Ok….to be fair…I do have a daughter who fortunately has remained very healthy. She is a second year student at ISU in Bloomington, Illinois studying to be a neonatal nurse. I call her gyroJenny
Edited 3/16/2003 9:37:07 PM ET by Stan Foster
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Edited 3/16/2003 9:37:07 PM ET by Stan Foster
Discussion Forum
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Nice pic - I'm sure you're as proud of your kids as I am of my boys.
I can find you a landing strip if you wanna fly one of those things down here for HogFest......
Q: Do you know why they call it the Wonder Bra?
A: When you take it off, you wonder where the breasts went.
I only need a little bit of ground to land on.....big backyard? driveway?
Our back yard definitely isn't big enough to land in. But I can definitely find somewhere, and maybe even find you a place to keep it inside a building overnight.A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
Boss: I would love flying down in that....I was having some ignition troubles tonight..it was backfiring..I was already doing emergency procedures and was coming down....then it lit up and I sputtered it back to the airport. Kind of scratching my head right now what it was.
So;;;till I get this figured out...I am not comfortable doing a long distance flight. I should have it figured out soon.
Do rotax engines have mags? I'm a big jet doctor. So unless it sucks burns and blows I'm guessing.If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
jet: It has electronic ignition...no mags
I've been following this thread for a while, but today is the first I've seen a pic of the gyro. That is about the coolest thing I've seen since my harley.
Did you build it? How did you get started? Is it hard to fly? Is it expensive? Are there kits? Where do you get the stuff? Does it require a lisence? (How do you spell that word?) What is it's range? Does it use JP5 or gasoline?
What a trip.
Stef
Stef: I have been flying gyrocopters since 1985. Remember the movie "The Road Warrior" witH Mel Gibson? I had to have one after seeing that movie. They are an awesome thing to fly. You do have to have a pilots license to fly it, unless you buy and ultralight version. It will fly over 200 miles..it flies over 85 mph...and cruises at 70.
I built most of it from a kit. I made the instrument panel from scratch and it was my own design.
Gyrocopters have their own handling characteristics...but are easy to fly. There is a lot of stuff going on with the aerodynamics of a rotor blade. You should be aware of and understand ..advancing blade...retreating blade....precession...reversed flow....transverse flow....etc..etc. A rotor blades aerodynamics still fascinates me after all these years.
There isnt hardly a wind that will stop it..and thermals on a hot summer day are hardly noticed.
Stan-
How is yours set up to handle the advancing blade/retreating blade aerodynamics? Pitch change or just wobble like the old Benson gyrocopters?
Allaround:
The rotor is like the Bensen blade..it pivots in the middle. The advancing blade climbs up through the relative wind reducing the lift...likewise the retreating blade is falling through the relative wind and thus has a higher angle of attack. The differences in airspeed between the advancing blade and the retreating blade is then balanced out.
I flew some Hueys in the late 60's so that is no problem.
I just didn't know such things existed-haven't been near such things in a while.
Can you give some specifics as to weight, fuel, manufacturer of kits, etc.
thanks
stef
stef: There are several kits available. Just search under gyrocopters and you will find them. Mine weighs about 320...uses hi-octane car gas....with oil added.
I have flown fixed wings...ultralights....and nothing comes close to flying a gyrocopter. I have had 14 forced landings since 1985 and not a scratch on me or the machine. You could land in a rock pile with it.
To add to Stan's info: If it is more than 254 pounds, 63 mph cruise, one-person, 5-gallons of fuel; then you need the appropriate pilot's license from the FAA. If it under those limits (and some gyros are), then you don't need a license. You can not, as an ultrlight operate it in controlled airspace (major airport) without prior arrangements and not at night or over heavily populated areas.
As an ultralight, you can build it yourself, buy it assemblied or as a quickly assembled kit.
If bigger than an ultralight, it must be assembled by an ameutur, doing so for their own recreation and education and they must do 51% of the tasks involved (figure 200 to 500 hours for a gyro). The home-builder is then authorized to do the maintenance and annual inspections on that particular aircraft. You can also buy an "experimental", home-built aircraft (including 6 seaters, twin props, small jets, helicopters, etc.) already assembled by an ameutur, but maintenance must be done by an certified mechanic or the builder of that particular craft.
Theoretically, a manufacturer could produce a factory-built, certified gyrocopter, but I'm not aware of any produced for years now. They were biggest in the 1930's - before true helicopters were developed but the very short take-off and landings were appreciated and well as their very benign engine-out behavior (i.e. you have a very slow glider, versus fixed-wing prop planes which make pretty fast glider when quiet).
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
I've always been a fixed wing guy - one of my former lives was 12 years of CFI and charter - but have been fascinated with the gyrocopter since Igor Benson first came up with the design. The early ones weren't powered - you just towed them behind a car or boat. In one of the first articles about them he claimed he could tether it to a fence post with a long rope and fly it in a strong wind. Sure looks like fun - gotta be kind of like flying a J-3 with the doors and windows open.
So why the sputter? Water in the fuel? Fuel filter? after checking the plugs I would go to fuel starvation.If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
jet: good question...I think it is one of my electronic "black" boxes. I checked my spark today...and there is none. I would rather have it completely quit..then I can trace it down easier.
To find intermitten problems here at work the spark farmers (avionics) use freezit. Cools down the electronic component to see if there is a loose connection. The cold causes the board connections to shrink so sometimes enough to cause the fault you are trying to find.
This may or maynot help.If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
Jet: sounds like a good idea. I have absolutely no spark right now..so it has to be connection or the black box.
Good luck Stan.
Just remember the Hi tech Moto. Don't get mad get a bigger hammer!
The technical tap will do it everytime.
Hey I can't see it from 30,000 feet.If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
I finally found my problem with the ignition. I tested my wiring harness coming out of the engine and found an open wire. I had to pull the motor,,then pull the flywheel. I found a wire that was rubbing the inside of the flywheel. It is all fixed now and I just installed the engine. I will be test flying it Monday.
Here is a picture of the chewed up wires on my ignition coils, and a picture of the engine in my shop....stairshop I should say.
Glad to hear you now have spark for your flame.
And I'm not talking about CAG. LOLIf at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
Hey cant blaim a guy for trying can ya??View ImageGo Jayhawks
Stan, that's a nice shop ya got there when you get all those pesky stairs out of the way.
Is that a single cylinder engine, or do I need to put my other glass eye in?
Joe H
Joe: Its a two cylindr Rotax...water cooled...64 horse. It is an amazing engine for its power to weight ratio. Perfect for flying machines. I had it up today and the ignition is perfect. It helps not having the coil wires rubbing the crankshaft. ha
Stan,
Does GyroJenny actually fly your copter?
WAHD
She just sits in it....
Very coo, Stan - my cousin is a first-year English professor at ISU, so tell GyroJenny to keep an eye out for Dr. Dykstra...
did
I opened the box, and the first thing I pulled out was - well, ya know, it's just surreal being me right now...
Dammmm Stan, I was kinda hoping for some XXX rated something here. All we got is some kinda girl next door type in a funny little airplane..........
Joe H
Do you have to use the airport for this? Can't just take off from your backyard? Or is it the hanger space?
Joe: I can land in less than ten feet...I do need a little bit of runway to take off. That rotor is not powered at all...it windmills from autorotative means.
Daughters pretty cute, about my age, not to far away.... You need any help in your stair making shop let me know..... I learn fast......
Cag: You saying you want some "hands on experience?"
a..... sure...
Your talking making stairs right *G*
I'm sure your daughter would be so proud to know she was being discussed here :)
View ImageGo Jayhawks
Edited 3/30/2003 5:04:49 PM ET by CAG