mikeflyz
Senior Heliman
Location: Westlake Village, CA
| Ahhhh, what is an autogyro?
My Air Command Gyroplane
It is an aircraft that operates in "powered autorotation." Thrust is provided by a airplane propeller and the lift is provided by the unpowered rotating blades. The physics of autorotation in a gyro and autorotation in a helicopter are the same, only they're optimized in a gyro. They cannot hover, as the main rotor system is unpowered, but also cannot stall like an airplane.
They have several names. Autogyro and autogiro were probably the first terms used, one being a trade name for the gyros built under license by Juan De La Cierva, the father of the autogyro in the '20s. The invention of the autogyro did help solve some helicopter riddles and furthered helicopter development, but was really invented to make a "stall-proof" airplane.
Gyroplane is the FAA term for this aircraft in the US. Gyrocopter is a trade name for the Bensen B8 series gyros. Some people believe that the autogyro is a proper name for a "tractor" gyro and the gyrocopter is the proper name for a "pusher" gyro.
Regarding the "benefit" of a gyro over other models, they can fly very slowly, and have extremely short landing distances. They're also unusual enough to draw a crowd asking "what is that thing?" My full-size gyro was very easy to work on, had a pretty respectable cruise speed of 70 mph, had great visibility, could turn on a dime and was just plain old great fun. Training is required for the full size; don't expect to survive teaching yourself.
Check out www.autogyro-rc.com
Mike
MA Fury Extreme, Logo 600 and T-Rex |
