Build thread on the GT-VX2 Explorer.

Yes, when the angle of attack becomes too large, the airflow no longer remains attached to the dorsal wall and lift decreases. Fast or slow speed doesn't change this. Just a matter of angle.

Ah, thanks.
 
As a flight instructor...

I don’t see this mishap as being any different...

In my opinion ...

Overconfidence...

None of these are excuses...[for] damaging Denis’s [gyrocopter].


With only half a dozen gyros total at Mentone this year, there was never any need for anyone to hurry anything up for anyone at any time.

Nice job, Vance.

How does that crow taste?
 
WW ...time to get off your "hate-on-Vance " hobbyhorse! ... I know you are a nicer person that the hateful keyboard warrior you are portraying here! ...PLEASE get help & stay off the RWF after consuming excess adult beverages! :rolleyes::unsure:

As you were NOT at Mentone 2020 ..... you are in no position to make such statements as the number of gyros present! Pictures of the flight line are a poor guide ...as many flying were not on the line long enough to show in pics and the good Magni crowd flew back to Plymouth each evening!
 
Glad you’re OK Vance and in the end can happen to any of us but serious point - will the broader community be able to learn the lessons through reading a future NTSB report or only by grubbing through an Internet forum?
 
When Dennis first showed up at Mentone many years ago with his first gyro... long before he had opened or possibly even considering becoming a kit maker... I looked over his gyro very closely, and might have even flown it. Long story short, I took issue with the twist grip throttle. The way he set it up as a pre rotator and throttle all on one lever is a clever solution and probably somewhat natural for a helicopter pilot... But it is unlike the throttle set up on 99 percent of all other gyros. I didn't like it.

I flew a dominator years ago that had a twist grip throttle mounted on the cyclic. Didn't like that either... For one reason, you could only twist so far and as far as you could twist it only brought the engine to maybe 2/3rd throttle. You would have to place your other hand on the grip to hold it there and re adjust your wrist and hand on the throttle so be able to twist it further to be able to get that last third of power. Just wasn't a good set up.

If dennis wants to loan out his machines to others, it would be wise for him to rethink the way he does the throttle and pre rotator to something more like what all other gyros use.
 
With only half a dozen gyros total at Mentone this year, there was never any need for anyone to hurry anything up for anyone at any time.

Nice job, Vance.

How does that crow taste?


Things happen greg. I have bent the keel and tail on my gyro before. And I don't give 2 F's what you think or say, I know damn well I am one of the best and most naturally talented gyro pilots around. I've seen many good pilots ding a machine up. No reason to throw Vance under the bus.
 
Thanks guys, to all who have followed liked and commented on the build.

Its been a privilege for me, for us, to have this forum to communicate with others about what is important to us, to share a hobby, a passion, to have a place where we can turn to others for advice, to share our triumphs, our failures, and to simply reach out to like minded individuals.

I have over the years received invaluable advice and information from others on this Forum in the various fields where their knowledge helped me to avoid problems, to learn, to be safer, while taking part in this specialised niche of aviation.

My very first build log on this forum over ten years ago managed to get me enormous help encouragement, valuable advice, and to find people who have since become valued friends. All of which has been an enrichment I would not have otherwise found.

Todd has provided us with a great resource that has transcended national boundaries and allowed people from all over the world to communicate with each other, to find friends, mentors, advisers, and people who are experts in their fields.

It has therefor been a huge shame, disappointment, and immensely sad to see some of the recent posts by a member that have demonstrated vindictive petty unpleasant personal attacks on other Forum members.

They are totally out of character of the normal everyday communications between us that we see daily. There are always disagreements differences of opinion about almost every subject, conversations have become heated, and people have become upset...but what has happened recently has been by far the worst I have ever seen on the Forum.

I can only hope that others have seen this and feel the same way, and that some action will be taken to try and bring things back to where they have been for the years that this Forum has been running.
 
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The finale Leigh,i know things haven't been happening COV "19". blades , instruments and the final of the build, how does it GO." I'M EXCITED, WHATS HAPPENING.
Thanks The Tool
 
The finale Leigh,i know things haven't been happening COV "19". blades , instruments and the final of the build, how does it GO." I'M EXCITED, WHATS HAPPENING.
Thanks The Tool

The inability to get back to the US has been massively frustrating.

In fact, perhaps as things are turning out, it has allowed Denis to react to a load of orders and events that have kept him massively busy, a blessing in these times, and has also had server problems, so his ability to do some of the design work he was doing with the new upgraded prerotator gear box is on hold.

I with a compromised immune system as a transplant recipient, have been in lockdown so not much chance of travelling right now. In the mean time I have fortunately been able to get some re-current training as the long lay-off from flying will have compromised ability.

My son and I also got our paperwork returned from the FAA on converting our reserved registration to confirmed due to some mistakes, so have had to re-submitted that, and due COVID there are processing delays there as well.

In short...suspended animation.

It was all going so well it was almost too good to be true...and as it turns out, it was... but then as so often happens, life can sometimes get in the way.

In the meantime I continue to look forward to being able to getting on with things.

The Kanardia standby instrument has been ordered from Europe and the instrument scale decided on.

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Looks like some progress with the registration at the FAA - Status now shows Valid with Certificate Issue Date of 1st September 2020 - some good news
 
Steve, I had been thinking of looking and lo and behold you are ahead of me. You really do keep a sharp eye out👍

Yes have had a DAR have a look at her, there have been some things he wanted changed, and a few more things to do. I still haven’t got the ADSB set up I wanted.

One of the airfields requested for Phase one testing and POH write up, is within a Mode C veil, two other aren’t.

Will also be working on a trailer for Blue to be able to get from one to another and generally mobile. In the meantime Blue has taken a brief break from the workshop and gone for a breath of fresh air with Denis to the 12th annual Midwest LSA Expo.

Runs from today through to Saturday at Mt. Vernon Outland Airport (MVN) Mt. Vernon, Illinois and Denis will be there to show the flag for the gyro segment of Light Sport Aviation. Hopefully be some gyro pilots attending who will be able to appreciate the mobile aluminium levitating artwork Denis has produced. :)
 
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What sometimes isn’t realised on build threads is the amount of paperwork involved.

Paperwork that is required from both builder, the FAA and the DAR. There are numerous forms to be filled, facts to be confirmed, and accuracy in the conforming with the multitude of requirements.

I have seen it said that if parents were confronted ahead of time with exactly what expense, frustration, pain, anxiety sweat and tears it takes to raise a child, the human race might well have been extinct by now.

The pure joy, fulfilment, and pleasure they can bring however, seems to have been more than reward enough to have ensured we are around, and thriving.

It certainly takes time and effort, and for some, paperwork not the most enjoyable part. The gyro niche in aviation is a small one, and for many years the build has been a big part of that, and as time went by and regulation crept is more of it became paperwork along with the build.

The new factory builds can take over both the building and paperwork involved, mostly two seaters, and by golly they are expensive. Not many factory singles, but some new ones have come, so mainly still home builds. The build assist has seen a boom and probably helped the movement expand, but build assist singles exist though even a single can become a substantial investment cash wise, quite apart from time spent building, designing, testing, the mistakes and wasted material...and that paperwork.

All of us are different, and while we can excel at some aspects we can also be pretty awful at others. I have friends who have spent pretty much all their time building, and even when the machine was built, very little time flying, but endless hours of tweaking polishing changing, testing, a flight or two, perhaps a bit more training, before back to happily going back to working on their much loved projects. I sometimes wish I was a bit more like that. Others who are magicians at the build, phobic about the paper aspect, and lots more who simply want to fly and to heck with the rest.

It takes all sorts and by golly we are a bunch of all sorts, but then I guess that what life is all about. A mixed bag of experience that we all get involved with as each day comes.


And if I can’t build, play with it, or even be near it I can still write about it. :)
 
Seems Denis had a good weekend at the airshow.

Although he was competing with a load of fixed wing machines, our guy managed to get a good interview with Dan Johnson, who even I know.

Seems he’s been catching some attention with his aluminium kinetic art pieces.

 
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Heard from the DAR this morning.

The new FAA system being used by DAR’s to issue airworthiness certificates for EAB is apparently slow extremely cumbersome, not intuitive and he is finding it a lot more work for each one, and it seems he is working on a number of them.

I guess new systems will involve getting snags ironed out and with the delays in postage and COVID restrictions in general what used to take a while is taking a lot longer.

Submitted photos of changes requested by him, more photos of the gyro, and a weight and balance which was being prepared for the POH, also sending a copy of the FAA registration Certificate which arrived in the mail a few days ago. Things are still moving...slowly.

As they say, if you getting impatient...hurry up and wait!
 
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