Fl90
Gold Member
I'll be your mentor Art. See, you've got to be carefull what yiu ask for, you might get it!
Phil
Phil
i have read this thread for days, each day looking for something "productive" to rise from the scorched earth rhetoric. So far---nothing! Should there be an official "welcome letter" to all newbee's providing insight and encouragement and suggestions as to how to enter the sport. That would be all the ways; the poor,good, better, and best. This would not be critical of one's choices but simply lay out the options. As a near newbee, i have made my choices and do not want to be criticied for them. I continue to look for insight on what i might do to improve my ride; not insults about my ride. Is there a possibility of a mentor program; each new person provided a real person to help and encourage? Geographically difficult i realize but a knowledgeable "friend" to talk with as the newbee gets started is invaluable.
The following is from 'Article III Purpose' in the PRA by-laws. ' ...(b) To foster, promote, and popularize education in rotorcraft among its members and the general public.' This is from the PRA Chapter 62 by-laws. '.....whose members are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, public education and safety of privately owned non-commercial rotorcraft.'......... Is there a possibility of a Mentor program; each new person provided a real person to help and encourage? Geographically difficult I realize but a knowledgeable "friend" to talk with as the newbee gets started is invaluable.
Karl Bamforth, your Post #186 is a nice summary.
I'd quibble only in one small respect: the comment that an excessively large HS results in slow or weak control response. This can be true in FW planes whose wings are rigidly attached to the frame. If the fuselage is slow to react, then the wing will be, too.
In a gyro with direct cyclic-pitch control, however, things are different. Rotations of the fuselage are not necessary in order to change the angle of attack of the rotor. The fuselage can fly at a never-changing angle, and the pilot will still have full control of the rotor. The fuselage then functions as a stable platform from which to alter the angle of the rotor to the air.
If the fuselage is quick to pitch or roll, control actually becomes more challenging. The pilot must anticipate these rotations of the frame, and take out some control input as they occur. This complication results in the famous "jabbing" control technique that Igor Bensen describes so well in his manuals and writings.
Control "jabbing" is a standard technique in the test-pilot profession for dealing with unstable aircraft --especially tail-heavy ones.
There are few maneuvers in which a frame that pitches readily may provide a sort of "power steering" or "crack-the-whip" effect. Proficent pilots can learn to use this effect to make these maneuvers more radical. In general, though, a frame that doesn't rotate readily (because it has a big H-stab) is a good thing and does not reduce control effectivess. It merely makes control more straightforward.
Incidentally, for those who talk about the H-stab losing effectiveness at slow airspeeds: please remember that propeller blast over the H-stab can result in good H-stab effectiveness right down to zero airspeed. A gyro's prop blast at full throttle has a speed of between about 80 mph and over 100 mph.
Incidentally, for those who talk about the H-stab losing effectiveness at slow airspeeds: please remember that propeller blast over the H-stab can result in good H-stab effectiveness right down to zero airspeed. A gyro's prop blast at full throttle has a speed of between about 80 mph and over 100 mph.