UK relevant up to date Gyro book?

sargan

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I saw on a couple of UK web sites references to the book:
An Introduction to Ultralight Gyroplanes by Dave Organ.

The way the description were, I thought this was an up to date book covering what is relevant for the UK, what can be built, bought & flown.

I was somewhat disappointed to find it is in fact more than 12 yr old ... and much has changed in terms of legislation, companies actually still trading ... and machines that can be flown.

The boo itself is a great retrospective into Gyro theory & history ... but not what I was after.

Can anybody advise if there is an up to date book covering the UK ? ... maybe even a later book by same author.
 
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The problem with trying to use a book for this sort of information is that it is out of date even before the author has finished writing it.

To find out what is happening trawl the internet, ask questions on forums such as this one, join the British Rotorcraft Association, and talk to people (instructors aren't a bad place to start).

Events such as the Popham Microlight Fair and The Flying Show are all good places to go to get information.
 
I have a list of a few basic questions ... I'll ping them to the forum see if I can get 'underway' that way.

I did try as you say "trawling the internet" .. I thought I had found a good source when I came across "The Gyrocopter Experience" .... however it's list of manufacturers & sites are very much out of date.
For example it extols virtue of the AV18 Cricket as being purpose deigned to meet "the stringent BCAR Sec T requirements" ... the link it gives for this ... www.gyrokits.com is a blank web site.
Then it gives details of Merlin Benson and the link to Layzell Gyroplanes Ltd.
However that site I think is just an old site sitting there, email form does not work, phone numbers don't work and even direct email to Gary Layzell gets no response.

So Internet sources don't have much help so far ... hence bought the book.

I have been pinging mail to some people on this forum, and all have been helpful, but it is still unclear if self build in UK is possible (other than RAF2000 which is not a type I am after)
 
Hi Rick, Gary Layzelle the man who made the Rotordyne/Layzelle rotors, the AV-18 and Merlin recently left the UK and went to France as a result of impending legislation that he felt was going to threaten his business here in the UK.

The possible removal of single seat training he thought was ill thought out and the decline in single seat flying meant he was finding it hard to make ends meet.

There has been a movement to try to preserve what some feel is the grass roots of the gyro movement here in the UK. That gyro flying here is still continuing is encouraging, however it has evolved. Factory builds now have taken over and a new section of the aviation market is emerging.

There has been a dramatic decline in single seat factory or kit builds, at the last BRA meeting at Popham which I attended recently the numbers quoted were under 20 single seaters registered for permit renewal this year.

What was encouraging was that the logo of the BRA, a single seat gyro, was overwhelmingly voted to be retained, after a motion had been made to change it to a two seater. That at least a couple of Instructors have now expressed and interest in doing single seat Instruction, and that in my discussion with Phil Harwood the BRA committee member responsible for training and safety, ongoing discussions with the new CAA representative for Gyros in the UK are finalising the requirements for the retained ability to complete a PPL (Gyro) on a single seat machine.

Dave Organ flew into Popham Microlight Air show in his Cricket and was the only single seat gyro there amongst a stack of two seat factory builds.

Self build in the UK is still possible. I hope that Viv has given you some guidance.
 
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Thanks .. the help from some of you so far has been great ... however it is still unclear what exactly you are allowed to build ....
It seems the focus in UK is to get everyone to train on & buy twin seat MTO Sport.

Which means that the expectation is of the high cost start up ... which is almost an anathema to the concept of Gyro, and when all the great work done by Ken Wallis ... was carried out very much in a home workshop.

This spirit of inventiveness & original thought will I assume be closed down, if the only way forward is by a very limited range of approved kits.
Which at the moment seem to be RAF200 only.

I'll follow the suggestion of contacting the LAA
 
Interesting to come across this old thread From 2014.

At the present time there are 2, single seat gyro kits that are attempting to go through the LAA process and Section T in an effort to become approved Kits. Mike Concannon in Ireland with the Layzelle AV18 which was a Peter Lovegrove creation, and the Aviomania Genesis by Nicolas Karolides in Cyprus. Both appear to be stalled due to various reasons.

There does appear to be a slight increase in interest in single seat gyros in the UK, and at least five, two seat qualified gyro pilots have bought and converted to single seat operators in the last year, and a couple of others have expressed an interest. Sadly a number of single seat pilots have now sold/are selling their machines, or have stopped flying them.

I recently visited the LAA headquarters at Turweston and have spoken to both Francis Donaldson the Chief Engineer and Steven Slater the CEO. Both of them stated that they would welcome any new single seat kit that met the required standards.

It is not a process to be entered lightly, will be expensive, lengthy, and require a lot of co-operation from the manufacture, probably the patience of Job, and other as yet unanticipated tribulations, but I do believe that there is one company in the USA who is prepared to attempt this.

Who knows, perhaps in 2020 we may find new single seat gyro kits available to build in the UK.
 
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...would welcome any new single seat kit that met the required standards.

It is not a process to be entered lightly, will be expensive, lengthy, and require a lot of co-operation from the manufacture, probably the patience of Job, and other as yet unanticipated tribulations, but I do believe that there is one company in the USA who is prepared to attempt this...

Leigh: Is that manufacturer Denis S. by any chance?
 
:) I do believe that it may well be Denis.

The Stanism of ‘...in two weeks...’ may however have matured to a rather lengthier period in the interim.

It should prove an interesting exercise.
 
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Hi everyone,checked on amazon (not available).
Well worth looking out for,maybe available from author,Gyropaedia supremo,mr Harwood
 
Good for you, Dave.

But it was in response to the original poster...;)

And he may be after something entirely different.

Cheers
Erik
 
Ok Erik ,if you get your hands on the new book,please keep us imformef of its contents.
 
Dave, sorry about that - the original poster is probably long gone and doing something else...
 
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