As objective as possible ....
As objective as possible ....
Greeting all,
Can we get objective first opinion from experience pilots and instructors about the Titanium?
Quality of materials and assembly? how it flies?
I am MTO sport pilot and the comprasion between the gyro's is interesting.
Thanks! Neri
....bearing in mind that we are the ( slightly biased
) first US owners of a Titanium Explorer & part of the TAGNA LLC - importers/distributers for the Australian parent company!
Materials quality ..... excellent. Aircraft grade titanium frame with welding that was admired by several welders who looked closely at the recent PRA convention! the only Aluminum ( Aircraft grade) used is in the main gear & suspension block. A& N hardware fasteners.
Strong structural carbon composite body,seats,tail. Nice paint finish.
Rotor - All new design from TAG aviation ... pre-preg (hightemp)carbon composite rotor with a Tervamaki - style hub-bar(titanium) ..... the rotors/hubbar/tower & ring gear are matched units - balanced together !
Nice powerful CF Bolly prop. (Well known in OZ & has impressed here in US - so far!)
Nice redundancy built in .... the tail -keel tube has an inner multidirectional layered CF lining.
The pneumatic Pre-rotator system is backed up by a manual lever/cable activation of the pre-rotater ... in the event of an airline/compressor failure in a remote area!
Tremendous front wheel suspension - bump absorbing system that soaks up those rough field take-offs / taxi!
The front wheel has a trail angle that minimizes side-dart on sloppy landings when the nose wheel contacts with forward motion.
The nosewheel is linked to rudder & ground steering ... but acts like semi-castering!
The extra pedal throw in taxi mode allows for very tight ground turns.
Pre-rotation will go to 300 Rrpm ... for short/ soft field max TO's
The body & seats are wide deep & roomy .... one of my large passengers last week commented how roomy it was in the rear seat. some said the rear position was not as windy as in other similar tandem types.
The exciting feature for cross-country fliers are the two long cargo compartments - with two access hatches each side. This keeps baggage out of the passenger area & no chance to foul the controls!
A fitted waterproof full body & engine cover and rotor tie-down sock come with the gyro - no extra charge!
The mast height & angle are ASRA compliant ... the rotor cannot in normal motion strike the tail or prop.
It flies much like the MTO ... light responsive stick ... quick & sporty! The rudder is more sensitive & took me a few flights to attune to! Most CFI's who flew it said it was like a Calidus in it's power on - off yaw characteristic.
the pedals are quickly adjustable for pilots of different leg length.
The little door for the front seat access got lots of positive comments!
An option we chose was rearseat instrumentation - CFI package! Both front & rear control stick have full radio & pre-rotate / trim controls.
A roomy lockable "glovebox" storage compartment is standard if you do not have rear instrumentation!
Another option available ....(actually necessary to fit the second US imported TE gyro in the small shipping container) ... is a foldable mast .... for storage/transport in low buildings / trailers!
The general finish & detail of the workmanship has impressed all who have seen our gyro @ ROTR & Mentone rotorcraft events!
I'll add extra info - as I think of it & pics - from the computer!
Hope this is helpful!