My buddy Barry Gyro bee

[GyroRon]

Getting closer to time to test fly it. still have a few things to do first, like a Hang test and final rigging.

[GyroRon]

side view

[GyroRon]

front seat

[GyroRon]

another shot

[GyroRon]

and one more

[ToddP]

Ron,

I it looks real good. Are you the test pilot?

[GyroRon]

Yes

[gyroblackwell]

Hay ron,

whats the seat made out of? is it purchased or home built?
how much does the machine weigh in at right now?

Looks good!

Tim ;D

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Folks,

Nice looking Bee! Where did you get the tail?

Mike Jackson

[GyroRon]

The seat is a custom made seat for drag racing cars. It is real light weight and made of aluminum. Barry had it made new for 3 or 4 hundred bucks, but I found a shop near Lowes Motor Speedway that sells used ones - that still look new - for around half that much.

We haven't weighted the gyro yet. Scared too at this point.

It has a 447 Rotax with a Warp Drive prop. No Pre rotator or rotorbrake and a Joe Suza rotorhead. Rotorblades are brand new 7 inch Chord SportCopters.

The tail is home made and is somewhat like the Watson or Ron Herron tail in contruction.

It is a nice bee and I get to be the fool to fly it for the first time. Barry has talked about possibly selling it and starting on a Dominator so I may have it at Bensen Days with a for sale sign on it. Who knows, I might even buy it for myself..... But I hope Barry just finishes it and gets training and learns to fly it himself. It is a really nice Bee.

[gyroblackwell]

Why don't you get a couple of the used ones and list them for sale here!
I bet you could turn a couple bucks for your time.

8)

[GyroRon]

I don't know about that. There was another fellow selling a real nice Bee with Rotax 503 and Dragon Wings and his price was extremely low and still no sale. He had it for sale for nearly a year and finally decided to take it off the market

[gyroblackwell]

I'm only talking about the seats ! the all alum. seat (if it weighs less them the fiberglass seat) is a nice shape, and looks strong. You said that used ones are sold by a shop near Lowes Motor Speedway.
I was suggesting that you buy one, and list it for sale here.

I would like to know more about these seats. I might want to buy one!

Tim

[Mike Jackson]

I might also be interested in the seat. Was there any major mod to the GB seat structure to incorporate this seat? Thanks.

Mike

[gyroblackwell]

The reason I like this seat so much is that the throttle quadrent, and any local systems ie. GPS, clock, radio, can be mounted directly to the seat without the need for extra brackets to pass the mounting loads to the seat frame! could save some weight int he long run!

Please take some more pics (outside where there is more light) of the seat and its mounting brackets. Would be VERY interested !

Thanks,

Tim ;D

[GyroRon]

It may be a week or two before I see it again

[GyroRon]

Oh I didn't see all the replys about the seat. I will have to ask Barry to post something about the seat to answer your questions.

[ultracruiser41]

Hi Gang,

The pictures Ron posted are of my Gyrobee. Sorry it took so long to answer some questions but I've had trouble logging in. The seat was made by Butler Built in Concord, NC. They take your butt numbers then build a seat to fit. It was about $300 for the seat but I really like it and it is strong enough to mount throttle ans instraments to. (not to mention its comfortable and secure.) There was no real modifications needed to adapt to the Gyrobee.
Ron did mention he found some used one's that would be a better deal.

[GyroRon]

Yes and I might add that the seat appears to possibly be lighter as a unit than the seat the plans call for.

Barry is almost done with his bee. A few more tweaks and it should be ready for test flight #1. I think maybe tomorrow we will try to drag it out to the airport to it's new home

[BOP Flyer]

HI, it sure is a nice looking gyro!

Just a question for you. In the above pics the rear stab seems to be very close to the prop.

In the pics of the gyrobee that I have seen on the internet the stab seems to be mounted further back.

Is this because of the angle that the pics were taken on or is it infact mounted further forward?

If it is mounted further forward will it affect the flying of the machine at all ?

Cheers Barry

PS: That gyrobee that didnt sell, how much was the owner asking for it?

[GyroRon]

No it must be in the pics that makes it look that way. It is pretty far back there on the keel. It is also mounted on the tail not directly on the keel so the prop blast will have some effect - hopefully -

The other gyro bee that didn't sell was down to 4500$ with a Rotax 503, Dragon wings and a pre rotator. At one time he had a BRS parachute on it and was asking about 1000$ more for it. But had he decided ot keep it for sale at that price It would have been sold by now. Heck I was interested in buying it when he changed his mind and decided to keep it.

I think if you spend the time to build the gyro right and not cut any corners and go by the plans you will retain most of your investment when resale time comes.