dcnblues
Newbie
I'm new to the forum and to autogyros, so I hope my questions aren't annoying to anyone. I'm simply curious. From a clean sheet of paper, in 2012, what's the lightest autogyro glider one could build to land a hypothetical 225 lb pilot? I've read the 'autogyro hang glider' thread from 2009, but it didn't really address my question.
Given modern materials, I'm imagining a one-piece composite carbon, 2 blade rotor, perhaps the kind of composite bearing sets which are turning up in bicycles, and probably some kind of spectra webbing harness to support the stem in some kind of foot launch harness (hang glider style). With a minimal carbon frame and tail boom for a (small as possible) directional stabilizer.
I'm imagining a specific use (balloon launch) which would require only landings, not takeoffs. *Edit: I'm also curious about keeping a foot landing design from having the rotor hit the ground in flare. I assume that the larger the rotor diameter, the higher off the ground the rotor needs to go, but that reduces what may be useful ground effect.
I guess primarily I'm wondering about blade design. With weight savings, the ideal rotor would probably be shorter in diameter than anything previously made, right? I'm aware blades gain efficiency with size, so there'd be a limit to how much smaller they would get. I also suspect that the blade design wouldn't change much in profile, but don't know. If smaller in diameter, it would spin faster, I'm also guessing.
Mostly I want to imagine a sleek toy along the lines of an expensive, top line carbon road bicycle. How light do you experts think such a rig could be made, if money weren't much of a factor? Under 40 lbs? This is a hypothetical, and again, I'm just curious.
Given modern materials, I'm imagining a one-piece composite carbon, 2 blade rotor, perhaps the kind of composite bearing sets which are turning up in bicycles, and probably some kind of spectra webbing harness to support the stem in some kind of foot launch harness (hang glider style). With a minimal carbon frame and tail boom for a (small as possible) directional stabilizer.
I'm imagining a specific use (balloon launch) which would require only landings, not takeoffs. *Edit: I'm also curious about keeping a foot landing design from having the rotor hit the ground in flare. I assume that the larger the rotor diameter, the higher off the ground the rotor needs to go, but that reduces what may be useful ground effect.
I guess primarily I'm wondering about blade design. With weight savings, the ideal rotor would probably be shorter in diameter than anything previously made, right? I'm aware blades gain efficiency with size, so there'd be a limit to how much smaller they would get. I also suspect that the blade design wouldn't change much in profile, but don't know. If smaller in diameter, it would spin faster, I'm also guessing.
Mostly I want to imagine a sleek toy along the lines of an expensive, top line carbon road bicycle. How light do you experts think such a rig could be made, if money weren't much of a factor? Under 40 lbs? This is a hypothetical, and again, I'm just curious.
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