Learn To Fly

You will always remember your first experience in a gyroplane! Strapped tightly in your seat, bouncing along a grass runway to taxi to the beginning of the long strip of grass.  At the end of the taxiing, you turn to face down the runway, pre-rotate the rotors and open the throttle. The two blades whirling above you accelerate to a blur.  The throbbing power of the engine goes up your spine. About 200 ft. into the takeoff roll, there is a lightening sensation as the auto-rotating blades grip the air.  Another moment and you’re teetering between front and rear tires: balancing on the mains. Then suddenly you are airborne.  Flying along, just a couple of feet above the grass, you let the speed increase, which provides you with a safety margin.  Then pull back on the stick, just a little.  At around 500 feet AGL (above ground level) you level off.  The sky and fair-weather clouds are all around you. A measured push to the side of the stick sets you swooping through a wide turn. You are hurtling through the sky on an aerial motorcycle, like flying in your dreams.  If you have a good wind right down the runway, you decide to try for a short landing.  Pushing forward on the stick, the nose of the gyroplane drops.  Even if you’re used to flying in fixed-wing aircraft, this descent for a gyroplane landing seems abrupt and dangerously steep. Then, just when you may think all is lost, pull back on the stick and the gyroplane levels, slows and then touches down with only a slight roll-out.  If you’re a born aviator, gyroplanes are a fantastic way to fly, even if your day job is in the cockpit of a Boeing 787.

Gyroplanes are like no other aircraft. Before there were helicopters, newsreels featuring the Autogiro — invented by the Spanish aviation pioneer Juan de la Cierva — amazed audiences with images of the craft’s dramatic maneuvers. The public wanted to know more about these unique flying machines. Newspapers and magazines, such as Popular Mechanics, obliged. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, many articles predicted that gyroplanes would become the automobiles of the sky. Perhaps, they suggested, future commuters would roll them out of their garages, take off from their driveways and land on the roofs of their factories and offices. Then, in 1955, Igor Bensen made the futuristic dream come closer to reality when, for only $999, you could buy a prefab kit for his so-called Gyrocopter.  A used VW engine and about 40 hours of work could result in a “poor man’s helicopter” that turned the sky into your personal highway.

The gyroplane revolution had begun with Igor Bensen.  Then with Ken Wallis doing the stunt flying of a gyroplane in the 1967 James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”, the public’s imagination had been captured and future gyroplane aviators were inspired.  Today, many companies whose owners were influenced by Bensen and de la Cierva sell plans, kits and ready-to-fly gyroplanes.


Four Gyroplane Myths

Before you spend any money pursuing flight in a gyroplane, you need to be able to separate gyroplane-fact from gyroplane-fiction.  Here are the four myths:

1. Gyroplanes are safer than conventional aircraft
2. People were told they could teach themselves to fly
3. You can legally fly a gyroplane without a pilot’s license
4. It’s simple to build a gyroplane

Myth # 1: Gyroplanes are safer than conventional aircraft.

Even early gyroplane aviators helped to create this myth:  Amelia Earhart, in 1929, said “The Autogiro has wonderful characteristics of safety and ease of control.  The automatic stability of the machine, as well as its peculiar properties of safe vertical descent, make it of immense utility.”  While it is generally accepted that gyroplanes cannot stall or spin, you still have to be very careful.  The aerodynamics of a gyroplane are not straightforward.  While flying straight and level would be familiar to any stick-and-rudder pilot, the takeoffs and landings in a gyroplane are ripe with possible mistakes when attempted by untrained (or poorly trained) pilots.  Statistically, gyroplanes are AS safe as conventional aircraft, but every category of aircraft has it’s pro’s and con’s.  Gyroplanes are no different.

Myth #2: You can teach yourself to fly

Almost all gyroplane crashes are during take-off or landing, and to learn how to traverse those critical portions of a flight without issues, you need to be trained.  “[C]rashes involving [gyroplane] pilots with less than 40 flight hours in the same make/model gyroplane were five times more likely to involve loss of control, twice as likely to destroy the aircraft, and four times more likely to involve fatalities.” (Gyroplane Accidents 1985-2005 / or here, if that link is broken)  That paper surmises that pilot experience is a significant predictor of accident fatality in gyroplanes.  So, get trained!  Then fly a lot!

Myth #3: You can legally fly a gyroplane without a pilot’s license

If you want to fly a two-place gyroplane, then the answer is “no.” For that, you need a license. (In the U.S., a Sport-Pilot License for Gyroplane.) For single-seat gyroplanes below 255 pounds and otherwise qualifies as an ultralight, then you can fly it without a pilot’s license.  Heavier than that, or if there is some other element to the gyroplane that disqualifies it as an ultralight, then you will still need a pilot’s license.

Myth #4: It’s simple to build a gyroplane

There are quite a number of gyroplane kits that do make it easier to assemble your own gyroplane, but consider that at least 50% of the cost is that of the engine.  Even plan-built single-seat gyroplanes have a significant engine cost.  Then there’s the rotor and prop, the instrumentation, and fuel system, all of which can get rather expensive.  Even with a kit, in most cases, set aside a year of weekends, at the very least, to build your own.

Gyroplanes are still less expensive than many aircraft and much simpler than a helicopter, and have many desirable flight characteristics compared to fixed-wing aircraft, but there’s no shortcut or magic bullet.  It still takes money to acquire or build a gyroplane and to be trained properly.

 

Learning To Fly

Regardless of whether you select an ultralight, single-place or two-seat gyroplane, you will need flight training.  The most common question heard from novices is, how do I get started?  First look for a gyroplane club near you.  You can see a list on the PRA website.  Then go visit the club hangar on a Saturday morning (or, worst case, at a scheduled club meeting).  Talk to owners/pilots to see what information they can give you.

Then plan a visit to a local gyroplane CFI to learn what steps are involved in acquiring gyroplane training and a license.  They may even offer you a Discovery Flight!

Alternatively, if there are no gyroplane clubs or instructors nearby, you can still learn the basics of handling a small fixed-wing aircraft from a local flight school.  For that, plan on about 10 hours of training… at least.  Fixed-wing training teaches more than basic airmanship skills. It gives you a feel for navigating the sky in a lightweight aircraft.

Although a gyroplane may look like a helicopter, its controls are more like those of a fixed-wing aircraft. Both are controlled with a stick and rudder. Moving the stick to the side produces a slow, coordinated turn as the gyroplane’s tail causes the fuselage to weathervane in the direction of travel. Using the rudder increases the turn rate.

Having it all come together takes practice, the sort you can get only in a two-place gyroplane. Moving from a fixed-wing airplane to a gyroplane is more about training the muscles than the mind. It is more akin to learning to ride a bicycle than learning to drive a car. For this reason, the amount of time needed to master gyroplane flight depends mostly on how quickly your body learns new tricks.  You will still need to learn about the unique aerodynamics of the gyroplane, and even more critically, rotor management.

Build Or Buy

Most gyroplanes are relatively slow machines, especially compared with their fixed-wing brethren.  If you have a need for speed, consider buying/building a fixed-wing plane.  But if the experience of raw flight is what you are after, or if time isn’t critical but comfort in flight is, then many gyroplanes can become your magic carpet.

For those who cannot wait to get airborne there are several choices.  For example, for enclosed cockpit gyros, the AutoGyro Cavalon or Calidus, the Magni Orion or Magni M-16  can be purchased outright, or can be purchased as a kit.  They are powered by a reliable 115-hp Rotax 914 or 915 IS engine, have a top speed of 92+ mph and a useful load of 617 pounds. These are top-of-the-line gyroplanes so brace yourself before reaching for your checkbook. Your final price will depend upon exchange rates, but those with a Rotax 914 will be near $80,000-$120,000…..  versions with the new Rotax 915IS engine can go much higher.  For example, AutoGyro has a factory-built, commercial version called the CavalonPro, with 915 IS.

Other high-end (usually 2-place) factory-available gyroplanes include (but are not limited to): Magni M-16, ELA 10-Eclipse EVO, Niki Kalithea, Xenon IV, Tercel, Silverlight American Ranger, and Rotorvox C2A.

Examples of other 2-seat gyroplanes (most are open-air) are the Rotor Flight Dynamics Dominator Tandem, AAI Sparrowhawk, Celier Xenon 2, Aviomania G2sB Genesis Duo, and Sport Copter 2.  (Please note that gyroplane manufacturers seem to always be in a state of flux, so, research your possibilities carefully.  The ones mentioned here may not be available.)  Also, be careful about the claims made… particularly about the speed of the gyroplane.

If you do not plan on carrying passengers, there are many single-seat gyroplanes available for purchase or for building.  A very popular plans-built gyroplane is the GyroBee/HoneyBee style… an excellent choice for an entry-level gyroplane.

You also have the option of flying a tractor-style aircraft with the Little Wing Autogyros LW series and North American Rotorwerks Pitbull which hearken back to the early days of gyroplane flight by putting the engine and prop in front of the pilot.  Front engine mounting means they can accept most small engines. A Subaru EA81 or comparable engine powers the Pitbull. Performance varies with engine selection.

The exact number of gyroplanes available changes as new designs evolve and others are retired.  A partial list of gyroplane suppliers can be found here or here, or here.