Gyro-rotating in California!...

[Fozzer]

Its not very often that I post screen shots, but these couple of pics may instil a modicum of interest.... ...>>>

Touring the crop fields of Central Valley, California!

Leaving Yolo County, Davis Woodland Winters Airfield, and heading for Maine Prairie airfield, onboard my Barnett J4B-2 Gyrocopter with a young lady passenger enjoying the flight!

The University of California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolo_County,_California

FSX (with a FS 2002/FS 2004 aircraft model...note the Prop arcs!)...>>>







...and my well-equipped control panel with a full Bendix-King radio stack!...



Paul.... ....!

..an alternative to my usual Bensen Gyrocopter.

[chopper_nut]

Ha that's different. What does it fly like? Aeroplane or Helicopter? One of the forms of flying I haven't tried. I really should get onto that....

[Fozzer]

Ha that's different. What does it fly like? Aeroplane or Helicopter? One of the forms of flying I haven't tried. I really should get onto that....

Everything you need to know about the fun of; Gyrocopting!.... ....>>>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8IB-5PbL9U

I've got a couple of variants in my Sim Hangar, and they really are lots of fun to fly...and so safe!!

...a "Bensen" and a "Barnett", plus a couple of others!

My trusty Bensen Gyrocopter..>>>



...and its much modified panel!




Paul... ....!

[Splitpin]

Fozzer you run a real risk of being shot down if you fly that thing in / over the states.

[Fozzer]

:lol: Fozzer you run a real risk of being shot down if you fly that thing in / over the states.

Never fear, Marty....

I avoid the South Eastern Red-neck USA, and stick rigidly to the Pacific South West....

....mostly full of Mexicans, but they are more predictable than the; "Hi ya-all" Red-necks with their pick-up trucks, coils of rope, and shot-guns!

The USA scenery is breath-taking...but I mostly steer clear of the inhabitants!.... ...!

Paul.... ....!

P.S. Those little Gyrocopters/Gyroplanes are real fun for hedge-hopping, low-lever sight-seeing, and exploration, which I like doing in the Sim!
Extremely short take-off and landing!

[emfrat]

My trusty Bensen Gyrocopter..>>>

That's all very well, but how would you manage your umbrella when the rain starts?

[Fozzer]

My trusty Bensen Gyrocopter..>>>

That's all very well, but how would you manage your umbrella when the rain starts?

That whirly thing above my head spins it off quite nicely.... ....!

I'm not too fond of "Helicopters", dangerous things, but my little Gyrocopters are designed to be perfectly safe even if the propulsion engine fails, just float gently down to the ground with the rotor spinning freely overhead!

They are loads of fun!

Paul.... ...!

[chopper_nut]

You do know that helicopters are exactly the same when the engine quits....

[Fozzer]

You do know that helicopters are exactly the same when the engine quits....

You don't have quite the same amount of time to find a safe landing place as quickly!.... ...!

The Gyrocopter's Rotor is spinning freely all the time, not connected to an engine, rotated by the air flowing over it, and acting as a rotating wing to keep you aloft for as long as you wish, while you manoeuvre the craft for a safe, gentle landing.

Its a clever, simple piece of kit!

Remember; "Little Nellie"?.... ....>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_WA-116_Agile

The rotor can either be rotated by hand on the ground to get it started, or a temporary drive from the forward propulsion engine gear box via a flexible drive, but once the rotor is rotating it is disengaged permanently for the remainder of the flight, and kept rotating merely by means of the air passing over it to obtain lift!

Paul...... ...!

[chopper_nut]

The R22 has a very low inertia rotor system and therefor you don't have a lot of time to react in an engine failure. In almost anything else though, you have a lot more time. I had an FH1100 in auto once and from a 25ft hover, it took around 10 seconds to get to the ground. Very gentle. some machines when practicing engine failures, you have to close the throttle and then wait for the RPM to bleed off before entering auto. The principles of helicopter autorotation and gyro flying are exactly the same. I know a few guys with Gyros, I should go and hit one of them up for a bit of a go. You Only Live Twice is a great film. I should go and watch that again.

[cowpatz]

During my time at Ardmore I witnessed a number of Benson Gyrocopters wrap themselves up during hi speed taxi trials. I'm not sure if it was through inexperience or mis-rigging but luckily all pilots avoided serious injury.

Chopper_nut given the relatively in tact rotor blades on the Fox Glacier Squirrel wreckage would this suggest something like a transmission seizure or an auto rotation that ended up in a really low energy state?

[chopper_nut]

It's odd to have the blades intact like that. The photo is poor and I can't work out if they really are intact or if it is just an illusion due to the photo. I have to admit that low RPM is the first thing I thought when I saw the photo. Transmission seizure is unusual and even if it did, it would destroy the transmission so that the blades would have been freewheeling anyway. I haven't really heard anything from the inside so I guess we'll have to wait for the TAIC. At least the CAA aren't doing the report, we'd never see it if they were.

[Fozzer]

It always amazes me that the single rotor bearing (inverted thrust roller bearing?) in the gearbox, is strong enough, and well lubricated, to support the fully loaded weight of a helicopter!.... ...!

Paul..... ....!

[chopper_nut]

Don't pay too much attention to Robinson rotor heads then......

[Fozzer]

Don't pay too much attention to Robinson rotor heads then......

They use brass bushes?..... ....!

Paul.... ... ..!

[chopper_nut]

One bolt holding each blade on. 4t of force being transmitted through each bolt at 104%. If you overspeed the rotor to 109%, it goes up to 9t.

[jpreou]

I love gyros, but they are *definitely* different to both aircraft *and* helicopters in a number of ways.
I satisfied a life-long desire a few weeks ago by taking a gyro flight with Gyrate in Tauranga. Was great fun. But I was surprised how expensive it would be to get a rating and even more frustrated that apparently there are no gyros for hire. Best offer was being able to take a Gyrate aircraft out on 'hire' with a safety pilot, but then I'd probably be restricted to just a local flight and can't take a friend, so what's the point. I certainly don't have enough $$$ to buy one; with all that carbon fibre and electronics theses things are a long way past $100k new!

BTW, does that Bensen work in P3Dv3, do you know? What others do you have in your hangar.

[Fozzer]

Hello Jeff...!

..another Gyrocopter/Gyroplane enthusiast!... ....!

I am always surprised that none of all my fellow Sim Pilots are aware that such a craft exists!

Apart from my trusty Cessna 150 Aerobat, my little Gyrocopters are the only aircraft that I daily enjoy in my Flight Sims, (FS 2002/FS 2004/FSX).

Apart from my Bensen and Barnett Gyroplanes, the other one that I often enjoy flying is my Xenon Gyroplane...>>>

http://www.celieraviation.com/home.html

...and dancing in the air!...>>>> http://celieraviation.com.pl/

They were designed for FS 2002 and FS 2004, but I use them in my FSX...(with tiny little problems!)!

Note that the all the magic stuff on the Instrument panels, are my own installation/invention, using FS Panel Studio!
...they are nothing like that in real life.... ...!

The dear little Bensen is just about as "crude", and cheap, as you can get.... ...!

Do a search on You Tube to show the various types in action!

A number of flight Sim Sites have them in the Freeware section....Google them!

One I would really like to put into my Gyro Hangar is this little delight...>>> http://www.chrisjonesgyroplanes.com/ but very few Gyroplanes are available for the Flight Sims!

My advice would be for P3D, search them out in the Flight Sim Sites, stick them in your P3D Hangar and see if they work, if not, just delete them!
...that what I do for my FSX!

There you go, Chums...

...time to explore the wonderful World of Gyrocopters and Gyroplanes (same thing!), and have loads of fun airfield hopping!.... ....!

The nearest experience I get to my daily Motorcycling!

Paul.....daily gyrating.... ....!

[Fozzer]

....and not forgetting my other Gyro bundle of joy....

The Xenon Gyrocopter!

http://celieraviation.com.pl/














This model is particularly nice, because it has been designed to enable the "Pre-rotator" to work correctly; (engage/disengage) using the "Flap" controls.

Engage the flexible drive to to the rotor head to pre-rotate the Rotor, then when fully rotating, disengage the drive to take off, allowing the rotor to spin freely!

It works a treat!

Paul..... :mrgreen: ...!

[cowpatz]

I haven't really heard anything from the inside so I guess we'll have to wait for the TAIC. At least the CAA aren't doing the report, we'd never see it if they were.

Hhmm TAIC haven't exactly come out smelling of roses of late either........

Would it be reasonable to assume that a possible cause, given the low cloud base at the time and probably as a consequence operating at low altitude, was an auto resulting in a low rotor energy state?