New to gyroplanes.

[DreamSeeker]

Hey all!

I was actually just surfing the web recently and stumbled upon the ultralight autogyro. After doing some research, I became instantly hooked! I always dreamed of flying (I mean flying, you know, the childhood dream we all have - not sitting inside a big metal box staring out the glass window, but actually feeling free). I just could not believe how open and exposed you are in one of these things!

At any rate, I was wondering how much these things go for? (low-end). Now, I am a college student so its not like I'll be buying one anytime soon, but I would be interested down the road. I mean, every guy has his toy - I'd just like mine to be capable of flight instead of your typical motorcycle or sports car lol

Cheers!

[Ronnie328]

Every form of aircraft has models with the same open feeling. I definitely don't want to discourage you from gyros. I love them too. I'm new to flying too, and fell in love with them. I really don't want to fly anything else.

[Joe Pires]

Welcome to the Forum! I will apologize in advance to not actually answering your question.

Since were only dreaming, can I suggest we up the dream to a experimental gyroplane. Since your still going to need significant training, there will be little value in not going all the way and getting your sport pilot license. You will then not be limited to all the little things that staying ultralight is likely to cost you.

In addition you will increase the number of used modern gyroplanes available to you. So although its not exactly the answer to your question you can often find pretty decent machines for around 10K. A bit more or less. And these will have those features like, brakes, pre-rotaters, extra gas capacity, electric start, larger engines etc that make a gyro more fun to fly.

To be honest in the 6 years or so I have been flying gyroplanes, I am not sure I have seen more than a handful of actual ultralight machines, and even those get a little defensive when a scale gets too close. I have actually heard one pilot say, "its usually an ultralight but its retaining water right now." True story.

[MichaelBurton]

You can spend any amount.

I have seen gyros for less than $5000 us and for well over $100000. In many cases the blades are over $3000. It is easy to spend money on flying.

[cburg]

Originally Posted by DreamSeeker

Hey all!

I was actually just surfing the web recently and stumbled upon the ultralight autogyro. After doing some research, I became instantly hooked! I always dreamed of flying (I mean flying, you know, the childhood dream we all have - not sitting inside a big metal box staring out the glass window, but actually feeling free). I just could not believe how open and exposed you are in one of these things!

At any rate, I was wondering how much these things go for? (low-end). Now, I am a college student so its not like I'll be buying one anytime soon, but I would be interested down the road. I mean, every guy has his toy - I'd just like mine to be capable of flight instead of your typical motorcycle or sports car lol

Cheers!

Very roughly ranked by *used* price (excluding fixed wing which is $ all over the map):

SP trike - $3K – 6K
SP gyro - $6k - $20k
TP trike - $6k - $20k
TP gyro - $20K - $60K

The most fun for the buck IMO? Single-place gyro.

The cheapest way to get inot the air with something safe and easy IMO? Single-place trike (part 103 is actually feasible)

[dkhoe]

Originally Posted by cburg

The most fun for the buck IMO? Single-place gyro.

The cheapest way to get inot the air with something safe and easy IMO? Single-place trike (part 103 is actually feasible)

Also a newbie here. I haven't been up in either trikes or gyros... what exactly makes the gyro more fun? (it's a serious question, not trying to start an argument )

David

[GyroDoug]

Originally Posted by dkhoe

Also a newbie here. I haven't been up in either trikes or gyros... what exactly makes the gyro more fun? (it's a serious question, not trying to start an argument )

David

David,

The gyroplane has a few unique qualities that really make it stand out from other forms of flight. First it was designed to create an aircraft that doesn't stall and the free spinning rotor does just that. If you lose power you are going to come down, but it's a lot like being under a powered parachute in that way, you don't stall and spin in and die, you simply start coming down under full control. They can typically land in a very short distance, which makes them a lot safer in the event of an engine out and a forced landing situation. They can also handle windy conditions that will virtually ground other light aircraft. When it comes to maneuverability, nothing beats a Gyroplane, a gyro can make a 180 degree turn and go back the way it came in as little as about 50 ft. In wind it can hover in one spot, it can fly very slow or over 100 mph. That all adds up to a lot of flexibility and pure fun to fly. A gyro doesn't have a lot of commercial or utilitarian uses right now, but for pure recreational fun flying, nothing beats a gyro (in my opinion).

[Joe Pires]

Originally Posted by dkhoe

Also a newbie here. I haven't been up in either trikes or gyros... what exactly makes the gyro more fun? (it's a serious question, not trying to start an argument )

David

You won't start an argument with that question, it is one of the few thing we all agree on. Although there are exceptions gyroplanes are more often flown for recreation than transportation. When most fixed wing pilots take off they get in the air, point at a destination and land. Most of the folks you see here will take off and land at the same airport and spend their time doing sight seeing, practicing maneuvers, experiencing the world from an open platform just above the trees.

In a fixed wing you practice keeping on course and maintaining an altitude and if what I hear over the radio is a fair representation paying a lot of attention to something called manifold pressure.

Most often when my friends and I fly we have no destination and if were at the same altitude for more than a minute we get bored. Your more likely to see dives and climbs, follow the leader 20 feet off the ground,

A couple of analogies you might find to illustrate the difference.

In a gyroplane you are the bird, in a fixed one you ride in the belly of the bird.

A gryoplane is to a jet-ski, as a fixed wing is to a minivan.

Join us you won't be sorry.

[Vance]

Yesterday as I landed at San Luis Obispo (SBP) ATC cleared me to restaurant parking, it was a familiar voice and half way there he asked me to contact ground and said there were two people in the tower that would like to see your aircraft. I was a little nervous because often FAA people come in pairs.

It was Helen, a controller at SBP and her shadow for the day, a young lady who felt she was going to get a golf scholarship to Embry Riddle University and wanted to become a controller. I didn’t even know they had a golf team.

The young lady had never seen a gyroplane flying and had been a little nervous about the steep descent. She assumed I was going around when we were still at 500 feet AGL over the numbers and was surprised when we landed gently at the taxiway mid field.

I agreed to take her flying after my lunch. My mission that day was to find out about airport day coming up on Saturday. SBP is not my home airport but several people had already asked if we would support it.

After lunch I was conducting a pre-flight inspection and Mr. Piper came running up and asked me to participate in their airport day. Mr. Piper is the number two management person at SBP. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to encourage me to support airport day.

I took the young lady up flying after a proper briefing and as soon as we were outside the air space I slowed to 20kts straight and level. I pulled the power as we began a tail slide and then let the nose point at the ground. When we reached 50kts I advanced the throttle and made a steep turn to the right and then left with around a 75 foot radius and then slowed to 35kts describing a 35 foot radius circle. The altitude divergence amounted to 170 feet.

She asked to do it again.

We flew over her school in Morrow Bay and headed down the coast toward Avilla bay.

Yesterday was the first day of the Santa Ana winds and the onshore breeze was quarreling with them along the coastal hills. We were rocking and rolling in the 30 kt gusts from winds that could not make up their mind which way to blow. We could feel the blasts of cool ocean air against our faces. The ambient temperature was 91 F.

When we returned I flew the pattern at 90kts IAS, nearly stopped over the numbers while pulling the power back and made a dead stick landing at the taxiway.

This is not an unusual day in the world of gyroplanes and in my opinion much of it would not be safe or possible in a trike.

Today I am flying with Bob to Watsonville (WVI) to try out the new restaurant for lunch and meet with some fixed wing fliers from northern California. WVI is 138 nautical miles to the North West. The Santa Anna winds have not left us.

Thank you, Vance

[Doug Riley]

Dream-seeker:

I built my first gyro when I was in high school. I made parts from raw stock one by one, bought a VW engine out of a Beetle for $15 and purchased used components from my PRA chapter-mates as they upgraded their own machines.

I did run out of money during college and had to sell off much of my gyro stuff, but it IS possible to build on a shoestring, with guidance. I had plenty of that, from the members of PRA Chapter 24.

Once I got working after school, I bought back into gyros and have been at it ever since. So your dream is within reach if you want it badly enough.

Realize, though, that this is quite an all-consuming hobby. The absence of gyros from the commercial production-aircraft scene for decades means that there's no concentrated mass of expert knowledge left out there.

You have to piece together your gyro knowledge from many small sources, and be able to sort the bull from the truth. Some long-time gyro pilots are great "sticks," but have little (or inaccurate) technical understanding about aerodynamics and design. This is true even of some (self-taught) gyro designers.

It's a challenge. The rewards are just as Vance and others have described them -- the gyro is a uniquely fun aircraft.

[HydroGyroNut]

Hi DKHoe,
I have flown trikes and have flown a gyro. I honestly dont see any comparison between the two in enjoyment factor. Gyros are extremely manuverable, dont stall or spin , can turn on a dime , fly nose down, nose up, sideways, backward, and can land in a small area which would be very useful in the event of an engine out, could even be the difference between life and death. I have no doubts in my mind that gyros are the ultimate personal flying machine and the jetski or dirt bike of the skies... No airplane compares i manuverability...there are just no comparisons..I encourage u to pursue this hobby if fun flying is indeed what you aspire for.

[HydroGyroNut]

Also. when other machines are on the ground wishing they can fly, guess what, u are up and flying. Wind is not a factor...... and no fear of having your machine blown over on a windy day. just will not happen... GYROS RULE BY FAR!!!

[Ronnie328]

Originally Posted by Victor

Hi DKHoe,
I have flown trikes and have flown a gyro. I honestly dont see any comparison between the two in enjoyment factor. Gyros are extremely manuverable, dont stall or spin , can turn on a dime , fly nose down, nose up, sideways, backward, and can land in a small area which would be very useful in the event of an engine out, could even be the difference between life and death. I have no doubts in my mind that gyros are the ultimate personal flying machine and the jetski or dirt bike of the skies... No airplane compares i manuverability...there are just no comparisons..I encourage u to pursue this hobby if fun flying is indeed what you aspire for.

Originally Posted by Victor

Also. when other machines are on the ground wishing they can fly, guess what, u are up and flying. Wind is not a factor...... and no fear of having your machine blown over on a windy day. just will not happen... GYROS RULE BY FAR!!!

Don't helis do all of these things too? Just better? I'd still rather fly gyros, i'm just curious.

[WaspAir]

Originally Posted by Ronnie328

Don't helis do all of these things too? Just better? I'd still rather fly gyros, i'm just curious.

Yes, helicopters will do what gyros do and more. But they're costly in comparison.

Now for a brief tangent:
There is much discussion of "fixed wing" in the descriptions above, that I think really should say "airplane" to be fair. Sailplanes (gliders) have fixed wings, too, but they aren't used for transportation, don't have pilots worrying about manifold pressure or droning along on a fixed course, etc. If airplanes are minivans and gyros are jetskis then gliders are sailboats.

Flying a rotorcraft can make you feel like a bug (dragonfly, bee, etc.) and that's great fun. But gliders make you feel like a bird (hawk, eagle, etc) and that's delightful. Finding lifting air, exploiting it to get height and range, and learning how a wing really works (without a noisy engine to distract you, cover up your mistakes, or protect you from the atmosphere's will) is great fun and develops airmanship.

[aerobatic]

Originally Posted by Joe Pires

You won't start an argument with that question, it is one of the few thing we all agree on. Although there are exceptions gyroplanes are more often flown for recreation than transportation. When most fixed wing pilots take off they get in the air, point at a destination and land. Most of the folks you see here will take off and land at the same airport and spend their time doing sight seeing, practicing maneuvers, experiencing the world from an open platform just above the trees.

In a fixed wing you practice keeping on course and maintaining an altitude and if what I hear over the radio is a fair representation paying a lot of attention to something called manifold pressure.

Most often when my friends and I fly we have no destination and if were at the same altitude for more than a minute we get bored. Your more likely to see dives and climbs, follow the leader 20 feet off the ground,

C'mon Joe, you're oversimplifying a lot.

I don't do aerobatics in my Calidus auto-gyro as I can in my ultralight biplane. As much as I love my gyro, there's lots of things quite fun you could do in a fixed wing...

Maher

P.S. I have a manifold pressure gauge in the Calidus and it's quite handy at takeoff ;-)