- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,446
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
Speaking in the most general terms because each client is different I spend typically spend around a half hour learning to balance on the mains unless there is a problem. My primary challenge is to get them to look where they are going and keep the gyroplane on the centerline. I do spend time coaching on the takeoff.
When we are doing stop and go practice I like to see the rotor rpm begin to increase before advancing to full power.
With some gyroplanes balancing on the mains is more important. It is not unusual for me to spend several hours teaching an RAF pilot to balance on the mains and it is a part of my syllabus for any single place gyroplane.
Many have a challenge imagining how much to compensate for a cross wind with the cyclic.
Another challenge for many is the transition from using the rudder to maintain the centerline to using the cyclic to maintain the centerline on lift off.
Most of my instruction is done at Santa Maria, California with a paved 150 foot wide by 8,000 foot long runway (12/30) and a seventy five foot wide fifty two hundred foot long cross wind runway (02/20).
I only spend time on a turf runway if the client is planning on flying off a turf runway because the nearest one is 77 miles from the Santa Maria Public Airport.
In my opinion a turf runway is less sensitive to misalignment on landing and as long as the additional drag is taken into account on takeoff a turf runway does not appear to pose a challenge for my clients.
When we are doing stop and go practice I like to see the rotor rpm begin to increase before advancing to full power.
With some gyroplanes balancing on the mains is more important. It is not unusual for me to spend several hours teaching an RAF pilot to balance on the mains and it is a part of my syllabus for any single place gyroplane.
Many have a challenge imagining how much to compensate for a cross wind with the cyclic.
Another challenge for many is the transition from using the rudder to maintain the centerline to using the cyclic to maintain the centerline on lift off.
Most of my instruction is done at Santa Maria, California with a paved 150 foot wide by 8,000 foot long runway (12/30) and a seventy five foot wide fifty two hundred foot long cross wind runway (02/20).
I only spend time on a turf runway if the client is planning on flying off a turf runway because the nearest one is 77 miles from the Santa Maria Public Airport.
In my opinion a turf runway is less sensitive to misalignment on landing and as long as the additional drag is taken into account on takeoff a turf runway does not appear to pose a challenge for my clients.
