Who here wants to start an aeronautical project?

"Atlantian" (Atlantian) 09/10/2014 at 09:56 • Filed to: planelopnik

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So I found this copyright-expired autogyro called the "Gyrobee", and I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! some !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! floating around the internet.

Here's a video of a Gyrobee flying.

And I know some of us Jalops and Oppos are engineers or engineering students. Who lives in Oregon? We should build a few gyrocopters to bring cheap[er] aviation to the masses!

OPPOsaurus WRX > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 10:04

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I dunno if i could fly in something i've built. I'd at least need parachute.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 10:10

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My iconic image of a gyrocopter is the one from The Road Warrior.

For Sweden > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 10:30

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Kit planes are a great way to commit suicide without people thinking you were suicidal.

Jayhawk Jake > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 10:32

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One of my previous bosses told me about flying a gyrocopter. He basically said it was the most terrifying experience of his life.

Atlantian > OPPOsaurus WRX 09/10/2014 at 21:57

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I was thinking that, and fit explosive bolts to the rotary wings and the axis/control joints so that the blade would break apart and make room for your ejection in an emergency.

But I know gyrocopters have a much lower operational ceiling than an altitude deemed safe to eject from.

Atlantian > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2014 at 22:00

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Why's that? Would a para-glider chute be preferable to autorotating blades?

From the stories of how the gyrocopter was invented, it sounds like it would be just like a fixed wing plane with much limited flight envelope but with the tradeoff of a much lower stall speed?

OPPOsaurus WRX > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 22:31

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I'll take my chances I'm not free falling from 200 feet

Atlantian > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/10/2014 at 22:36

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Has it been crashed in that image? Because I'd want a much beefier undercarriage for taking harder landings repeatedly.

Something like this:

Jayhawk Jake > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 22:38

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The blade disk is susceptible to pilot induced oscillations ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot-ind… )

Atlantian > For Sweden 09/10/2014 at 22:38

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.. maybe if we took precautions..

Atlantian > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2014 at 22:45

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Install dampeners or even create a fly-by-wire system around PIO and other problems found in full-scale remote controlled flight testing?

Jayhawk Jake > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 22:55

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And add weight, cost, and complexity?

Atlantian > OPPOsaurus WRX 09/10/2014 at 22:55

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Eject from the aircraft as in: with a parachute.

You would want the gyroblades to break apart before you attempt to climb out or eject via rocket propulsion (imagine being "karate chopped" in the neck by the blades), and you must parachute from a certain altitude for it to be effective (most say 2000 feet above ground level).

Unless you have ejection seats and a parachute packed with a small explosive charge (to inflate the cells in a zero alt/zero airspeed situation)

Atlantian > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2014 at 22:58

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Shouldn't safety be first, and other qualities come after?

Robotics aren't that expensive anymore, our cell phones and arduino kits are more powerful than anything the military had, developing 4th gen fighters, in the 70s.

Jayhawk Jake > Atlantian 09/10/2014 at 23:34

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A gyrocopter like this is a cheap alternative to an airplane. When it stops being cheap, no one would buy it

Atlantian > Jayhawk Jake 09/11/2014 at 00:13

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Less licensing required to fly a fixed wing or a helicopter, lower stall speed for easier landings (and potentially less stress on the landing gear) and stall recoveries.

I still think an out-of-the-box ready gyrocopter would be the fastest way to get into the air over a Cessna or a Robinson.

I'd still consider an excessive amount of safety precautions regardless of airframe, especially if I have a say in how it's built.

Jayhawk Jake > Atlantian 09/11/2014 at 00:37

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That's all more true for a fixed wing ultralight (Part 103 IIRC) than a gyro coptergyro copter

Atlantian > Jayhawk Jake 09/11/2014 at 02:33

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But ultralights cannot carry more than one person, and cannot carry more than a certain amount of fuel, might as well go for a gyrocopter with two seats, a shit ton of range, all the safety equipment, and less licensing than most above to fly.

I would prefer an autogyro over an ultralight any day simply for the fact that you aren't going to be going upside down or do loops in a fan powered hang glider anyways, might as well go for something with a lower stall velocity.

There is the CriCri, which looks like a jetsons car, requires no license as it is an ultralight (depending on the engine and tank fitted), can pull 7/-5 Gs.

But that looks more difficult to fly than an autogyro.