Rudder position with extended keel

Gyrob

Newbie
Joined
Oct 30, 2019
Messages
11
Location
Nebraska
I am building an RAF 2000 and am dropping and extending the keel. I am an inexperienced pilot with the RAF.
I have the keel extended 20" for the HS. I am curious if the vertical fin/rudder can also move back without risk of rotor blades striking it. And if so, any thoughts on how far.
Thank You
 
I am building an RAF 2000 and am dropping and extending the keel. I am an inexperienced pilot with the RAF.
I have the keel extended 20" for the HS. I am curious if the vertical fin/rudder can also move back without risk of rotor blades striking it. And if so, any thoughts on how far.
Thank You

I suggest you get in touch with people who have performed modifications on RAFs before you start on yours.

I suggest you learn to fly a gyroplane before you start modifying yours.

I have a client who moved his rudder back 20 inches and added a horizontal stabilizer and it would not balance properly on the mains making takeoffs challenging.

The rotor did not hit the vertical stabilizer or rudder.

Any modification you make affects many other things and it is not hard to make it worse.

I wish you the best of luck on your aviation adventure.

Perhaps Larry will see this and contact you.
 
I suggest you get in touch with people who have performed modifications on RAFs before you start on yours.

I suggest you learn to fly a gyroplane before you start modifying yours.

I have a client who moved his rudder back 20 inches and added a horizontal stabilizer and it would not balance properly on the mains making takeoffs challenging.

The rotor did not hit the vertical stabilizer or rudder.

Any modification you make affects many other things and it is not hard to make it worse.

I wish you the best of luck on your aviation adventure.

Perhaps Larry will see this and contact you.
Thanks Vance for your feedback. I have been working with Larry on these changes but his extensions have been much shorter and I just didn't want to miss anything regarding blade clearance under varying conditions. There is an axle relocation mod that goes along with these changes as well.
Thanks again.
 
Larry seems to know what he is doing. My advice is to do what he has found out works rather than imagine what might work.
 
Hi Rob, this is what you want to do. pivot gear back 6", drop keel mod, (drops engine 6" ) I originally had the keel extension like yourself with a Parham stab. CG was way off w/ my weight @190lbs and was still a very pitchy. Worked ok for the guy I bought it from but he's at least 280lbs. After I did this mod, completely eradicates the squirrely tendencies and makes this a much more stable machine and is a pleasure to fly. Larry Boyer has all the plans. Good luck, and safe flying! Any questons you can text me@ [email protected]. I have alot more pics.
 
Perfect. A picture is worth a thousand words. Very helpful to see another machine set up similar. I have spoke with Larry a number of times and have implemented his plans. He has had several Gyro's and actually recommended the 20" extension, but never had any of his own machines extended that far. My axle is remounted 6" further back as well. Yours appears to set very well in that location.
I have not done a hang test yet, but moving everything back that far and adding a 21 lb. HS will most likely require rotating the W&B bushing to the #1 or #2 hole. Do you happen to know which position yours ended up in?
I see you also have the main gear suspension and it looks like SportCoptor rotor head with pneumatic trim. Very NIce and I will be in touch.
 
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