Transition to Single Seat Gyro

[Sv.grainne]

Here is the transition document that I got from Leigh.

https://pra.org/Misc/Conversiontwoseattosingle.pdf

 

[AviomaniaTexas]

This one is pretty good too: https://aviomaniatexas.com/solo-sign-off-training

 

[Eric S]

This manual from Dr. Bensen worked for me, along with some advice from gyro pilots who also owned and flew singles. Way more fun and a very different flying experience than all the heavy-stick 2-seaters.

Eric

 

[GyroChuck]

All the above mention to practice "Crow Hops". I firmly believe in not doing crow hops. I know of to many people who tried learning this way and ended up damaging their gyros. Mostly by immediately reducing power, coming down at an angle and tipping over. Peoples nervousness at this point is rather high.

I endorse flying the runway at 2-3 feet to get more used to how the gyro flys. And making sure the gyro is pointed straight down the runway before slowly reducing power to land at the 3/4 point of the runway. Plus gives a person a little more time to calm down and think about the landing.

I never taught take off and landings first. I would teach all the air work and maneuvers first. That way if a new student "accidentally" got into the air they would not panic and still be able to fly the gyro around the pattern and land.

Yes, I also know people who learned doing crow hops. But like adding a horizontal stabilizer. Flying the runway adds more safety.

 

[Sv.grainne]

I learned to fly in a 2 seat and then transitioned to my single place. Balancing was very helpful and the first time I ballooned up, I flew the Gyro back to the runway centerline and landed, next time I was up in the pattern!

 

[Sv.grainne]

I also used the Bensen transition document Eric gave me and one I got from Tom.

 

[Doug Riley]

Back when I was instructing, my student's transition to his/her single-place gyro kept me up at night. A single-place gyro simply reacts so fast, compared to a lumbering 2-place, that it would be easy for a trainee to get behind the aircraft.

I learned the old Bensen way, by gyrogliding. I didn't keep count, but I probably put in over 50 flight hours on the glider (I even "gyro-glid" at Oshkosh '72). But I also spent at least that much time taxiing under power -- first without the rotor, then with it.

Yes, it's possible for a newbie to land in a crab and tip over. I think that the following things helped me avoid this unhappy experience, or worse:

(1) I was blessed with a runway that lined up with the local prevailing winds. IOW, I didn't have to deal much with cross-winds. It's critical to stay OUT of cross-winds as a beginner!

(2) In my taxi-with-power practice, I consciously steered with the rudder pedals (first with the nosewheel down and later with it off, in the "balanced" position). I got the feel of rolling in more pedal when increasing power -- of coordinating pedal with throttle.

(3) I did endless crow hops, and then runway flights, including pretty sassy S-turns. As I got better, these flights also included initiating a brief full-power climb before throttling back and hastily landing at the very end of the 3000-foot runway. Call this my "chicken out" practice phase.

(4) I made sure that I could handle the gyro, without wobbling, in a full-power level runway fight, where airspeed kept building as I moved the stick forward.* (At the time, porpoising at higher airspeed was quite the killer in our no-HS gyros. I was scared to death of that possibility.)

(5) My previous gyrogliding experience meant that the stick feel was entirely familiar -- basically that part was a nothing-burger.

If I were still instructing, I'd encourage transitioning students to do all these exercises, except gyrogliding. The stick feel I got from gliding can be learned in powered dual training.
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* Actually, I moved the stick BACK as speed increased, because I used an overhead stick. But of course it's stick-forward with a joystick.