Preferred seating arrangement?

[rtfm]

Hi there,
I am a new member of this forum, relatively new to flying in general, and new to Gyro flying in particular. So I have a number of really basic questions which I hope that someone will take the time to answer for me.

My first and most basic question is: from which side do you fly a Gyro? I have visited the UFO-Helithruster factory in Auckland, and set in one of the machines. It was set up to be flown from the left seat. This means the control stick was in the right hand. While this felt OK, it would make writing down ATC instructions impossible for a right-hander like me, not to mention manipulating carb heat, mixture, throttle, radio, TX and so on - which by the very nature of the centrally located instrument panel would need to be manipulated with the right hand.

Anyone care to enlighten me?

Regards,
Duncan

[Aussie_Paul]

Hi Duncan, welcome. :) The side that you pilot from depends on the propeller rotation. The torque can be quite severe with the larger horse powers that we are now using.

Our Firebird with the Subaru ej series of engines and a gearbox is designed to be flown from the right.

The Raf which has a belt drive has to be flown solo from the left seat with a minimum weight of 140 lbs.

Aussie Paul.

[rtfm]

Hi,
If this is the case, then that means the stick is in your left hand. So far, so good. The throttle? Carb heat? Etc? Where do you put these controls?
Regards,
Duncan

Our Firebird with the Subaru ej series of engines and a gearbox is designed to be flown from the right.

[Aussie_Paul]

No Duncan, stick is in the middle of your knees. I change frequencies and all sorts of things including having lunch while I fly cross country with either hand.

There are 2 basic gyroplanes. Stable and unstable. There are of course a myriad in between.

If you have a correctly set up pitch stable gyroplane you can take your hands of the stick almost forever in good air and long enough to apply cayby heat etc even when the weather is terrible.

That is what I have with my Hybrid and what I am aiming for with Firebird.

Aussie Paul.

[rtfm]

No Duncan, stick is in the middle of your knees.
Aha. This would make perfect sense, except that the UFO had the stick squarely in the middle. It was that which got me wondering...

Thanks for the info,
Duncan

[Neil Hintz]

Who uses carb heat? EFI.

[Echo]

Duncan,
I also noticed the control stick on the UFO , but both Pauls machine & mine ( look at the OZ trainer thread ) have dual joysticks . I fly either from the left or the right seat , it doesnt make a great deal of difference ( EA 81 ) with my right hand on the joystick & my left on the throttle . All the switches are within easy reach from either side.
Eric