Sport Copter Vortex M912 a good gyro for CC trips?

Rasool

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2016
Messages
114
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Aircraft
Magni M-22
Total Flight Time
220 fixed wing, 210 gyro
So, a question for those of you who own or have flown a Sport Copter Vortex M912. Is it a good gyro for cross country flights? At what speed do you usually cruise on a cc trip?
I know it probably does everything and much more than my 582 Dominator (which is a blast to fly around the patch). But I would also like to take the occasional run over to the NC coast for a day of flying along the beach. I live in central NC, 200 miles from the coast. Is this a suitable aircraft for that?
 
Does it have any room for baggage? Maybe some baggage option can be rigged to the gear?
 
He has actually rigged a couple of small storage areas on the floor on either side of his legs that will hold a sleeping bag and tent. Not a bad idea to be prepared to stop somewhere if the weather turns. But frankly I am more interested in taking long CC day trips. I am more interested in getting a little feedback on the comfort of long distance travel in the M912 as compared say, to an AR1, or any of the European ELA clones. I have found all of those I have flown in to be very comfortable at even 100 mph in the front seat. I flew a Magni M16 for 1.5 hours in very strong gusty winds recently, and enjoyed every minute of the flight.

Russ
 
The tandems would be better for long cross country trips. AR-1 is very fast, and great for cross country. M912 is single seat and totally different from the tandems. You should buy both. M912 for having fun and AR-1 for going places. The cruise speed on my M912 is 85mph, but prefer to fly at 75mph or slower. I mounted two small bags on the floor of the M912 for storage, I would prefer a whole spare seat to put camping gear in. Barry flies his modded AR-1 from CT to FL a bunch. The M912 is way more maneuverable and can do some off airport landings. I find the Bush planes are better for landing off airport with the bigger tires as difficult to land if there is side slope. I will try to land perpendicular up hill to runway if it has too much side slope, but have to careful not to miss the landing, and don’t look straight down... AR-1 nor M16 would be able to go into the same places as with M912.

200 miles isn’t much of a cross country so either would be fine. If staying on airports go tandem, otherwise go M912.

Dave
 
I've only flown the 582 version of the Vortex, but I believe the seat is the same, and it is the most comfortable and offers the best seating position of any single-place machine in which I've sat. The pod works surprisingly well for wind protection, as long as you keep the aircraft in trim and stay centered in the seat.

I haven't experienced how loud that machine is, but it could be a possible fatigue factor on a flight that long.

With a dependable four-stroke, a 200-mile, three-hour cross-country flight (with one stop for fuel) should be do-able, although I'm not sure I'd want to turn around and fly back the same day!
 
Thanks for the feed back on the seat and pod comfort. I have a Flycom helmet, so noise fatigue should not be an issue. I used to ride my mortocycles all day in the Blue Ridge mountains. Leave early in the morning, stop for lunch, and ride all afternoon on the Parkway, returning at dusk. I did this routinely with both my cruiser and my sport bike and enjoyed every minute. Of, course, that was 8 years ago or so. Guess I will find out how much flying I enjoy doing in one day.

Russ
 
200 miles is a short single leg in an AR-1 in a couple of hours with 200+ pounds in the back seat.
I don't know about the whole off airport thing. Why would you go landing a $50k+ aircraft off airport unless its a specific bush plane with huge tires (which btw suck on regular airports and do not work on tarmac) is beyond me. Going to grass strips is different. Good luck with your search.
 
Hi Abid, you are absolutely right in saying 200 miles is a short CC for the AR1, or really any of the euro style tandems. But for my flying, 200 miles will be near the upper limit of most of the CC I will be flying. I do not plan to make overnight trips, so I have no need to carry 200 lbs. of anything in the back seat, however far I am flying. My home airfield, and most of the airfields I will be flying to, do have grass strips that run alongside one of the runways, frequently used by cubs. Finally, my brief experience with gyros has shown me that there is a unique type of highly maneuverable “fun flying” that can be enjoyed in a well designed single aircraft. Don’t get me wrong, an open cockpit tandem gyro is still a helluva lot of fun to fly, and I have flown quite a few in the last two months, including your AR1. But they cannot do the same things a well designed single place can do, even a very basic machine like my 582 Dominator. (You May recall my asking you if you would ever design and build a single place.)

A sedan is a very comfortable and efficient auto for long trips. But a sports car is a helluva lot more fun to drive. I wish I could afford to keep both in my hangar. I am hoping the M912 will be the ultimate fun flyer, while still allowing me to make the occasional short CC trip. It’s all about the kind of gyro flying you most enjoy. No single aircraft can do it all and do it well.
 
Yes sorry. The single seater market is simply too small to spend the R&D and tooling money to make it. May be a 103 single seater in the future but not something that you are talking about.
 
Top