must be the weather in the Southern Hemisphere. Another crash, this time in Whangarei. Fortunately no injuries.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776316
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776316
New Zealand crash...
- Thread starter Bill Clem
- Start date
PW_Plack
Active Member
Note - The gyro shown in the photo, an RAF with no stab, was apparently NOT the accident aircraft.
(Just thought I'd save everyone a lot of excess stomach acid.)
It's nice to see a witness knowledgeable enough to know the difference between a pilot who just blew a landing, and wild generalizations about gyros in general.
(Just thought I'd save everyone a lot of excess stomach acid.)
It's nice to see a witness knowledgeable enough to know the difference between a pilot who just blew a landing, and wild generalizations about gyros in general.
pancho
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I don't know why they don't usually make gyros with a wider gear. I know that most folks "don't need it" but that is always the case until you do.
I prefer a Luscombe over a Champ. But I don't have 40 pounds of spinning rotor over my head threatening to tear the machine to bits in case of a strike.
That is half the reason I'm doing the Gyro Bee instead of something else. Drag a wing on a fixed wing,=minor repair. Same mistake on sling wing= aircraft destroyed, FAA involved, NTSB, and so on. And all that should have been necessary to prevent the mishap is a wider gear. Furthermore most gyroplane accidents involve rotor strike. Exaggerating things further, due to thrust line issues, our gyros now are way more top heavy than the old Bensens making it even easier to tip em over. Just my thoughts.
I prefer a Luscombe over a Champ. But I don't have 40 pounds of spinning rotor over my head threatening to tear the machine to bits in case of a strike.
That is half the reason I'm doing the Gyro Bee instead of something else. Drag a wing on a fixed wing,=minor repair. Same mistake on sling wing= aircraft destroyed, FAA involved, NTSB, and so on. And all that should have been necessary to prevent the mishap is a wider gear. Furthermore most gyroplane accidents involve rotor strike. Exaggerating things further, due to thrust line issues, our gyros now are way more top heavy than the old Bensens making it even easier to tip em over. Just my thoughts.
Airways Ed
Newbie
Rusty's RAF had the stab mod.
Alan_Cheatham
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pancho
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That was precisely one of the four things that I really disliked about the Sparrowhawk.
I copied a short version of the Dominator nosewheel onto my Bee without the shock absorption. I have main gear from a buckeye parachute on it, but it may not make weight, so I'll likely revert to the original Honeybee plastic bicycle wheels and install bicycle disk brakes onto it. Rigged pretty much like the dominator setup but done with disk brakes. I'd never be able to steer it though without those wide gear legs.
I really don't care much for the Sparrowhawk because the gear isn't wide enough to suit me, the GG is to high for the gear, extremely stiff rudder, and direct nosewheel steering. While it is probably one of the safest gyros in the air. I really dislike it's ground handling characteristics. I'm still gonna get mike to finish checking me out in it though.
He is a really good instructor.
I copied a short version of the Dominator nosewheel onto my Bee without the shock absorption. I have main gear from a buckeye parachute on it, but it may not make weight, so I'll likely revert to the original Honeybee plastic bicycle wheels and install bicycle disk brakes onto it. Rigged pretty much like the dominator setup but done with disk brakes. I'd never be able to steer it though without those wide gear legs.
I really don't care much for the Sparrowhawk because the gear isn't wide enough to suit me, the GG is to high for the gear, extremely stiff rudder, and direct nosewheel steering. While it is probably one of the safest gyros in the air. I really dislike it's ground handling characteristics. I'm still gonna get mike to finish checking me out in it though.
He is a really good instructor.
vickijohnk
Newbie
CB, The stock brakes are not good enough for dif/brake steering (raf/SH). John K.
GyroDoug
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On the Butterfly line of Gyroplanes you have a couple different choices for width on the landing gear. For my Super Sky Cycle I chose to go with the wider option (7 ft wide) because I wanted to have as much stability on the ground as possible. (especially since it is designed to drive around on the ground in motorcycle mode) However, by the time I add the wheel pants option it is just a couple inches short of being 8 ft wide which means it is too wide to fit inside an enclosed trailer unless I remove the wheelpants to load it in the trailer. So I decided to simply haul it on a flat bed, open trailer that is 8 feet wide and it just fits. But that does limit my options. Every design choice we make effects several other issues and everything is a compormise to get as close as we can to what we ideally want.
pancho
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What about the nosewheel? Is it connected to the rudder? Or simply to the handlebars?
EI-GYRO
21st Century Crankhandler
If you haven't had a good laugh in 2012 yet, please read;
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/193086/pilot-speaks-crash-scare
Happy New Year.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/193086/pilot-speaks-crash-scare
Happy New Year.
pancho
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Wow, :violin: I think possibly he needs to resort to lawn mowers, or oops shouldn't have said that.
GyroDoug
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On the Super Sky Cycle the nose wheel is controled by the handlebars. There is a wheel pant for the nose wheel that will keep it aligned with the relative wind in flight, but when landing you simply put one hand on the handlebars and set it exactly where you want it. It is very obvious to see exactly where it is pointed at any given time. There may also be some soft springs that tend to keep it centered when not being commanded to turn, but I haven't gotten it to that point with mine yet, so I don't remember for sure.
Those mad chooks will get you every time...
My mad chook dropped from the air sunday, worst landing I've ever had. Damn those chook gods. True story btw
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Kind of Relaxing.
Kind of Relaxing.
It’s funny, I find flying The Predator kind of relaxing.
I find more challenge in managing navigation, communication and air space.
It seems like I can make big mistakes without consequences.
I find gyroplanes very forgiving of my blunders.
Thank you, Vance
Kind of Relaxing.
It’s funny, I find flying The Predator kind of relaxing.
I find more challenge in managing navigation, communication and air space.
It seems like I can make big mistakes without consequences.
I find gyroplanes very forgiving of my blunders.
Thank you, Vance
Monarchist
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Jeff...your ship ok?
willisbr
Active Member
This is Rusty Russel from the forum, I believe. Sorry to read this. He was quite active on here recently. I hope to hear his account if he jumps back on soon. Hope you are OK Rusty!
EI-GYRO
21st Century Crankhandler
Are RAFs really that hard to fly??
I ask the question seriously, as my Bensen is pretty carefree to fly, and the
ELA not much different, similarly the Twinstarr.
I wouldn't wish to insult the man, but I was astonished at his perception
of gyro-flying.
I have flown in the RAF, but as a passenger only. It didn't SEEM particularly
squirrelly.
This is NOT an attempt to start a RAF-bash. I would, however, be curious to
know if there is a substantial difference.
Either way, if the guy feels that way, his decision to revert to FW is a wise one, IMHO.
I ask the question seriously, as my Bensen is pretty carefree to fly, and the
ELA not much different, similarly the Twinstarr.
I wouldn't wish to insult the man, but I was astonished at his perception
of gyro-flying.
I have flown in the RAF, but as a passenger only. It didn't SEEM particularly
squirrelly.
This is NOT an attempt to start a RAF-bash. I would, however, be curious to
know if there is a substantial difference.
Either way, if the guy feels that way, his decision to revert to FW is a wise one, IMHO.
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Low pilot workload
Low pilot workload
Hello Fergus,
I have flown three RAFs without a horizontal stabilizer and I found their rocking motion disquieting.
In my limited experience nothing bad happened if I didn’t try to counter that motion. I did fly with my hand on the throttle but this may just be my low fear threshold.
The RAF I flew with a stabilator still had the motion but it manifested itself in a more subdued fashion and helped to instruct me in the control of the aircraft, imparting a more progressive feel to the cyclic.
I have flown an RAF with a horizontal stabilizer like the one in the accident and I felt it dramatically reduced the pitch oscillations but only helped slightly with pitch excursions in rough air at high power settings.
I have flown several Groen Brothers modified RAFs and they pitched nose up with the application of power, the opposite of the unmodified RAFs I flew.
I found the modified RAFs more relaxing in rough air than the RAF with a stabilizer and both less sensitive than the stock RAF. The Stabilator decreased my trepidation.
The modified RAFs felt more pitch stable in flight to me than the stock RAFs and similar to the RAF with the horizontal stabilizer, particularly at higher power settings.
I found all of these RAFs to provide what I felt was a low pilot work load.
Thank you, Vance
Low pilot workload
Hello Fergus,
I have flown three RAFs without a horizontal stabilizer and I found their rocking motion disquieting.
In my limited experience nothing bad happened if I didn’t try to counter that motion. I did fly with my hand on the throttle but this may just be my low fear threshold.
The RAF I flew with a stabilator still had the motion but it manifested itself in a more subdued fashion and helped to instruct me in the control of the aircraft, imparting a more progressive feel to the cyclic.
I have flown an RAF with a horizontal stabilizer like the one in the accident and I felt it dramatically reduced the pitch oscillations but only helped slightly with pitch excursions in rough air at high power settings.
I have flown several Groen Brothers modified RAFs and they pitched nose up with the application of power, the opposite of the unmodified RAFs I flew.
I found the modified RAFs more relaxing in rough air than the RAF with a stabilizer and both less sensitive than the stock RAF. The Stabilator decreased my trepidation.
The modified RAFs felt more pitch stable in flight to me than the stock RAFs and similar to the RAF with the horizontal stabilizer, particularly at higher power settings.
I found all of these RAFs to provide what I felt was a low pilot work load.
Thank you, Vance
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