No, they DO NOT fly the same at all, yet they do.

[Steve Osborne]

Learning to fly with a CFI with out or a small horizontal will make you a better pilot…. It probably would be wise not to try and fly a gyro with a smaller horizontal then you were trained with, thus limiting what Gyro's you should fly.

 

[Ron Iaconis]

To be or not to be?

To be or not to be?

I first learned to fly a gyro in 1984, it was a Bensen, the seat was almost sitting on the keel, and my pump handle joystick had a 6 inch travel in pitch stop to stop. That was 18 degrese stop to stop in fore aft travel. I flew it that way and was self taught, and while at the PRA convention in 1985 I was " radared " at 91 MPH ! I have no idea how I survived that first year and didn't porpice out of the air! But to this day I fly either with a hor stab or with out it,,,,My travel on my pump joystick is now at 14 inches , stop to stop.... I believe that the amount of travel in the pitch of the joystick has a direct effect in the stability of the machine,, I will say that I only fly between 45 MPH and 70 MPH,,,,I don't even consider flying anywhere near 75-90 MPH anymore. If I did I probably would definately install a Horiz stab.

 

[All_In]

@Steve
No worries there Steve. I'm getting a Genesis G1sa with a large aerodynamic HS she is one of the most stable gyroplane on the market. I enjoyed the time in the Snowbird very, very much. I like to be trained by all the best instructors so when I heard Chris was coming I emailed me the same day a scheduled time with him. I am so glad I did, I learned so much in just two hours it has to equal 20 hours of self-training with many things learn by Chris solely sharing his experience or demonstration of the maneuver.

@Ron
Hi Buddy! Meeting you was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I'm so glad you decided to come. As promised we had fun didn't we? Mr FAA man!!!

In 1984 that was about all you had self-training and boy can you fly!!!
You helped create the legacy we enjoy today with instructors and two place gyroplanes so now there is no logical reason to risk man or machine and self-train.
PS:
With me as my instructor all I would have know is trial and error and really never know if it was the best way to fly any maneuver for any or all conditions. It's much better when Chris would point out in the 1st few seconds things like "there can you feel the blades slow down now add power and wait for them to slow down again." I thought it would take a long time to get the seat of the pants feel for rotor management on take-offs. With a good instructor he points it out to you at the exact time you are feeling it and then in one sentence gives his experience to you and the seat of the pants knowledge is transferred.
Both days this happen over and over again in so many aspects it puts me light years ahead of me training myself with only my FW experiences.

 

[C. Beaty]

Lets look at the facts, John.

You are going to be selling a gyro that from all appearances was designed by a competent engineer.

Why would you want to waste your time and money learning to fly an abortion designed by someone that didn’t have the foggiest notion of how a gyro works? Driving a clapped out automobile with the steering gear about to fall off doesn’t make you a better driver.

Competently designed gyros are the easiest thing in the air to fly.

 

[All_In]

@Chuck
Thank you buddy you are correct of course. But there is logic to my madness form years of running a FBO ... I wanted time with Chris!
I never felt flying his AIRCRAFT was going to make me a better pilot I had only been told if you can fly her you can fly anything.

It's the time you spend with the instructor in anything that makes you a great pilot and the transfer of Chris's YEARS of experience to me. The only way to get that was to fly his ride.

It's the instructor that can explain so you understand that makes you a better pilot NOT the aircraft is just takes much longer for a toddler to learn to ride a unicycle as it would take me to learn in only his gyroplane.

I learned so much (and still learning today form debriefing and visualizing flying and what to do better next time .... it was way worth it and I recommend Chris. If you have a two place bring yours, if not it may cost you more but it's also more time transferring his experiences from Chris to you under varying wind conditions etc so not sure there is a down side to taking longer and transferring even more of his wisdom to you.

PS:
If I was a Vulcan I would just do a mind meld with you and every great pilot and instructor. Sadly I'm not so I'll be training with every instructor I can fly with and every type of rotorcraft they fly sucking the experience into my little brain the only way I know how.

 

[Ron Iaconis]

John,,,,,,Hi Yes we had FUN !!!!!!!!

John,,,,,,Hi Yes we had FUN !!!!!!!!

John, I am so glad I came,,,and we did indeed have some good times and am looking forward to many more events,,,,,All the participation from all ,,,,PPC Trikes,Helos,Gyros ,,,Fire Works,,,all,was super!!!!

 

[animal]

Hate I missed it, but my new ride and some other bills,put a damper on this trip.

Now that Said. I too have flown Chris's Sno-bird. I botched the landing and did a go around almost thru the corn..lol

But what I can say is that Chris's Sno-bird and Leroy hardee's sno-bird I took an hour in many years ago. where both more stable then the RAF-2000 that I have 14 hours in. I did PIO in Leroy's Sno-bird a little, but not near as bad as in the RAF.

I personnaly like the Sno-bird and the best one I have seen so Far is Barry K's with the tall tail conversion.

 

[RotoPlane]

I think your experiences in a new aircraft are quite normal John, especially with the landing gear interface with the runway. I figure if I have this problem then everyone else must have it too . That's why my main gear is out front where I can see it…..

 

[Brent_Brown]

Barry K's gyro would be even better if he flip the gear box.

 

[All_In]

Yaw Mon, I like Chuck's description of trying to learn to ride a unicycle.

That's what it felt like to me, but it's all good and way too much fun to be legal...