think again, please.

-istp

[Shiny Side Up]

Personally I'd love to fly a gyroplane, I think its an amazing idea, and have been thorogly amazed by the few I've seen. That being said, the opportunity to get into that field seems pretty slim, given that the ammount of them registered in Canada is only marginally higher than the ammount of airships registered here - which also would be cool to try - I was very impressed by the performance of the Bell one last time I seen it. It totally blew away the previous impressions I had of what those machines were capable of, but I digress. Lets say though if I was independantly wealthy, I'd have my own gyroplane (gyrocopter?).

Apparently you can also get a commercial gyroplane licence, which apparently the only purpose of is to be able to instruct on gyroplanes as there are none in commercial service otherwise.

[Cat Driver]

I don't know if you can even get training on gyroplanes in Canada anymore.

Also I don't think there is a commercial gyroplane license in Canada, you can however get a commercial gyroplane pilot license in the U.S.A.

As far as fun flying goes they beat both helicopters and fixed wing.

One has to carefully choose which gyro they fly as some have really dangerous design flaws.

[mag check]

I've got an old benson I'll sell ya for real cheap, Needs a bit of work though

[Cat Driver]

Have you flown it?

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

http://www.gyroplanepassion.com/

[Driving Rain]

Is it true in Great Britain you can fly a gyro if you have the helicopter rating on your licence?

[square]

Let's get serious guys.


Ornithopters.













They work.

[Cat Driver]

They work.

But not as well as a Gyroplane.

I fact no where near as good.

In fact a Gyroplane is more maneuverable than a helicopter or an airplane or for that matter an Ornithopter.

[ivanhoe]

I've got an old benson I'll sell ya for real cheap, Needs a bit of work though

When I was a kid my father got it into his head that he would build a Benson. We went to this place in Michigan where there was a small club and watched them fly. That cured him of any gyroplane fantasies.

[black hole]

There is a company in Kindersly Saskatchewan That manufactures and sells The RAF 2000.
Powered with a Subiru engine and seems to be quite piece of work. A few Years ago there was w flight school in Wetaskiwin AB that instructed on type. I'm not sure what kind of license was available.

BH

[Jungle Jim]

Guys,

Keith Weston in Collingwood has a 2 place Barnett gyro that he has built and flies. It seems to be a real performer. In speaking to him he said that there are 300 plus gyros registered in Canada but only about 80 - 90 pilots with ratings. ( seems to be lots of pilots flying without ratings) We questioned a T/C rep about that at an RAA meeting s few years ago and the response was the this didn't seem to be a problem that needed to be fixed by them due to the non-existent accident rate.

Jim

[Cat Driver]

RAF is no longer in business.

Their Gyroplanes killed a lot of pilots who did not understand the aerodynamics of gyros and more important the physics involved in a machine with a high thrust line. The RAF 2000 had a very high thrust line and no horizontal stabilizer to offset the forces of the high thrust line and sadly many died in power pushover bunts.

Unfortunately the Gyroplane sector of aviation has suffered many fatal accidents due to poor gyro designs and poor flight training.

A properly designed gyro flown by a well trained pilot who understands the aerodynamics and physics involved is a very safe flying machine.

[square]

Cat Driver

Please explain the power pushover bunt.

Thank you kindly,

square

[Cat Driver]

The power push over is a result of the propeller thrust being above the vertical center of gravity of the machine.

At a high power setting if the flight path is upset in the nose down movement it can continue to pitch nose down and unload the rotor resulting in a very fast rotation around the vertical center of gravity, once started it is very fast thus called a bunt over and always fatal.

Picture a basket ball sitting on the floor, if you push on the center of gravity on the ball it will slide forward on the floor. If the pushing force is above the center of gravity the ball will rotate forward, conversely if you push on the ball below its center of gravity it will rotate backwards towards you.

Thus the name Power Push Over a rotation around the vertical center of gravity caused by propeller thrust.

In the case of the RAF2000 there is no H.S. to produce an upward force to counter act the downward force of the high thrust line.

[square]

Mmm, an unhappy couple.

[Cat Driver]

Yes.

This site can get boring with people arguing about the same old same old every day so I thought I would start something new.

[Dirtdawg]

Hey Cat, have you found any gyroplanes you think are a good bet?

[Cat Driver]

Yes there are quite a few that are not only stable but well designed.

I may be doing a pilots flying story on the new Sportcopter for Todays Pilot some time in the near future.

http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=sp ... a&um=1&sa=

When you finish looking at that click on the video of the machine flying with the new tail.

[albertdesalvo]

click on the video of the machine flying with the new tail.

Wow! What an awesome clip, incredible guitar work!!! Beautiful air to air shots of this amazing craft. Nice one! Thanks for posting it.

[bmc]

The Air and Space 18A was a certified machine back in the early 60's. It had the jump takeoff capability that was impressive. There was some sort of a spring mechanism in the main rotor that kept the pitch flat. The process for takeoff was to bring the main rotor up to takeoff speed, hit a switch that immediately gave the blades a 7 degree blade angle and the machine jumped up. The pusher engine would move it forward and the climb out would ensue.

There's a local gyroplane a field nearby and with our 1600' field elevation, I've watched him use up about 1800 feet of grass on a warm day with a passenger. Not overly comforting.

Always thought the McCullough J2 was a good looking machine. But, for a 180hp flying machine with 2 hour range, there are a lot of other choices I'd make.

I still find them interesting machines with lots of commercial potential. I wonder how the Grohn machines have done.

[Cat Driver]

There's a local gyroplane a field nearby and with our 1600' field elevation, I've watched him use up about 1800 feet of grass on a warm day with a passenger. Not overly comforting.

As the kit building industry brings about changes to the design of gyroplanes they are designing better per rotators which help in making the take off run shorter, one real advantage to gyros is you can land with zero ground speed if required especially machines with high inertia blades.

Always thought the McCullough J2 was a good looking machine. But, for a 180hp flying machine with 2 hour range, there are a lot of other choices I'd make.

I did my commercial gyroplane pilot license on the Mc J2 with Sportcopter at the airport where that video was shot. ( I think it was in 1992 )

The Mc J2 like the 18A also de pitches the blades to get high RRPM for take off, it will not actually jump take off but close to it.

I still find them interesting machines with lots of commercial potential. I wonder how the Grohn machines have done.

Last I heard they were having financial problems.