New to Gyroplanes

Rich

Newbie
Joined
Oct 30, 2008
Messages
10
Location
Norwood
I am a long-time pilot, but new to Gyroplanes. Took my first Gyroplane ride on Monday in a Sparrow Hawk. It was great but short-lived when the drive belt on the Subaru engine disintegrated and we made an emergency landing. It was a testimonial to the pilot's skill and the agility of the Gyroplane.
I would like to build a gyroplane and have looked at the LittleWing and Sportster. I recently saw the video of Chuck Beaty's gyro and liked the simplicity of the design. Is there any further information about this gyro and can it be adopted to side by side seating? Has anyone had any experience with the Sportster?
Appreciate your feedback.
Rich
 
Rich,
Welcome to the forum, You will find a wealth of knowledge here as well as people who will freely help you and way they can.
Chuck Beaty frequents this forum often so I am sure he will answer all your questions in person about his machine.
The only Sportster I know of is made by Harley Davidson, Do you mean Sport Copter?
 
I am a long-time pilot, but new to Gyroplanes. Took my first Gyroplane ride on Monday in a Sparrow Hawk. It was great but short-lived when the drive belt on the Subaru engine disintegrated and we made an emergency landing. It was a testimonial to the pilot's skill and the agility of the Gyroplane.

Rich,

Seeing as how I fly a SH, I'd like to find out some details on the drive belt failure. Whose SH did you fly in?

Marc
 
Gyro info

Gyro info

Rich,
Welcome to the forum which is abundant w/ info. You might want to check out the Popular Rotorcraft Association (www.pra.org) which has a list of gyro manufacturers. I'm glad the emergency landing was successful.....that's certainly a testament to the PIC. In hindsight it was also a very valuable lesson. I think gyros are a very safe aircraft, though Murphy's Law does not discriminate. You'll find research to be very interesting and fun. Learning to fly one is NOT like anything else.
 
Rich, I think Larry Goodhind might be working on a kit version of Chuck's gyro.
At least it looks that way... :lol:
 

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I flew with Air Gyro in Spanish Fork, UT. Their number is 801-794-3434. I called them and told them you would be interested in sharing information that could help both of you.
 
Where your from?

Where your from?

I flew with Air Gyro in Spanish Fork, UT. Their number is 801-794-3434. I called them and told them you would be interested in sharing information that could help both of you.

Rich,

Where are you from? If you live within a couple hundred miles of AirGyro, you should consider joining the Utah Rotorcraft Association (PRA Chapter 2) We normally meet at the Airgyro hangar once a month and would love to have you join us. If you go to the forums and down to PRA Chapter 2 you will see a thread that has details for our next meeting. (coming this Sat. at 10 AM) Would love to meet you if you can make it. Best of luck with your dream of Rotary Winged Flight.

Gyro Doug
 
Somebody wasnt doing their homework- Ive been flying an RFI Redrive for over12 years and have yet to have any belt problems.I put over 500 hrs on the first belt and it had been used for years before I got it. I only changed it because I felt that after ten years it deserved to be retired. The only thing that will trash a belt is mis-alignment or incorrect tension. This isnt rocket science both of these are EASY to set and should NEVER be a problem . If they are problematic I would question the design of the Redrive or the Ability of the person making the adjustments. In Industry these belts last for THOUSANDS of hours under horrific conditions-
 
Doug,
I live in Norwood, Colorado, which is about a 5.5 hour drive from Spanish Fork. Do you have meetings once a month?
Thanks,
Rich
 
Nice welcome Mad Man.
 
Mad Man Mike,
Well, sometimes timing is everything and it was time for that belt to fly on my ride. I hope the owner of the gyro finds the problem.
Rich
 
Rich glad you got down safe and that you are still interested. In that respect the ride had to be a positive experience. You are going to fit in just fine.
 
Somebody wasnt doing their homework- Ive been flying an RFI Redrive for over12 years and have yet to have any belt problems.I put over 500 hrs on the first belt and it had been used for years before I got it. I only changed it because I felt that after ten years it deserved to be retired. The only thing that will trash a belt is mis-alignment or incorrect tension. This isnt rocket science both of these are EASY to set and should NEVER be a problem . If they are problematic I would question the design of the Redrive or the Ability of the person making the adjustments. In Industry these belts last for THOUSANDS of hours under horrific conditions-

We at Air Gyro take good care of our bird. We have never had a belt problem until this flight. Our gyro has over 1000 hours of flight time. I personally inspected the belt and drive system of the aircraft prior to this flight and saw no wear or alignment problem. I can not tell you what caused the problem. I can tell you that we replaced the reduction gear and the belt due to the failure. I would appreciate informed critique as apposed to reckless speculation and finger pointing.

Michael Burton
 
Point made

Point made

Ok I get it.
 
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