Article: 2884 of rec.aviation.homebuilt Path: newshost.ncd.com!ncd.com!olivea!charnel!yeshua.marcam.com!news.kei.com!eff!news.umbc.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!news.moneng.mei.com!uwm.edu!msuinfo!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!yarrina.connect.com.au!werple.apana.org.au!zikzak.apana.org.au!not-for-mail From: rando@zikzak.apana.org.au (Brett Paulin) Newsgroups: rec.aviation.homebuilt Subject: Re: Any Gyro builders/pilots out there ? Date: 12 Mar 1994 23:07:25 +1100 Organization: Zikzak Public Access UNIX, Melbourne Australia Lines: 168 Message-ID: <2lsbab$412@zikzak.apana.org.au> References: <2ku39e$c0o@zikzak.apana.org.au> <1MAR199408114580@cycdes> NNTP-Posting-Host: zikzak.apana.org.au Newsgroups: rec.aviation.homebuilt Subject: Re: Any Gyro builders/pilots out there ? stetson@cycdes (JEFFRY STETSON) writes: > Rando@zikzak.apana.org.au (Brett Paulin) Writes : >> This looks like about the best newsgroup to talk about >>Gyro/copters/planes/whatever you call them.. >>Is there anyone else out there with an interest in these machines ? >Sure, I'd like to hear more about them. (I'm getting too few hrs/yr in >conventional AC). The only gyrocopters I've heard anything about are the >Bensons. More about yours please. Cost, Kits, Flying, Safety, etc. ... Ok, well my Gyro is a home-built machine. It's not a kit, most of the Gyro's built in Australia are built by the "Eyeball" method, where you measure up someone elses machine, take photo's etc and go home and try an make it yourself ! This involves lots of drilling, filing, and frustration as you toss yet another mistake into the bits bin and start on Mark IV of the particular part you're trying to make.. B-) My Gyro is a modification of the basic Bensen design.. it's powered by a Rotax 582, 580cc twin Cylinder, watercooled two stroke engine that makes about 65Hp. This is a bit bigger than the average Gyro engine (which is usually a 503 50Hp Rotax) as I'm a big bloke.. (110Kg). It runs Rotorblades made in the US called McCutchen Skywheels which are an aluminium/fibreglass composite construction and are are 25' in diameter. It's top speed is somewhere around 100mph, but I normally cruise on about 60mph. It took me about 12 months to build in my spare time, and cost me about $12k Australian. I have 40 hours of time so far (have been flying for about 6 months on weekends etc) and having a ball... Most of the Gyro's here are very similair to bensen machines as far as airframe configuration goes.. we normally add some suspension so as to handle rough paddocks etc, and of course, most machines are powered by either Rotax's or Subaru's rather than the McCullochs of old, but apart from that they're very similair. Don't know about US $ (you're from the US yes ?), but in Australia, it will cost you between $8k-$12k to build a new gyro, doing all the work yourself, about the same to buy a good quality, low hours second hand machine, between $12k-$18k for an AirCommand (US Company) Kit that can be built in a weekend or two, or about $4k for a rolling Airframe that has everything except engine, rotors, prop and instruments on it.. In Australia, we have a pretty good amount of freedom when it comes to flying them.. basically, the main restrictions are that you are not allowed over built-up areas (suburbs etc), not below 300 feet ver property without permission of the landowner, not below 300 feet when crossing roads etc. not within 8km of a licenced airport unless you have a strobe, radio, and passed a Basic Aeronautical Knowledge Exam. Thats about all the restrictions.. anything else is pretty much open.. Training to learn to fly a Gyro is a _MUST_. I don't care how many hours you've got in the space shuttle or whatever else you like... If you've never flown a Gyro, then you don't know how and if you try to teach yourself, you will have an excellent chance of ending up dead. You wouldn't believe the number of people who are deceived by the apparent simplicity of these machines and try to teach themselves to fly.. If a 12,000 hour commerical pilot can kill himself from trying to fly without training, anybody can... Sorry if I sound a bit vehement here.. but I like to make this point as strongly as possible to ease my own consience when I hear about a crash by a pilot with no training.. Training is available in a variety of two-seat gyro's around Australia, and from what I gather from the PRA (Popular Rotorcraft Association) magazine, in plenty of American locations too.. Subscribing to PRA is also a definite plus if you want to get into Gyro's.. Their magazine is excellent as has lots of tech, social, and other useful articles in it.. Safety.. well, despite their below-average safety record in the past (which I believe is caused by a lack of training), I would consider these to be VERY safe aircraft IF operated within their limits by a competent pilot.. (very general I know.. but I'll elaborate). A Gyro _Cannot_ stall in the sense of a normal aircraft, so the most common cause of ultralight crashes is removed right away. A Gyro's rotors are always spinning as long as they are in the air and are loaded, so there is no speed at which they will "stall" like an aircraft. Ther is a minimum flying speed which is the lowest speed you can maintain altitude at. If you go slower than this, the gyro will begin to "sink" due to insufficient airflow through the rotors to maintain enough rotor speed to keep you up. By the very act of sinking, they cause an upwards flow of air through the rotor which maintains rotor speed. In a Zero-airpseed, Zero power situation, the vertical sink rate of a Gyro is roughyl that of a parachute.. It will probably damage the machine on landing, but you will most likely walk away if you find it necessary to "Sink in" without the engine.. say if you had an engine out over a forest or something.. The minimum "maintain altitude" speed for a gyro vaires with the weight of the machine vs the size of the rotors (called Disc loading), but is typically around about 10-20mph for most machines... They fly in Autorotation (I'll post more about the more technical aspects of their flight if you like) all the time, so an engine failure is no problem at all.. provided you have somewhere to land handy.. they don't glide particularly well.. in the sense that their glide slope wouldn't be much better than 3:1, so without the engine, you wont get far, But their touchdown speed in a correctly executed landing is _0_, so you can land in a much smaller space than a conventional aircraft could. They are totally controllable in a dead-stick landing and exhibit no undesireable handling characteristics without power.. The construction strength of a well built benson-style aircraft is such that they can handle huge G force loadings (positive only) without a problem.. you won't break a wing strut and "Clap Hands" (as they say in ultralights when a wing spar fails). I don't know about others, but our national champion has sustained 6.5 G's for some time in a spiral dive with no worries (other than breathing under that load ! B-). The incidence of accidents due to mechanical failure that is not directly attributable to pilot-error is practically zero. The usual fears of the teeter bolt, or the spindle-bolt (called the "jesus" bolts.. B-) failing has never happened to my knowledge.. The big "No No" in Gyro's is "Negative G's".. I'm sure you as a pilot know about them.. A Gyro will _not_ tolerate any significant amount of negative G's.. even 0 G becomes a bit hairy. The rotor must be kept under a load at all times for it to continue to autorotate. If you subect the Gyro to negative G's, a variety of effects occur (I can detail further if you want..) simulataneously which combine to end up with the Rotor striking the rudder and the gyro usually flips upside down and crashes This is not normally a problem as negative G's are not something you will encounter in flight, unless you incorrectly control the Gyro. finally on the safety side.. Wind. I don't think you will find another ultralight aircraft that can handle wind like the Gyro can. Paraplanes are out of the air if it's windier than 5 knots. Ultralighters get nervous in over 10-15 knots of breeze. A Gyro (with an experienced pilot) will not be overly bothered by _30-40_ gusty knots. The rotor is zipping along at a tip speed of around 350Mph, so a 30mph gust makes little difference to it.. plus there is little surface area for the wind to push on compared to a fixed wing aircraft, plus the huge spinning rotor acts as a massive gyroscope and it's very difficult to suddenly move a gyroscope about.. the rotor acts like a flywheel and tends to dampen out gusts etc... I've been a passenger in a Cessna 172 and found that bumpier to ride on a calm-ish day than my Gyro was on a rough day.. What are they like to fly ? Well, I've only flown a Gyro and a Cessna 152.. so I don't have a lot of experience in other aircraft to compare it to , but I seriously doubt if you will find another ultralight aircraft that is as much fun to fly as a gyro.. Imagine zipping along a desserted beach 5ft above the sand at 80mph through the spray (you've got to wipe the machine down afterwards... B-).. or cruising along in a flying armchair at 2000 feet in an completely open machine.. or pulling a few G's in a 90 degree bank chasing kangaroo's, emus and foxes around out in the bush, or heading off on a cross country for an hour or so, and landing at an ultralight airfield where all the ultralighters are staying on the ground cause it's too windy, and their looks of amazement when you tell them the rotors aren't powered.. and their "you'd have to be crazy to fly that !" comments.. I love it ! B-) Their low-speed no-stall flight capability, and their high-speed, high maneuverability (I doubt you'd find many aircraft that could turn inside a gyro..) capability, combined with their excellent rough-air tolerance and the incomparable sensation of open-air flight and unlimited visibility makes these machines the next best thing to having wings yourself (IMHO) B-) I've posted this here so I don't have to resend it to everyone who asks about Gyro's.. I hope noone minds... I'd be happy to answer any other questions about them, either via this group, or e-mail if you think the answers wouldn't be of general interest to others.. -- ------------ Brett Paulin Rando@zikzak.apana.org.au Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne, Australia.