How to trailer a gyro

Texasautogyro

Gyro Master Instructor
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
1,755
Location
Tomball Texas
Aircraft
AutoGyro MTO Sport/Cessna 172
Total Flight Time
6400 with over 2400 in gyro
I just got done with a very long road trip trailering a gyro. About 4100 miles.

I will post some pictures. Then Ideas of what to look for and what does not work.

One thing is for sure. Trailering a gyro does it no favors. Every large bump in the road is like a touch and go!

If you look close at the front nose wheel I have 2 saftey straps as a backup. The nose is actually held down by a pipe and two carriage bolts. The pipe has a foam sleve over the out side of it.
 

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trailering

trailering

I know what you mean, I've trailered gyros over 400,000 miles. It takes its toll.

Carl
 
As this post goes along I will have a few pictures of special gyro trailers.

Right now I will post some ways to tie down the gyro or in this case a gyro kit.

Short cut straps are used and anchored with short torque head screws with large washers.

This is a common way things are tied down in cargo shipping containers.
 

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Never transport blades on for more then a mile or two

Never transport blades on for more then a mile or two

I just have never thought trailering a gyro with blades on was a good idea.

Now I am guilty of doing this for special school events close to my airport say about a mile or two at very slow speeds.

I have seen all kinds of ways to support the blades but have never thought it as being a good idea.

1. The blades tend to get abrasion marks at the point of contact of support.
This puts stress and weakens them.

2. The bounce of the hub bar alone buts high stress on the rotor system and cyclic controles.

I went to a special class last week and they showed examples of serious problems related to this. They showed damaged heads and joints in the cyclic related to leaving blades on while transport.

One set had never been apart in about 450 hrs. It was being transported blades on in an enclosed trailer.

3 I just think its lazy. Take them off inspect them and replace bolts as needed.
 

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Find a picture

Find a picture

Find a picture.Maybe, it's not too serious. Because the trailer no lights. The primary stage.
 

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And find a picture

And find a picture

And find a picture
 

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When I trailer my gyro, I use wooden ramps to load and unload. I found that easier and more fuel efficient when driving. The ramps lay, bolted down, infront of the main wheels and act as wheel chocks when loaded. I also have a crane with a hand winch, which stands up in the front corner of the trailer to lift the rotor blades on to the gyro. The crane lays down on top of the trailer sides for transport and I can use it in this position to winch the gyro on and off on the trailer.
John
 
When I trailer my gyro, I use wooden ramps to load and unload. I found that easier and more fuel efficient when driving. The ramps lay, bolted down, infront of the main wheels and act as wheel chocks when loaded. I also have a crane with a hand winch, which stands up in the front corner of the trailer to lift the rotor blades on to the gyro. The crane lays down on top of the trailer sides for transport and I can use it in this position to winch the gyro on and off on the trailer.
John



Yes i agree. My all steel screen ramp works great but does not save much in fuel. I have a 12 v winch to help me pull the gyro onto the trailer.
 
i think that is very important to match the weight of the gyro and extra things you will have on the trailer to the proper springs. My trailer is within 2-3 hundred lbs of the max of the trailer and it does help allot.
 
Shipping a gyro

Shipping a gyro

I am looking to buy a gyro and in all probability will have to have it shipped a fur piece.
What should I tell the shipper?
Remove and box the blades? Pad this and that. Tie down so and so?????
 
I am trying to work out a support for the engine. Last year I broke a motor mount from trailer stress on a Rotax 912 it was my Mentone trip.

It was right side ring mount shown below
 

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Someone rear ended my trailer on the way down to BD. Although, a quick inpection showed no damage, when I got to BD I noticed the nose wheel was cocked over and the rubber mounts on the main wheels needed to be replaced. On the way back the nose wheel broke off, fortunately I was prepared for that and had the gyro body well supported.
In the future I am going to tie down the main wheels and let the nose wheel "float" may be with just a strap over the nose wheel to stop it from bouncing. Even put a shock absorber under the nose and the tail.

Somehow, we have to figure out a way to suspend the machine and secure it.
Something to absorb the bumps.

Has anybody thought of shockabsorbers for trailers?

John
 
How about just having minimal pressure in the tires for transporting?
Just a thought.
John
 
suspension

suspension

I trail mine with out blades attached , but I have heard a few tips
make sure your blades travel up and down with the head, so if your gyro has suspension and is tied down , make sure your blades are not firmly fixed to the trailer bed or you will introduce blade bending, so chock the gyro up along the keel if the blade rests are directly attached to the trailer bed.... or somehow support the blades from the gyro (like Ken wallis does.)
next support them 2/3 distance from the head, use the broarest straps you can get or expect a bent trailing edge and a shaking stick. Be prepared for stone chips. I see the advantage in travelling with blades attached as if you are investing a day in training you could lose an hour of training time getting the blades in pattern and torquing the bolts. when learning it can be hard to take time off work, arrange a CFI, a usable airfield, a working gyro, weather. so that training time is very precious and having invested hundreds of miles to get all these aspects to come together only to sit on the ground tightening bolts can be frustrating. I have never trailed with blades on but have considered it many times. having said that the time taken to attach the blades is a worth while break from the journey sometimes and gets you smoothly from the driving more to the flying mode.
 
That expanded metal tailgate KILLS you in MPG.... ditch it and use removeable ramps.

Also if you want to do your gyro a favor..... DITCH both axles and the springs and buy one 3500 pound TORSION axle and have that welded in place. Between the weight of the gyro and trailer itself, one 3500 lbs axle is still overkill. Torsion axles ride WAY smoother than leaf spring axles.

Dexter Torflex® Suspension Axles - YouTube
 
That expanded metal tailgate KILLS you in MPG.... ditch it and use removeable ramps.

Also if you want to do your gyro a favor..... DITCH both axles and the springs and buy one 3500 pound TORSION axle and have that welded in place. Between the weight of the gyro and trailer itself, one 3500 lbs axle is still overkill. Torsion axles ride WAY smoother than leaf spring axles.

Dexter Torflex® Suspension Axles - YouTube

Why not stay with 2 axles with the torsion axles? From my experience dual axle trailers ride a lot smoother than single axle trailers.
 
If you are using leaf springs, a dual axle rides smoother than a single axle. I can't explain why, in a useful way.... but if you look at a dual axle leaf spring trailer, MOST of them have a pivoting piece between the two axles that the back of the front leaf and the front of the back leaf attach to. Somehow this pivoting piece helps smooth out the ride compared to the leaf springs being attached separately as they are on a single axle.

With torsion axles, the axles are kept independant of each other. So any bump you hit, or pothole, etc.... the impact will hit the front axle ( which will jolt the trailer ) then a split second later hit the rear axle ( which to jolt it a second time )

The only reason to run more than one axle would be if you needed the extra axle to handle the extra weight.

A typical gyro is under 1000 pounds empty weight. Gyros like a MTO or Magni or my Dominator are under 600 pounds weight. You put that on a trailer designed to carry 5000-6000 pounds of load, and its like you have no weight at all on it.

To think of it another way.... if you have a pickup truck, doesn't it ride better/ smoother, with a load in the bed of the truck? Mine does.

For the gyro and trailer pictured, I am going to say the gyro is well under 1000 pounds. And the trailer itself is well under 2000 pounds. A single Dexter torsion axle of 3500 pounds would be ideal for it. Place it where the tires end up where the rear tires currently sit and some of the weight will be transfered to the tongue of the trailer, allowing the truck pulling it to absorb the impacts. Another advantage is he would only have two tires on the ground instead of four, this would give him a measurable MPG improvement. Also, when making turns, the tires just follow the truck, instead of bind up like they do on a tandem axle trailer, which in turn would more than double the life / milage of the tires.
 
The best trailer I’ve ever pulled light aircraft with was a (2) motorcycle single-axle trailer with coil springs and shocks. I currently have a torsion single-axle (2) Wave Runner aluminum trailer and it can’t compare with the one from several years ago. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to find another like it.
 
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