Semi new guy with KB3 ...here lets talk !

['cycleflyer]

Hi all ya gear heads and rotor craft flyers.Anyone following Barnstormers may have seen an ad for some machines in Missouri for sale this past month ( July '22) .well I took the plunge and bought the KB3 with the Rotax 582 and Benson blades ( mfg date 1983 ).This gyro has been used around the So. Mo. area for past 30 years and I'm now the 3d owner. Anyone at Mentone this past week will remember me , I hauled it from So. Mo. behind my motorcycle ( ?? ! ).
Ok e'nuff of the intro. Coming back home to Upstate South Carolina I got caught in a rain down pour . My blades got a good soaking. They have been drying out for the past 2 days .I'm wondering if there could be damage to the blades .They are skinned in thin aluminum with rivets.
I have never flown solo , took 2 hrs of lessons years ago . I have signed up to have Steve McGowan teach me .... more dumb questions to follow .

 

[GyrOZprey]

SO glad to see you here ...cycle-flyer! Your presence & unique gyro-hauler were quite the novelty & appreciated your efforts to attend Mentone! You are in the very BEST hands to learn from a legend ..with Steve M! One of the last few old-school who can train well & properly to keep you safe in your legacy-class gyro!
Best of everything in your flying ventures!

 

['cycleflyer]

Thanks for the encouragement . I hope to train during march between Bike Week and Benson days .

 

[MikeBoyette]

Once again not to be a knit pick but Bensen is spelled with an E not an O.

 

[WaspAir]

Once again not to be a knit pick but Bensen is spelled with an E not an O.

Not to be a Bensen-pick, but it's "nit"pick, with no K (that's for yarn and needles).

Okay - who wants to do the next round?

 

[MikeBoyette]

Figured I would misspell something while correcting you as a little joke.

 

[MikeBoyette]

BTW a HS is a must. If you can find a Ron Herron tail it would be the perfect thing for your KB3

 

[Brian Jackson]

BTW a HS is a must. If you can find a Ron Herron tail it would be the perfect think for your KB3

I see what you did there, Mike. Nice.

 

[MikeBoyette]

I see what you did there, Mike. Nice.

No that was a typo not intentional at all. I could never be that funny or ironic on purpose.

 

['cycleflyer]

Do you guys know of any plans i could purchase to build a tail ?

 

[jany77]

I have plans for Ron Herron T-tail

 

['cycleflyer]

I have plans for Ron Herron T-tail

OK so whats price ?

 

['cycleflyer]

I have plans for Ron Herron T-tail

Ok what are you asking for the plans and what does the tail look like ?

 

[jany77]

Here are more details what it looks like

https://littlewingautogyro.com/tail.html

I would like to trade it for something instead of selling

 

[samouced]

My KB3 is set up with a mid-rudder "T", I wonder what the different characteristic are. You can see there is also a horizontal stabilizer...highly recommended to keep the PPO's away.

 

[Vance]

My KB3 is set up with a mid-rudder "T", I wonder what the different characteristic are. You can see there is also a horizontal stabilizer...highly recommended to keep the PPO's away.

I suspect what you are describing as a horizontal stabilizer is the rock guard.

In order for a horizontal stabilizer to be effective it needs sufficient volume (area times the distance from the twenty five percent chord line to the center of gravity.)

In my opinion the propeller rock guard on a KB3 is neither large enough or far enough from the center of gravity to create much pitch dampening.

Your horizontal stabilizer that is part of the empennage does appear to be large enough and far enough back to add some stability.

That is a very nice looking empennage on your KB3.

 

[samouced]

Here is another angle.

 

[okikuma]

BTW a HS is a must. If you can find a Ron Herron tail it would be the perfect thing for your KB3

Here's some examples of KB3s with a Herron T-Tail and Dominator style tall tail.

Wayne

 

[MikeBoyette]

Charlie Presnell owned serial number 001KB3. It was terribly unstable and almost killed Charlie. The cure was a tall tail with a HS. Three changes made it a nice machine. Hughes blades,(eventually replaced by Dragon Wings) Tall Tail, and putting a soft coupling mechanism on the nose gear.

He sold the machine a few years before he died. The machine ended up on that tv show with Gyro Jake where he was challenged to make an airboat out of. I was upset. I called Jake and asked if he knew it was serial number 1? I said it should have been put in a museum not turned into a pile of junk. Jake was cool and apologized so he had no idea the significance of that machine if he had he would’ve never done it. He did offer me the data plate off of it I declined.

 

[dabkb2]

The red and white is mine, thank you for posting Wayne, it is very stable. I push hard with it and it just rights itself. Almost to easy.