Safety of Gyro's

[Captain Gyro]

I agree. Best to avoid the topic. For some reason, whenever questions are asked by someone regarding "which is the best gyro", the thread degenerates into a lot of subjectivity, and lots of emotion from the owners. All I will say it that I'm a MT-03 driver, and am very happy with my machine.

[Obie Gunobie]

Hi guys.
Sorry, in no way did I mean to hijack this thread. As the driver of conventional aeries I'm completely ignorant about gyros, but am very interested in their capabilities (and operating cost!), so please consisdered this thread un-hijacked! Will still be following it though, as I see the potential of these fascanating machines, and also believe (as with all a/c) that the greatest component onboard to increase or reduce safety is the fleshy bit behind the controls.

[gielo]

Hi guys,yes ,potential can of worms,especially when the gyro salesmen also get involved.As a ex ela pilot I fully endorse what Ldel and FO Gyro says about causes of accidents. At all times i felt safer in my gyro than currently in my Jabi, but the current spate of accidents also has me worried.I have flown with a few current gyro instructors and think highly of their competancy,so why then.... The only explination i can think of is [and speaking for myself only!] that one become 'spoiled' with the high safety margin and then one become complacent and make foolish decisions,like taxying with too high a rotor speed, not taking wind speed and direction in consideration whilst on the ground or what i once did....: i was taking off from Plett early one morning with a heavy pax and full tank.The taxiway took me to the centre of the runway so instead of backtracking i decided it is more than enough to get airbourne from there.Done it plenty of times with shorter runway before.... so i took off. The plane refused to climb and the end of the runway came closer.I was about 30 m high very close to the end ,when i decided to land again,which saved my butt [and my plane].I was flying behind the power curve,and if it wasnt for the excellent instructor i had that prepared me for a crises like that ,i would have been another statistic.Not long ago a famous personality who has propably more than 1000 hrs on his third gyro of the same type did the same after take off and wrote the plane off.And thinking back,if im not mistaken the first gyro fatality in the country was a comm pilot.In the end all i can say is dont rely on the inherent safety of your machine,it will bite you hard and very suddenly if you dont rigorously stick to the rules at all times.

[Rotor Mad]

Don't you guy's think that 25 hours to get a license might be part of the safety problem?

After only 25 hours one can maybe fly the gyro but you might still lack valuable experience.

I think after 40 hours the pilot will be much better prepared.

[Vertical Tango]

25 Hours is definitely not enough for someone with no flying experience. It is not easier than any light aircraft. However coming from a fixed wing PPL should be a simple conversion with great emphasis on the DIFFERENCES in procedures. I did mine in 3.5 hours, but to adhere to the law at the time, completed to 15 hours solo to understand better the machine. Coming from a Heli PPL might require more time as the pilot would not have any experience in rolling take-off and landings. I still believe in good training but not exposing the student with harsh exercises. He can learn that with time and by himself. The licence is a licence to LEARN.

[THI]

The licence is a licence to LEARN.

Someone said that he started to learn to fly once he had his license....

[chrispie]

what went wrong with that gyro at Mabilingwe, killing the pilot and pax?

[Captain Gyro]

CAA accident report not out yet.

[cozy35]

Fellow "gyrators".

It seems the gyro bug has slowly started biting me. Since I have built and fly a Cozy I need to start keeping myself busy with some form of mischief again. I am pondering the gyro area.

I would like to know what design criteria one needs to adhere to in SA for various categories, if any. What to do to get a build number and how one would go about a self design by proving the structural and aerodynamic integrity. I suppose it is a whole different ball game than an aircraft.

Your input is appreciated.

[weedy]

Hi,

The link below has useful info that you could use as a guide, but it is Australian standards.

http://www.asra.org.au/technica.htm

A lot less painful option is to get plans or a kit from the USA but its going to be a long battle with CAA.

Enjoy
Claude

[lion]

Generally there is a lack of knowledge about gyro's out there, and the following is an article I published a few years ago, and it deals with my perspective of the safety of gyro's, as I see it, as someone flying the "heavy metal" as well. Hope that anyone considering gyro's will find it interesting.

I have been flying for about 18 years now. Started off doing my PPL & Commercial Licence in 1991 and then started flying light twins shortly thereafter. ........

A gyroplane rating is a licence in it's own right. I had to complete a full licence even though I have an ATP licence. i.e. it's not just a conversion. Prior to Part 61, the requirement was 25 hours for the licence.

Hi Glen,

Just so you know, after reading your original article more than 10 years ago I got into gyro flying and have never looked back! On my fourth gyro now with well over 2000 gyro hours.

Having flown microlights, helicopters fixed wings for around 1000 hours, I still enjoy the gyro as the best and safest experience.

Cheers,

L.

[Captain Gyro]

Thanks for getting back to me on that article and on your subsequent progress. I wrote it late at night one evening after feeling somewhat frustrated by the lack of knowledge and the general false notion that gyro's are dangerous, which is evident when you see the type of statements people not in the know make.

You've done a whack of gyro hours in the meantime! After flying gyro's for around 13 yrs, I've taken a break for now, selling my gyro last year, and buying a share in a RV-9a (non aerobatic). More more boring to fly I must say than a gyro, but at least one gets there quicker. One day I might get a Calidus which looks like a very nice gyro.

[Vertical Tango]

Hi Cozy35,

I would like to know what design criteria one needs to adhere to in SA for various categories, if any. What to do to get a build number and how one would go about a self design by proving the structural and aerodynamic integrity. I suppose it is a whole different ball game than an aircraft.

What others have not answered is that you would like to BUILD or DESIGN your own gyro.
I have been privileged to have built one of the only 2 Xenon kits available in SA, and that option is no longer available.
As far as I know, of the SACAA approved gyros, there is only the RAF2000 in kit form (or completely built), and the kit supplier is local.
As Weedy mentioned, by importing an unknown kit to the SACAA, the challenge won't be purely technical, but basically a nightmare to have your first ATF.
I am personally looking at exactly that, but in the small single seaters, but I don't seem to get the courage to face the admin unnecessary complexities.
Good luck !

[cozy35]

Hi Cozy35,

I would like to know what design criteria one needs to adhere to in SA for various categories, if any. What to do to get a build number and how one would go about a self design by proving the structural and aerodynamic integrity. I suppose it is a whole different ball game than an aircraft.

What others have not answered is that you would like to BUILD or DESIGN your own gyro.
I have been privileged to have built one of the only 2 Xenon kits available in SA, and that option is no longer available.
As far as I know, of the SACAA approved gyros, there is only the RAF2000 in kit form (or completely built), and the kit supplier is local.
As Weedy mentioned, by importing an unknown kit to the SACAA, the challenge won't be purely technical, but basically a nightmare to have your first ATF.
I am personally looking at exactly that, but in the small single seaters, but I don't seem to get the courage to face the admin unnecessary complexities.
Good luck !

Hey thanks for the reply. It's been three years almost to the day that I posted the question. The cooling off period has dampened my courage although I still think gyros are great.