Butterfly to bring back gyroglider training

[DennisFetters]

Back in the hay-days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and we didn't have powered two-place training Gyroplanes, the only thing more dangerous than trying to teach yourself to fly a gyro, was learning on a gyro-glider. But back then, that was all we had, and thats why the race was on to develop a powered gyroplane trainer. Bill Parsons was the first to come up with a good trainer, and I was the first to put them into production and mass training finally became available.

Gyro-towing requires two experienced people to fly one aircraft, one in the aircraft and one in the tow-vehicle, both relying on each other to do the right thing, so you now have twice the chance of someone making a mistake. When one person makes a mistake, there is no way for the other person to correct the other, so there is an accident.

Boom-training is as old as the hills, but it is more safe than cable-tow training, but you do not receive near the experience and training.

The electric prerotator is a great idea, and will make for longer air-time and safer operations, but it will not teach the person about blade-flapping, which is one of the most impotent things to learn. Without a prerotator, the person learns not to flap every takeoff, but with the prerotator, only when the instructor chooses to leave it off.

Those smart ones that take tow-training will benefit, but my prediction is that many people that receive tow-training will develop a false feeling of security in their new skills, and move on to self-taught powered training on their own, and leading to desaster..... just like in the old-days. I know human nature.

[Jens]

I don't think we should look at it whether or not gyrogliding is better than something else.
Gyrogliding is one more game - a fun activity, I guess - and one more place to recruit new rotor playmates

[GyroDoug]

While Gyrogliding training can be beneficial for anyone, the reason Larry is developing the program like he is, is to provide an option for people wanting to fly his ultralight model Gyro.

The difference in feel between a heavy two place cabin class gyro (which most people end up getting their training in today) and then transitioning to a very light, open frame, single place machine, can be quite dramatic. The boom trainer has been designed with full communication between the student pilot and the instructor (in the tow vehicle) and allows an experience that is much closer to what it will be like when the transition is made to the students own ultralight machine. It allows training in a very controlled environment and yet with the full communication the student can be involved in what is happening and why and can call for power changes that are made by the speed of the tow vehicle. Granted there is still a transition from being towed to being turned loose but the student is a lot more prepared for the feel that he will experience when he climbs in his own machine.

So far Brian has been having excellent success with this method and it can be a great way to introduce someone brand new to the sport in a very controlled and safe manner and it makes for a less expensive introductory experience for a new person wanting to check it out. I believe a lot of chapters could use this type of system (in a lot of different ways) to help them attract new members.