New to gyroplanes.

[HydroGyroNut]

Sure, Helis are great, but nothing beats the simplicity and unique qualities of the gyro. In an emergency engine out, you do not have less than 2 seconds to react to unloading rotor. You have all the time in the world to choose a landing spot in a gyro and settle to earth without a problem. In a chopper, poor reaction time can spell disaster with your chopper plummeting to earth. Other benefits are Less maintenance and maintenance cost due to less complex moving parts, better fuel consumption, better portability, less horsepower for a given weight ratio to run the gyro means less upfront and continuous running cost. A gyro is generally better suited for a middle income owner or any owner more intent on the practicality of owning a cost effective machine over the long term. Also, another benefit why i'm chose my gyro is that it can be placed on floats allowing to cruize on waterways with a forward motion and actually dock in a marina for lunch. One can cruize along on the water like a boat and takeoff whenever necessary and make some pretty sharp turns to dock if necessary. My MTO will be capable of all that when I'm done with her sometime in february I suppose. I'll be happy to post some pictures and maybe video when I'm done.

[WaspAir]

I am in agreement as to the cost, as I said above. But I vigorously disagree on suitability for float operations. I have a commercial seaplane rating, and I've also flown helicopters on floats quite a bit, and I would much, much rather do that than fly any float-equipped gyro I've ever seen.

By the way - what is "better portability" about, and why is it better for a gyro than a helicopter? Are you assuming that one trailers the aircraft, rather than flies it, to get it somewhere (I always fly in either one). And if so, what's harder about trailering a helicopter?

[Udi]

Originally Posted by WaspAir

...If airplanes are minivans and gyros are jetskis then gliders are sailboats...

I like it. And I would like to add - if gliders are sailboats than hang gliders are wind surfers. Dirt bikes - jet skis - hang gliders - wind surfers - gyros. All great fun.

p.s. just like jet skis, hang gliders, dirt bikes and wind surfers, gyros are best when flown open cockpit!

Udi

[HydroGyroNut]

There are a lot of float trikes flying in Sweden, a few in the middle east and one in Seychelles. It's a misconception that modern day gyros are poorly suited for floats. I'm in the process of acquiring and building one and have personally consulted with a leading float gyro instructor in Sweden-Peter Wicander. My MTO will have fully retracting landing gear for both land and water operation. I will be happy to forward u some pics once the project is completed. Times have changed and this is very possible now and can be done safely..I can tell you for a fact that a helicopter on floats would be less suited for your daily fly-in into a local marina for lunch, vrs taxiing into a dock with full directional control, with no rotor turning ,pusher prop turningand tying down on the pier with precision. Probably less likely to get a ticket for doing so also. I will admit I do not have the experience flying helicopters moreso on floats but i strongly doubt its suitability for such a purpose. Also, in general helis are more noisy creating a humongous racquet and landing into a local marina for lunch would be really noisy whilst a gyro will taxii into position which would probably be more acceptable and possibly less loud,?? Once mine is built, I intend to occasionally fly out for lunch/breakfast or dinner, touch down a few 100ft off the water then taxi into any of our marinas hosting a variety of eateries.. About portability, it was a very general statemnt. In general, gyros are smaller and more portable. Ofcourse, there are now very nice smaller heli's like the helicycle etc and in that case probably not... Portability in my case is ease of parking, moving by hand and then trailering from one spot to another. Actually, with the MTO can easily push it around. Mine, i will park daily at home in my garage. It will b easily trailerable with me whenever i make long distance family trips ,so i can do an aerial tour at site. I'm sure some of the smaller helis are just as easily trailered however they would be probably single seaters vrs a dual seater MTO.

[WaspAir]

I wish you luck with that, but be prepared to face some issues, such as these:

1) Don't expect to operate in rough water. You may find yourself strapped into an upside-down aircraft scrambling to get out to avoid drowning, or bobbing about with rotor blades hitting the water and getting trashed. Perfectly glassy smooth water can be even more dangerous, because it is so difficult to tell your height above the surface when landing.

2) The much-applauded ability of gyros to handle high wind conditions better than other aircraft types does not apply in water operations, because high winds can whip up your "runway" into nasty waves (then see #1 above).

3) Floats can make a radical change in the drag characteristics of the aircraft, and can lead to surprising handling issues with potentially dangerous effect (lots of surface well below the center of gravity, producing adverse roll with yaw, drag-over risk, etc.). They are also easily damaged by slightly submerged snags/ logs etc., and can leak and take on weight you weren't expecting in low places where you don't want it.

4) It sounds like you're planning to do some taxiing around like a boat (or maybe like a swamp airboat) with the rotor stopped. I expect that you probably will not have water rudders, and that you will need engine thrust to get the air rudder to steer you, but you will also have no brakes to counteract that thrust. Add in some wind and current (in different directions) and your idea of "full directional control" and moving "with precision" may be a little harder to realize than you imagine.

5) If you operate in salt water, you can expect big corrosion issues.

6) Don't forget that you are subject to Coast Guard rules as any other vessel when you are on the water (right of way, life vests, flares, lights, etc., and practically you need to have mooring cleats, lines, maybe a paddle as well . . .). Many waterways in the U.S. are closed to aircraft operations even though open to boats. For example, the SPA is fighting a move right now that would effectively close every landable wet spot in the state of New Mexico.

and so on.


By the way, in defense of the flexibility of helicopters, a helicopter on floats is inherently amphibious. Because it requires no landing or take off roll at all, it can operate from dry land as easily as from the water without any configuration change. You can land it in a parking lot or on a ramp, in the water next to a dock, or heck, even on a dock if it's big enough.

[HydroGyroNut]

All great points,
I have quite a bit of experience flying a float trike so I'm aware of most of the issues mentioned. Thanks for the tips.