This is Superb!!!!!!!!! Regisrtered on road and in the air...and doing it!

[Greg Mitchell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Wypa1CySI&feature=email

[GyroDoug]

Mitch,

You always beat me to the forum with these new videos. That's OK but I was so excited by this one & I think this is one of the best ones he's done yet so I was all excited to put it on the forum, but you already had. Oh well, as long as it gets out there and everyone has a chance to see it. This is cool and it's just a matter of time until it gets enough publicity that the right people see it and get really excited about it.
I really like the look of the Shy Cycle when it flys overhead and you get a good look at the rear wheel pants and the tail. It really looks like a "Batmobile" in the sky. I'm getting more and more excited about mine. Soon!!!

[StanFoster]

Looks good guys. That landing gear is always impressive to watch in person. Stan

[GyroDoug]

Stan,

Notice how high the landing gear stays in this video. It is never drooping down in that lower position, even when he landed. Interesting and yet he still lands like a bird coming in on a limb.

[Terry_Smith]

I just got my latest KitPlanes - December 200 9 issue - , and saw this from the Oshkosh Tour.. Thought I'd share it with you SkyCycle fans.

[C. Beaty]

Here’s a site devoted to roadable aircraft.

http://www.roadabletimes.com/

[fiveboy]

I ask this not in a smarty ass way.... suppose you are on the road with a roadable aircraft (of any kind) and you have a fender bender.... can you just have Larry the local Shell mechanic fix it, or do you now also need a sign off that its airworthy? Do you need to report to the FAA or what? It seems to me that one might spend a good part of their life waiting for this process to get sorted out.

Anyone know?

[GyroDoug]

Fiveboy,

I don't think there are any necessarily "right" answers to your questions. There really hasn't been any of these vehicles on the road so there hasn't been a need for regulation. I am sure as there gets to be more of them around and they become a noticeable presence, the powers of government will feel the need to start churning out regulations to govern all aspects of what they can and can't do. But for now, there really isn't any specific regulation for these vehicles. When operating on the public road system they are going to be subject to the laws and regulations that govern the public road system. So if you get into an accident on th road you would call the local police department the same as any other motorcycle accident. and just as you could with any other motorcycle you can have anyone repair your motorcycle that you want.

As an experimental aircraft, anyone can work on the aircraft once it has been registered and met the 51% criteria to be registered as an A.B. experimental. I would guess if you make a major modification or change it would need to be inspected again and may have to fly off some hours to prove it is airworthy but if you are just repairing or restoring it to it's original condition I don't believe there are any special requirements. I'm sure as they become a more common item, some of the powers that be will feel the need to create special rules just for them but for now it is a great time to have a roadable aircraft. History is in the making here. Some day people will talk of those early pioneers in this field and the things they used to do. I think that's pretty cool to be a part of that, don't you?

[Greg Mitchell]

G'Day Fiveboy,

I put your questions to Larry, his response.....

"Most people that build their Experimental aircraft also obtain a repairmans
certificate so they can do maintenance on their own craft. They become the
mechanic and make the decisions if the ship is airworthy."

Cheers,

Mitch

[Gyro_Kai]

Great thing. The roadable site does not contain the sky-cycle, right?
Something I have been wondering watching all those videos: Why is Larry not using the extensible gear, while he has it?

Kai.

[fiveboy]

All:

Those answers make sense. YES I think that being a part of an early history is VERY exciting! I also think Larry is a true innovator (so much so that I featured him and the Sky Cycle in a show I did for Smithsonian Channel that is currently airing).

[Greg Mitchell]

Robert,

That is excellent, shall pass that on.

Kai,

Emailed the website as soon as I noticed the SSC was not listed. Gave them all the details they needed to contact Larry etc. for inclusion.

As far as the gear goes..........
Larry does everything very methodically.
Each part or component is tested till he his satisfied with the results, then moves on to the next. This is why we saw a lot of early footage of the SSC without the folding blades flying on it.
Now we see the folding blade system being put through its paces for sometime.

Cheers,

Mitch

[Dmorris]

I'm curious as to how you get insurance on a Sky Cycle while in motorcycle mode. Most of us choose whether or not to carry coverage on our ships and accept the risk. Most, if not all states, require insurance on cars, motorcycles, etc. Is it going to be a problem to find a company to cover Sky Cycles?

[GyroDoug]

Great thing.
Something I have been wondering watching all those videos: Why is Larry not using the extensible gear, while he has it?
Kai.

Kai,

I think Mitch misunderstood your question but I'll take a shot at it as I had the same questions. Looking at the videos, it doesn't look like the G-Force Landing Gear on the SSC hang down low like we are used to seeing on the Aurora or the Monarch. And they don't. Because the SSC is made to squat down to be able to fit under a garage door and park inside the customers garage, it has to be made a little different. In making the Gyro capable of squatting low to fit under a garage door, about 2/3's of the normal travel is taken up with the squatting mechanism. That means there is only 5.5" of travel left available for the landing gear to use.

Because it isn't traveling near as far Larry did away with the mechanism that holds it up high and then releases it just before touchdown so it can drop into the lower position. Instead, on the SSC it will always drop into the lower position when taking off, however the drop is not near as far and is barely noticeable when looking at the machine while flying. Instead of hanging down really low and having 14"'s of travel, it rides almost level with the gear legs horizontal and has a more limited ability to take a large vertical drop. Instead of doing stop and drop landing from 25' like the Aurora or Monarch with the G-Force Landing Gear can do, the SSC will be limited to doing stop and drops from around 5 to 10 ft above the ground. From a practical standpoint it is still all you would normally ever need but it is a compromise and a limitation of the SSC compared to the other models.

Larry says it still allows the SSC to land very smoothly and it still protects both the aircraft and the pilot from a poor landing that might have otherwise caused some major damage. Watching the videos still impresses me. I can't wait till mine is done.

[GyroDoug]

I'm curious as to how you get insurance on a Sky Cycle while in motorcycle mode. Most of us choose whether or not to carry coverage on our ships and accept the risk. Most, if not all states, require insurance on cars, motorcycles, etc. Is it going to be a problem to find a company to cover Sky Cycles?

David,

I haven't personally gotten mine yet so I can't tell you which Insurance Company I will be using yet. There are only a few Insurance companies out there that are interested in insuring custom, home made motorcycles. But there are companies that will and I can tell you that Roger was able to get his insured, so the one you are seeing in the videos is currently carrying motorcycle insurance that covers it when driving down the road.

I don't remember the details on this program but I also remember someone telling me about a program in states that require you to have insurance to be able to drive. They have a program where if a person is unable to find a company that wants to take them, that they rotate the responsibility around and the state will require that an insurer will provide insurance to any unique vehicle that can not otherwise find coverage. I personally haven't looked into it but it makes sense that if they are going to require you to have it there has got to be an option to make sure you can get it.

Again, this is all new and much may still need to be worked out. But it has been done already and will soon be happening again. And the more it happens the more it will become acceptable until it is no longer any big deal.

[Greg Mitchell]

Larry said...."It is called "Non Standard Insurance". It is an insurance pool. You can't
have a state mandated insurance without having a state mandated supplier."

Doug has it right. Thanks for sorting the landing gear querry Doug. I must confess I did read the question correctly. I was thinking Larry was releasing the GForce Landing Gear in increments as he had done when he first designed it for the Monarch.

Cant register one for the road in Australia yet...............so you fellas have one up on us there.

Mitch.

[Kevin_Richey]

David,

...I don't remember the details on this program but I also remember someone telling me about a program in states that require you to have insurance to be able to drive. They have a program where if a person is unable to find a company that wants to take them, that they rotate the responsibility around and the state will require that an insurer will provide insurance to any unique vehicle that can not otherwise find coverage. I personally haven't looked into it but it makes sense that if they are going to require you to have it there has got to be an option to make sure you can get it.

Why couldn't this line of thinking apply to those airports that require liability insurance to hangar there?

[Gyro_Kai]

Doug, Greg, thanks a lot.
I always assumed that the SSC has a G-force gear just a bit uplifted. But of course, 5,5 in should be enough for average bad landings.

I also contacted the web-site owners of the roadable aircraft (Chuck, you don't know what you have done :D) and additionally included the Terrafugia to be added. They answered within a day that they plan to re-launch, including the two.

Kai.