And the sky is not crowded with flying Scorpions!........ Why?
I wonder if there are a lot of people eager to fly an helicopter?
Better Pilot or Better Craft ~ A trip down memory lane.
Fifteen years ago most believed that the Benson gyrocopter was 'The One'.
The few who advocated improvements were jumped upon as heretics by his disciples, and then by the flock. The horizontal stabilizer had to be positioned so as to also serve as a rock guard for the propeller. The vertical relationship of the rotor, the propeller and the pilot were fixed. And, reducing the parasitic drag of the pilot and the engine was verboten.
These commandments satisfied the
Bensenites. It provided them with a low cost of participation. Plus, the challenges of building, maintaining, and particularly piloting the craft, were rewarded by the recognition of their peers.
In retrospect, the simpleness of the craft and the difficulty in piloting it are hallmarks of both Igors. They also had a similarity when it came to promotion. Sikorsky was the primary founder of the American Helicopter Society and Bensen was the founder of the Popular Rotorcraft Association.
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Slowly there has been a movement toward safer gyrocopters. Many of these improvements are adding to the cost of the craft. In addition, the latter gyrocopters, particularly those from Europe, appear to be pushing the craft toward an eventual merging with the recreational helicopter. A VTOL rotorcraft that has no tail-rotor and no swashplate,
This, recreational, and perhaps utilitarian, rotorcraft will significantly reduce the need of, and the excitement for, better piloting. But, if volume production comes about then so will the ‘Affordable Helicopter’.
IMHO
Dave