An "Interesting" Attempt

okikuma

Member
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
3,492
Location
Santa Clarita, CA
Sent to me by a good friend. I find this attempt to build a tractor gyroplane out of an existing fixed wing airframe "interesting." It is for sale on Craigslist in Montery, CA. The description is as follows.

Wayne

"Hello,
Autogyro, made from a shortened Cessna 150. Build partially from “little wing” plans. All controls are functional, well documented build. Hughes 269 blades. Electric pre-rotator functions well. Most of the paperwork taken care of with data plate. Carbon fiber instrument panel. Needs a powerplant 85-150HP
3000 or Trade for??
Thanks"
 

Attachments

  • photo131980.jpg
    photo131980.jpg
    169.7 KB · Views: 8
  • photo131981.jpg
    photo131981.jpg
    118 KB · Views: 8
  • photo131982.jpg
    photo131982.jpg
    161.5 KB · Views: 8
  • photo131983.jpg
    photo131983.jpg
    90.1 KB · Views: 8
  • photo131984.jpg
    photo131984.jpg
    107.1 KB · Views: 8
  • photo131985.jpg
    photo131985.jpg
    88.9 KB · Views: 8
With that much of the tail cut off and the wing missing my first guess would be that, with the engine in the usual position, the CoG has moved forward considerably. Now the rotor seems to be roughly in the 1/4 from leading edge of wing position, so I think the aircraft is nose heavy. I would very much like to see the calculations that have lead to this design, if there are any. Currently it looks to me like this thing has been cobbled together not even by rule of thumb but rather by guess and by golly.
Oh and by the way: where is the fuel tank of this contraption?
 
Last edited:
In view of the absence of much rudder, the absence of a fuel tank might be an important safety feature.
 
As for the fuel tank, that's the purchaser's problem. I especially like the instrument panel. No DG, but there's an RMI and glide slope indicator!

Wayne
 
Top