Which is SAFER, trike vs. gyro ?

DcFKF

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May 19, 2009
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These trikes seems so safe, a flex wing the can handle more G's (neg and positive) than a certified Cesna. If the engine goes out, you can a simply glide down. If all hell breaks loose, you can deploy hand parachute. ALL this for a mere $5k - $10k tops.

IE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-ZcDJWtUg


And then there's the Gyro's. Safer because you can land on a dime in a patch anywhere. Can tolerate higher winds. But something inside of me keeps wondering about murphy's law... and the more moving parts, the more potential for problems, right?

There's just so few parts to go wrong w/the Trikes above. And then lastly, the "safer" Gyro's tend to be WAY more expensive than the Trikes, no? I mean a Monarch butterfly w/parachute, gforce will run you around $30k, no ?

Any advice, thoughts for a newbie... I'm not criticizing here, please don't misread my intent. Just trying to look for the best and SAFEST deal for the $$$ on a one seat flyer.... and for me it's bringing up the gyro vs. trike issue at this stage.

-Frank
 
A gyro won't stall. Easier to fly in wind than a trike.
 
Frank,

Trikes get in trouble under negative Gs they will tumble and crash. Also whip stall will lead to this. Wind is hell in a trike you have to work pretty hard to fly one in mid day conditions with both hands on the bar. Some trike flyers will tell you my X brand wing will cut through turbulence and so on but I don’t think its like that at all. I have a fixed wing kolb and it beats me to death in thermals and so on. The gyro I am training in just cuts through wind like its not there. That’s 15 gusting to 22.

The high end trikes are in the 30K range as well. Not sure where you are getting your pricing but most new trikes single seat are over 10K The wings are around 5k I think. Even though a trike doesn’t have near as many moving parts as a gyro there are still things that have to be just right for them to be safe and stable. Mostly to do with the wing rigging. If the wing is knocked out of alignment you could very well burn a smoking hole in the ground.

Proper preflight is key to keeping your aircraft safe. On a gyro you can see all of your connections. On a fixed wing you cannot.

As far as positive Gs go a gyro unloads gs and will never see Gs high like a fixed wing or trike. In a gyro you could have that hand deploy chute on your body and bail out if all hell broke loose I would think.

Trikes can get into an unrecoverable spiral.

The only major downside I see to a gyro is that in the event of a good roll over the gyro will sustain major damage. Then again if you flip a fixed wing on its back or a trike I suppose it will cost about the same to repair any of them.
Trikes are more efficient and I believe the smaller wings have decent cruise speeds in the 70 to 90mph range. Of course I guess an RAF or sparrow hawk would make a good cross country machine since its enclosed. I don’t know how fast they cruise.


What is your overall flying goal? If its cross country then I think a fixed wing is the way to go. If its local recreational flying then the gyro.
 
Here's another trike doing a dead stick landing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDhxUqnsYVk

I've never seen a gyro do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_vbrMUCuZE

And Parachutes aren't neccessarily safer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVq_uqzgax8

Here's some gyros doing spot landings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZdY_RU24og

We have one trike out at our airfield. I've never gotten to fly with him because he has to fly at the crack of dawn or at dusk because of the wind. I know another guy who had a trike but got rid of it and bought a gyro because he didn't like the setup and teardown hassle of the trike or getting bounced around in the wind.
 
To answer your question which one is safer. That really depends. If you pick a well designed gyro or trike then both aircraft will be equally safe to fly. So what really determines which is safer is you! Your ability to make the right decisions and become safe and proficient in operating the aircraft will ultimately determine how safe it is. Remember most accidents are caused by pilot error not the aircraft.

Now as far as fun goes. I have flown in them all. PPC, fixed wing, Trikes and Gyros.

Gyros are the most fun hands down however I like to fly in anything if the weather is right for it.
 
>>>>>Here's another trike doing a dead stick landing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDhxUqnsYVk

Wow, at least the guy was okay. It was pilot error. What if a gyro came in and pilot error the same way, with the gyro's hitting the ground and breaking apart, the pilot may have been hurt worse? (guessing here)

>>>>>I've never seen a gyro do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_vbrMUCuZE

Isn't that an push over that can occur with gyro's too? Or are all todays gyro's built to avoid? If you full throttle with nose all way forward, will any of today's designed gyro's still push over?

>>>>>And Parachutes aren't neccessarily safer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVq_uqzgax8

Well, that's obviously not a proper way to use the parachute, deployment while on the ground. BUT, does make me wonder, just how many feet off the ground do you have to be in order to safely deploy by hand? by ballistic?

>>>>>>Here's some gyros doing spot landings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZdY_RU24og

I agree, it's impressive how you could land near like a helicopter w/the gyro's. Takes good pilot skills but very impressive.

>>>>>We have one trike out at our airfield. I've never gotten to fly with him because he has to fly at the crack of dawn or at dusk because of the wind. I know another guy who had a trike but got rid of it and bought a gyro because he didn't like the setup and teardown hassle of the trike or getting bounced around in the wind.

Yea, the wind does concern me about trike's. They seem vulnerable to cross winds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqVJD6bbE7E
 
I had two trikes, a Pegasus Photon and a Puma Sprint.
his is me flying the Puma Sprint trike around 40 secs in on this vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnR_fLqqbJI

It was really enjoyable flying them but spent more time looking at the windsock waiting for the wind to calm down than flying. With the Dominator I just arrive and go flying. The weather window that you can safely fly a gyro is much greater than the weightshift, or 3 axis microlight. That is why it appeals to me here in Ireland as it always seems to be blowing here.
 
We have lots of Trike guys wanting to get into gyros because they are sick of sitting on the ground when the winds blowing a bit...while they're watching all the gyros fly!
 
Hey guys, a many many thanks to ALL of you.

Very wise comments ... and I'd have to see I agree with you guys. I'll have to get me good built gyro for my fun / recreational.

I don't want to have to worry about the winds. Here in Texas the winds can pick up out of nowhere, and I've already had a one little encounter with landing the Cessna (for private pilot license) with a decent crosswind... no thanks trying to do that without a rudder.... very good point, enough to steer myself toward the Gyro's.

Thanks again to all you.. very good forum here. :)
 
Before you jump in a build or buy a gyro, You should get a few lessons in a gyro to make sure thats what you want to fly. If it is then finish the training. Do not self train!

good luck and happy flying!:yo:
 
Yes Grant, I completely agree.

I will attend some events, talk to some gyro guys face to face, and ride in a few before I buy. I'm in no rush to buy or build anything... Thanks for your advice, absolutely agree. Plus, I love a great deal... so even after I decide on a gyro, I may "hang out" and try to get a used one for a "steal" ... :)
 
I also started off on trikes and then moved on to gyros. Wouldn't move back for reasons already given.

When the trike guys start pushing their trikes back into the hangar I'd pull out the gyro.

Oskar
 
I have hundreds of hours in both...All this is nonsense...They both are safe and they both can kill you fast..I would worry more about training and what the pilot is going to do rather than if the machine is going to fall apart...

kurt
 
Iv flown both, and id NEVER go back to them armstrong f%$# trikes.
 
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