"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
03/26/2020 at 14:44 • Filed to: None
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"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
03/26/2020 at 14:44 • Filed to: None | 4
| 18 |
The crazy guy flying the gyrocopter is back! I haven’t seen him in over a year.
He’s making th e best use of his time off!
I really don’t know much about him. I do know he shares a hangar at KREG with another gyro pilot. Between them, they have at least five gyros hiding in there. I saw it when it was open and I was trying to get checked out in a Cherokee so I had a local plane to rent. The fellow with the nicer gyroplanes crashed on takeoff that day, so I didn’t get a chance to visit with him about their aircraft. Oh, don’t worry, he was ok.
So, what is the other guy flying? I’m not sure. What I do know is that it’s an open-cockpit design like the Honeybee.
It’s h ardly more than a lawn chair, engine and rotor attached to an open frame. This fellow has been flying roughly the same route for years and it takes him over my house. When I hear him, I go outside to wave and he circles around me at least a couple of times.
One day I will get the chance to shake his hand. Maybe it will be a wave from 6 feet instead of 400.
jminer
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 15:24 |
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Gyrocopters have always scared the hell out of me. At the same time I’ve always wanted to build an ultralight , ever since I was a teenager. Gyros just seem the other side of that sketch line with no wing to keep you aloft and slowly back down if you have a motor failure.
shop-teacher
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 15:25 |
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That's awesome!
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 15:33 |
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Ah, a common misconception! A better term for gyrocopter is autogyro. As long as there is forward momentum, the rotor will keep spinning. That’s what makes it fly in the first place. If the engine dies, do the same thing as you would in an airplane - pitch for best glide and look for a place to land. The big difference is that an autogyro can land in a much shorter distance than most planes and even ultralights. The rotational energy of the rotor is traded for lift just before you land.
Just as airplane and helicopter pilots have to practice “dead stick” landings, autogyro pilots do to. Here’s an example:
And here’s a guy doing it for real:
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 15:38 |
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The rotating rotor supplies lift, but is not powered. If the rear propeller stops for some reason, the rotor will still spin, and provide lift while the craft descends.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro
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jminer
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 15:41 |
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Well damn - learned something new on Oppo today. Thank you! Now I’m interested more in them and will likely spend the rest of the afternoon going down a rabbit hole of information on them.
Also that looks amazing in a dead stick landing. Can these guys be classed as a 103 ultralight as well? If so it sure seems like it’d be fun to have one of these in the garage at one point ...
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jminer
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
03/26/2020 at 15:43 |
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I knew they generated lift but though it required enough forward momentum to maintain it, those dead stick videos from Bicycle Buick are sweet though!
Snuze: Needs another Swede
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 16:00 |
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There have been some auto gyros that have had clutches to spin up the main rotor so they can take off in absurdly short distances. You can’t leave it on all the time, then you’re a helicopter, so it’s just a pre-take off thing, but still. Imagine having one in your garage and being able to take off in the space of your driveway (assuming it’s like 50 ft or something).
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 16:03 |
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The smaller ones can be ultralights. The bigger ones are either Experimental or Primary. If certified as Primary, an A&P mechanic must maintain the aircraft.
There’s a place nearby (Autogyro of Louisiana) which provides training. It’s highly recomm ended to get training before attempting to fly one, even an ultralight (although training and certification aren’t required to fly an ultralight).
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jminer
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
03/26/2020 at 16:05 |
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Now that sounds neat as hell
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jminer
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 16:07 |
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I’m pretty familiar with the regs around ultralights, just completely ignorant around autogryos. I took a few classes on an ultralight with an instructor in a dual seat nearly 10 years ago and it was amazing. Before I’d get one I would definitely get retrained though.
I was planning on starting private pilot lessons this summer, but that’s definitely on hold now...
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 16:12 |
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I completed my PPL last year. I’ve been thinking about my options since there isn’t any local hangar space available. A Kit Fox with folding wings and an enclosed trailer has been high on my list. I could just fold it up and park the trailer next to my house.
With the market downturn, a certificated plane might be within reach. Although I don’t want to park on the tarmac, a bigger plane would be better suited for cross-country flight.
Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 16:29 |
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I’m a fixed-wing CFI, and have been thinking of adding a gyroplane rating to my commercial license for a while now. Helicopters are fun, but t he add-on would cost me around $7k and I’d only be able to rent Schweitzers. These look like a lot more fun per dollar.
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jminer
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 16:52 |
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In a month or so it might definitely be a buyers market . There were already a bunch of older high wing planes that were relatively reasonable, seems like it might get better here shortly.
A homebuilt does give you the advantage of being able to do your own maintenance over a certified plane though.
PyramidHat
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 17:00 |
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So, I always wonder about single-seat aircraft...having been checked out in planes (as we’ve discussed, PA-28 and C172), that’s always been a two-person task: The one who knows what they’re really doing, and me. I can’t fathom how that works with a gyro or an ultralight...
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> PyramidHat
03/26/2020 at 17:11 |
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Tandem for training and “certification,” although the FAA doesn’t issue licenses for ultralights.
For Primary certified gyroplanes, you have to get a type endorsement.
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> jminer
03/26/2020 at 17:14 |
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Restrictions on experimentals make me a little hesitant to go that route, although I’d really like to fly an RV.
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/26/2020 at 17:55 |
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Autogyros are deathtraps, Aussies have used them for ranching and the number of deaths is pretty high.
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
03/26/2020 at 20:56 |
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T hat’s not the autogyro’s fault. The pilots are flying them extremely low and doing high-bank maneuvers without any room for mistakes. One of the most dangerous things an autogyro pilot can do is unload the rotor. This is exactly what happens when a pilot does a steep climb and pushes over the top . The unloaded rotor stops generating lift and the aircraft tumbles.
https://www.kitplanes.com/gyroplane-safety/