Before going on to my first encounter with the G1sa Genesis let me say that I have no commercial affiliation to Nikolas.
This was originally posted in a thread titled "Aviomania's 100 Euro Soda" describing some nice formation flights last week http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26929. My impressions were mostly subjective as I didn’t intend on doing an evaluation but simply wanted to check out the new gyro in the hangar and test some engine adjustments. Flights were carried out near Thiva, Greece August 9 and 10, winds calm at dawn and dusk and up to 20 knots in the afternoon. Near mountain cols and to the lee of mountain ridges wind speeds often exceeded 20 knots and turbulence could be strong. Relative humidity was about 70%.
First off I found the design appealing to my eye more so up close than the pictures I had seen. The ground handling was predictable with better than average brakes, brake lever on the stick grip. steerable nose wheel, straight tracking even during high speed taxi. Prerotation was straight forward with a nice over the center prerotator engagement lever that you could take your hand off until disengagement.
This particular gyro was the first of five ordered by our group. It was flown equipped with 24ft Dragon Wings rotors and powered by a Rotax 532 of 64HP nominal output with 2.58 ratio B box driving a Ukranian 3 bladed 62 inch prop. Other particulars can be found on the Aviomania web site http://www.aviomania.com/.
Rate of climb felt as good or better than my Air Command CLT with a Rotax 582. Before venturing beyond the airport boundaries I checked response and maneuverability. No control slop, low cyclic control gearing requiring long control inputs. And then the most pleasant of surprises despite Nikolas having warned me. The G1sa was neutral in all axes to power changes. No yaw changes after chopping the throttle or suddenly going to full power. The same was true for the pitch axis. Open and close the throttle and the machine continued straight and level. Side slips even at extreme angles were no problem with no indication of roll coupling. Everything felt just right first time up.
Nikolas told me that he had probed the low to zero G envelope at height wearing a personal parachute at various speeds and power settings. This was a very dangerous undertaking by a very dedicated individual. He assumed that if anything went wrong he wouldn’t have the rotor to worry about since it would have already parted ways. While there he also confirmed that his design had no tendency to torque roll. Not willing to tread anywhere near this part of the flight regime I left Nikolas to his word. Rapid power changes at 1 G showed little roll tendency.
A tried some high speed passes and saw about 95mph at full throttle. Same solid feel despite the moderate turbulence. Nikolas said his indicated airspeed error wasn’t more than about 3 mph.
Landings were all positive with no tendency to bounce, rebound or duck walk. Cross winds up to about 12 knots were handled nicely the same as take offs. The nosewheel stayed firmly planted except prior to lift off at my weight of 165lbs.
A report isn't complete without some negative observations. The build quality as regards details except finish are not of the same standard as the design execution. To be so would require things like leather upholstery and mahogany stick grips. The build is Spartan with the essentials adequately provided for. Also my personal preference for stick position has my wrist resting on my thigh instead of my arm partially extended. Nikolas says he has three sticks he uses with one that would suit me.
A few words about the man behind the Genesis. Nikolas is a trained aeronautical engineer. He is soft spoken and rarely prone to hyperbole. His flying capabilities match his design acumen. He flies straight as an arrow.
Dino
This was originally posted in a thread titled "Aviomania's 100 Euro Soda" describing some nice formation flights last week http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26929. My impressions were mostly subjective as I didn’t intend on doing an evaluation but simply wanted to check out the new gyro in the hangar and test some engine adjustments. Flights were carried out near Thiva, Greece August 9 and 10, winds calm at dawn and dusk and up to 20 knots in the afternoon. Near mountain cols and to the lee of mountain ridges wind speeds often exceeded 20 knots and turbulence could be strong. Relative humidity was about 70%.
First off I found the design appealing to my eye more so up close than the pictures I had seen. The ground handling was predictable with better than average brakes, brake lever on the stick grip. steerable nose wheel, straight tracking even during high speed taxi. Prerotation was straight forward with a nice over the center prerotator engagement lever that you could take your hand off until disengagement.
This particular gyro was the first of five ordered by our group. It was flown equipped with 24ft Dragon Wings rotors and powered by a Rotax 532 of 64HP nominal output with 2.58 ratio B box driving a Ukranian 3 bladed 62 inch prop. Other particulars can be found on the Aviomania web site http://www.aviomania.com/.
Rate of climb felt as good or better than my Air Command CLT with a Rotax 582. Before venturing beyond the airport boundaries I checked response and maneuverability. No control slop, low cyclic control gearing requiring long control inputs. And then the most pleasant of surprises despite Nikolas having warned me. The G1sa was neutral in all axes to power changes. No yaw changes after chopping the throttle or suddenly going to full power. The same was true for the pitch axis. Open and close the throttle and the machine continued straight and level. Side slips even at extreme angles were no problem with no indication of roll coupling. Everything felt just right first time up.
Nikolas told me that he had probed the low to zero G envelope at height wearing a personal parachute at various speeds and power settings. This was a very dangerous undertaking by a very dedicated individual. He assumed that if anything went wrong he wouldn’t have the rotor to worry about since it would have already parted ways. While there he also confirmed that his design had no tendency to torque roll. Not willing to tread anywhere near this part of the flight regime I left Nikolas to his word. Rapid power changes at 1 G showed little roll tendency.
A tried some high speed passes and saw about 95mph at full throttle. Same solid feel despite the moderate turbulence. Nikolas said his indicated airspeed error wasn’t more than about 3 mph.
Landings were all positive with no tendency to bounce, rebound or duck walk. Cross winds up to about 12 knots were handled nicely the same as take offs. The nosewheel stayed firmly planted except prior to lift off at my weight of 165lbs.
A report isn't complete without some negative observations. The build quality as regards details except finish are not of the same standard as the design execution. To be so would require things like leather upholstery and mahogany stick grips. The build is Spartan with the essentials adequately provided for. Also my personal preference for stick position has my wrist resting on my thigh instead of my arm partially extended. Nikolas says he has three sticks he uses with one that would suit me.
A few words about the man behind the Genesis. Nikolas is a trained aeronautical engineer. He is soft spoken and rarely prone to hyperbole. His flying capabilities match his design acumen. He flies straight as an arrow.
Dino
Last edited: