Pedal Powered Gyro

What horsepower would be required to maintain level flight in something like this.

Maybe it couldn't take off, but a tow launch and then pedal to maintain flight?

Not a chance Unless you weigh less than 30 lbs and have tour De France legs.
 
Send the leg power to the other prop ... off the shelf bicycle parts pre-rotator and in-flight power to the rotor.
 

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A typical human operating pedals will find it hard to sustain more than 250 watts while doing anything else (such as flying), and that's only 1/3 hp. Even Lance Armstrong doesn't hold much more than 500 watts for long periods (although his peak capacity is larger, people just don't make more than a horsepower for any significant length of time).

There aren't many things that fly on such low power (bugs, birds).
 
A tow gyro glider here ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JrT8bKQB0A ...is very close to this pedal power gyroplane and proved that it can fly. :yo:

It's possible to accelerate during take off by pedaling on bicycle (or tricycle) then pedaling propeller to maintain flying speed. :suspicious:
 

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Big difference between getting towed by a vehicle & taking off under your own power - and no, people don't have enough leg power to keep it airborne either.

All that guy's legs are doing is keeping the thing off the ground while the car does the work.
 
When I see a flying gyro towed by a winch or a car with only a 1/3 hp motor, then maybe I'll believe it.
 
If you used a rotor similar to the one on the Yuri pedal powered helicopter and set it up as a gyro, pedaled to prerotate, then switched to pedal the prop, I could see a person being able to lift off the ground for a few seconds. I believe it would take less energy to do that than to hover because you'd have a little "stored" energy in the rotor from prerotating during the "flight".
 
I'm wondering that if you had a gear system such as like as on a 10 speed bicycle and got towed until you were up and had a good head wind, would it be a possibility that you could stay up for any sustained period of time?
 
Gearing doesn't matter when you physically don't generate anywhere near the horsepower required.
 
No. Towing merely gives you a little energy to bleed off quickly. You will lose energy much faster than your 1/3 hp pedaling can possibly replace, and the most you can hope is to slightly stretch the glide (you'll be so busy frantically pedaling that your piloting errors, such as speed control and coordination, will suffer and the net effect will not be very different from zero).

With 20 speeds on my racing bike I still can't hold more than 350 watts for more than a short sprint.
 
All of the above answers tell why it is in a museum and not at a fly-in. Good job everyone.
 
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