Pressure-jet gyrocopter

[Viv]

Hi Bruno

I have admit that 60K ready to fly sounds more of a bargain than anything else, the kits I have been looking at come in higher than this and thats with a two year build cycle, some what more complex though;-)

Heres a stupid question! can you fly these off water with floats, or snow with skis? I cant remember ever seeing one do that.

That French electric plane is my fav as it can do all of that but is 300k

Viv

[Bruno Ogorelec]

Viv,

Yes, gyros are the cheapest way to fly. Not many people realize that.
Still, 60 grand is a lot for what would essentially be a toy for me.

I have seen gyros flown with both floats and skis, but I don't think it's a very good idea. Namely, one of the few problems that gyros have is their sensitivity to the relative placement of the thrust line and the center of gravity. Ideally, the thrust line should pass through the CG.

What happens when you add floats is that the center of gravity gets lowered and the thrust line is now higher. You should adjust the rear horizontal stabilizer accordingly, so that it counteracts the tendency of the craft to nosedive. Experienced pilots counteract this with the control stick, but that means you have to fly the carft actively all the time. Can't relax.

You might lower the engine/transmission/prop assembly, but in most gyros they are as low as they can get already, so that there's no leeway there.

Skis would obviously be a smaller problem than floats.

[Jim Berquist]

Here You go VIV! Not a Gyro, but cheeper and bester! Maybe you could put some P.J.s on it like little JATOS!


http://www.airscooter.com/pages/airscooter_main.htm


http://www.airscooter.com/

[Bruno Ogorelec]

Here You go VIV! Not a Gyro, but cheeper and bester! Maybe you could put some P.J.s on it like little JATOS! :D


http://www.airscooter.com/pages/airscooter_main.htm

Well, it's an open single seater vs. closed two-seater. Not quite comparable. Their two-seater will have a three-cylinder engine, not a twin and will likely cost 80 grand, not 50. (Which will still be reasonable, I guess, given 'normal' helicopter prices.)

Also, consider the const of upkeep. AirScooter will be rather more expensive to maintain.

I'd still opt for the gyro. They are undemanding simple machines, incredibly easy to fly. Flying a helicopter is vastly more complex.

[Jim Berquist]

I think you need a sports license to operate a two seat er now! I seen a gyro bite the bullet in Tucson because he tried to take it out of the box and climb to fast. Cut off his tail feathers and drive prop.

He had a Ballistic Parachute and it saved his ass!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb8FmjIW ... elatedhttp://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cx8oFQTWd4&NR=1





Everything is based on a 3/8 bolt!!!!

[Bruno Ogorelec]

I think you need a sports license to operate a two seat er now! I seen a gyro bite the bullet in Tucson because he tried to take it out of the box and climb to fast. Cut off his tail feathers and drive prop.

He had a Ballistic Parachute and it saved his ass!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb8FmjIW ... re=related

I guess one should fly aircraft the way they should be flown. Or pay the price.

One of the problems with gyros is that they are so easy to fly that many people apparently decide to forgo flying lessons. It's a very expensive mistake.

[Viv]

The airscooters a very nice design but personally having put a bit of work in to coaxials now its minefield to get the design right, gyros have plenty of milage left in them even though its such a simple idea, its the materials and lack of money for modern design techniques holds it back I think.

Who was the guy worked on a cold jet feed from a roots blower to get his rotor up to speed? I always felt he had some thing with that idea.

Simple licensing is attractive as well as simplicity, 60k as was said makes it a fun toy

Viv

[Bruno Ogorelec]

The airscooters a very nice design but personally having put a bit of work in to coaxials now its minefield to get the design right, gyros have plenty of milage left in them even though its such a simple idea, its the materials and lack of money for modern design techniques holds it back I think.

Who was the guy worked on a cold jet feed from a roots blower to get his rotor up to speed? I always felt he had some thing with that idea.

Simple licensing is attractive as well as simplicity, 60k as was said makes it a fun toy

Viv

I don't know; in Russia, Kamov has been doing coaxials for ages for military and civilian purposes. In the US, Gyrodyne has built thousands of drones for the Navy over what, 40 years? And before turning to drones, they were building fancy little single seaters on the same airframe. The neatest helicopter I have seen in my life. There's several old documentaries on the gyrodyne on YouTube. Look it up. It's an amazing machine. Too bad the company quit the civilian market as soon as the military orders started coming in.

[Jim Berquist]

Giulty I am! I found a Marrage for 1,500 in fare condition. Bought it and Did the crow hop thing. I found my self 100ft up and air born. I was able to turn it around and into the wnd and back to Tera Ferma! Did that stop me, NO! I ended up flying it to LordsBurg N.M. some 55 miles. and stoping at a gas station just off I 10. They looked at me like I was nutts and I fueled up with 4.2 gal of reg. Made my mix shook it up and was on my way! Right? NO! GOOD! YES! God that was the best experiance in my LIFE! I CAN FLY!!!!!!!!!! If the State Police had shown up, Im shure I would have received about 20 tickets and some jail time. Will I do that agian? No! Next time I head North !


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cx8oFQTWd4&NR=1

[Viv]

The airscooters a very nice design but personally having put a bit of work in to coaxials now its minefield to get the design right, gyros have plenty of milage left in them even though its such a simple idea, its the materials and lack of money for modern design techniques holds it back I think.

Who was the guy worked on a cold jet feed from a roots blower to get his rotor up to speed? I always felt he had some thing with that idea.

Simple licensing is attractive as well as simplicity, 60k as was said makes it a fun toy

Viv

I don't know; in Russia, Kamov has been doing coaxials for ages for military and civilian purposes. In the US, Gyrodyne has built thousands of drones for the Navy over what, 40 years? And before turning to drones, they were building fancy little single seaters on the same airframe. The neatest helicopter I have seen in my life. There's several old documentaries on the gyrodyne on YouTube. Look it up. It's an amazing machine. Too bad the company quit the civilian market as soon as the military orders started coming in.

The Kamov is hugely successful and used out here for logging over on the BC side of Canada, I also like the side by side rotor arrangement of the Kaman

http://www.kamanaero.com/helicopters/kmax.html

Viv

[Viv]

I think some one mentioned the Fairey Rotodyne and this article although not about it does have a nice youtube link to a flight of the Fairey Rotodyne.

The rest of the article is about a DARPA project I have been following for some time now, again they have found out tip-jets do not work for practical applications.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11 ... oise_snag/

Video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9633v6U ... oise_snag/

Viv

[rotortec]

Gyrocopter made in Germany, go to visit http://www.rotortec.com

Have fun and safe landings