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1st time in a gyrocopter
At this year’s combined Shobdon Foodand Flying Festival weekend, at Shobdon Airfield, I was lucky enough to be invitedto have a flight in, and “have control”, of one of the visiting aircraft, a RotorsportCavalon Gyrocopter.
Have I ever honestly wanted tofly a gyrocopter. No, as the only ones Ihad come across required the pilot/passenger to be kitted out in virtually aski-suit and waterproofs, helmet, goggles and thick gloves just to keep warm inthe open cockpit. I usually fly aprivately hired 1975 C150, a prettybasic non-IR instrument configured 2 seater Cessna, but adequately does the jobeven if not all that luxurious. But this Cavalon was a very different kettle offish or should I say aircraft. Beautifulsleek lines, roomy and more importantly an enclosed cockpit with twoside-by-side adjustable seats (position and rake) and extending rudder pedalswhich meant, as being only 5’3”, I didn’t have to bring my trusty cushion, orbooster seat as some of my fellow pilot so called friends call it.Interestingly in a gyrocopter the Pilot in Command sits on the RH seat. Andy Wall started her up andcalled for taxi and off we headed for runway 27. The main rotor is an aluminiumextrusion and can be flown in any weather which was useful as Sunday was arather breezy day. The pre-rotator is pneumatically engaged giving up to 80 to90% of rotor flight speed before commencing take off. Breezy it might have beenwith the wind varying from down the runway to gusts 90 degrees off but as werolled down the runway and climbed away you actually wouldn’t have known it. At200 ft Andy said “you have control”. Was I expecting that, again no but shehandled just like a fixed wing light aircraft but much nippier and tighter inthe turns. A very responsive stick and with a trim tab meant I could even flyit hands-off once she was nicely set up! Though not for long as needed to avoidvarious farm houses and other buildings to keep within Shobdon’s noiseabatement. Andy took back control afterI’d turned onto final on the first circuit as he wanted to demonstrate thehovering manoeuvrability of the aircraft to the crowd as we coasted just abovethe runway. Climbing away I was again “in control”. Instruments on board includedCHT, rpm gauges for both rotors, a mounted ipad sized GPS and the rest of theusual instruments one would expect to find, expect for a turn co-ordinator. Insteadof “the ball in the middle” turn-co-ordinator there was a “what do you thinkthat is then” bright yellow piece of chord dangling down from the cockpitwindscreen. The only non-high tech looking piece of equipment on board! Thegull-wing doors have 2 air events (one swivel directional) and, if you reallywant to, you can fly with no doors on at all! The whole cockpit was veryluxurious, very comfortable and well equipped, a bit far from what I amcurrently used to, well unless you count the RH seat trip I did in a PA46TBMeridian last weekend from Oxford to Girona and back. On the second circuit, turningonto base leg Andy asked that I climb to 1000ft and then turn on to final.Interesting thinks I doing what I am told. And so it was as, with a grin on hisface, Andy says “OK PFL” and pulls the power off! We float down, well we diduntil he then says “lower the nose” and the ground is coming up at a hell of a rate.At about 100ft he thankfully says he “has control”, adds some power arrestingthe descent and levels out, gently puts her down and taxis very “expeditely”down the runway and off onto the grass. I can quite believe that he was able torecently put the Cavalon down safely within the length of a tennis court even ifyou might not be able to fly out again. After shut down, Andy wascomplimentary about my handling of the gyro, always something every pilot likesto hear and especially a pilot who has only had her PPL(A) for 1 year, 1monthand 5 days (ok so I am counting J) and then offered a training flight from my home-base at GloucestershireAirport next time he is in the area. I am thoroughly impressed with everythingabout the Cavalon from its obvious luxury; its handling; instrumentation and 100litre tank giving a range of 6 hours at 80mph. Am I converted and would I fly agyrocopter again? Yes. But truthfully only at this end of the market or notexposed to the elements. |
Interesting report. Ihave been fascinated by Autogiros for many a year.
Jude, please get your space-bar fixed, or refrain from typing when you're overly-excited.:p |
Wilco, lol
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Hmm
Despite Ken Wallis' enthusiasm for them, (and he has a pretty infectious personality) I have the same reservations as you. The idea of the Cavalon appealed to me, but I've never had the opportunity to try it. I rent C150s too, so we're coming from similar places.
Did it cruise at 70kts as advertised? How did it climb? Is it only a fair weather alternative to the C150? Thanks TPP |
They always look more fragile than Helicopters and do not look like they should fly although I am sure they do very well :ok:
It just the Jesus Bolt look of that flimsy looking rotor which would worry me :{ Pace |
Not a fairweather alternative at all. In fact some of the fixed wings a/c were wobbling all over on take-off and landing but the Cavalon was as smooth as anything. Wouldn't have known it was gusty at all. And an enclosed cockpit with cabin heating (not that it was needed) an can have heated seats too!
Climbed really well and easily hit the 80mph in the circuit. [No larger than 800 x 600] [No larger than 800 x 600] |
I had a flight in one recently and was prepared to be under-whelmed however was completely surprised.
Superb machines, cruise at 80knts at 3 to 4 imp gals an hour, super smooth and great options for STOL. Aside from the whole single seat, have a go versions of the past I can't see why these machines haven't had greater traction. For private aviation they are a no brainer |
Safety record aside, which is slowly improving for gyros (microlights being in a similar place to "group A" in recent years - it's an interesting question why somebody would fly a gyro compared to a flexwing, which has a similar performance and cockpit environment, but a much lower purchase and running cost as well as a much larger community of operators.
G |
I'd reverse the question, to ask why someone would fly a flexwing at all! ;)
I'd like one of these, preferably with the radial engine, of course: Little Wing Autogyros, Inc.. |
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http://www.flyer.co.uk/images/PulsR1.jpg
Same ballpark. (Actually maybe we should just celebrate that we can post photographs of two new, state of the art, BRITISH flying machines.) G |
If I had to dress up like that I'd rather go by motorbike...... ;)
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Originally Posted by ShyTorque
(Post 7922624)
If I had to dress up like that I'd rather go by motorbike...... ;)
Plus compared to motorcycling on British roads, even flying gyroplanes is relatively safe. G |
Eliminating open cockpit flying from your repertoire, whether that's a microlight, gyro, or a tiger moth, is limiting your flying pleasure in my opinion. A gyrocopter with a lid would suit me better than something that resembles a tricycle hanging under a tablecloth and has flying controls that work in the wrong sense. :ok: |
Pah, youth of today, no sense of adventure.
G |
Plus compared to motorcycling on British roads, even flying gyroplanes is relatively safe. By contrast gyroplanes are very approximately about 1 fatal accident per 2,000 hours. |
On the other hand, gyroplanes tend to either kill you or leave you alone, whilst most bikers of my acquaintance seem to spend a substantial amount of time with various bits of their anatomy plastered up.
But you have made a good case for not flying gyroplanes, given that the fatal accident rate for flexwings is in the order of 1 per 50,000 hours I believe. G |
The problem with gyro accident stats are that they reflect the old style single seat home built stuff. The new factory built types are great in my experience.
I can't believe the 1 fatal in 2000hrs statistic as there have only ever been 242 known gyro licences issued by the CAA ever. It would therefore mean potentially everyone will be dead within 500000 hours! |
The stats were published for quite a few years in the 3 yearly safety reviews that CAA used to publish before they abolished their tiny but very useful statistics section to save money.
CAP 780 published in 2008 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP780.pdf) In the period 1998-2007, there were 25 reportable accidents involving UK-registered gyroplanes, of which eight were fatal, resulting in nine fatalities. During the same period, there were 320 reportable accidents involving UK-regis tered microlights, 23 of which were fatal, resulting in 31 fatalities. However, the fatal ac cident rate per million hours for gyroplanes in the period 1998-2007 was some 18 times greater than the combined average for airships, balloons, gliders and microlights. The number of reportable accidents involvi ng gyroplanes has decreased from 31 between 1995 and 2004, to 25 between 1998 and 2007. The number of fatal accidents in the two periods is the same (eight). The three-year moving average reportable accident rate in the period ending 2004 was 1,785.2 per million hours, however this had reduced to 645.8 per million hours by the period ending 2007. The thr ee-year moving average fatal accident rate has also reduced, from 595.1 per million hours in the period ending 2004, to 161.5 in the period ending 2007. There were 251 reportable accidents involv ing microlights between 1995 and 2004, compared to 320 between 1998 and 2007. The number of fata l accidents involving microlights in the two time periods was the same (23). The three-year moving average reportable accident rate in the period ending 2004 was 285.5 per million hours, compared to 368.1 per million hours in the period ending 2007. The corresponding three-year moving average fatal accidents rates were 20.2 per million hours and 25.3 per million hours respectively. G |
CAP800 gives 400 fatal accidents per million flying hours, which is 1/2,500 hours. Unfortunately the pdf seems to be corrupt so I can only access the text in a roundabout fashion.
Either way, that's too much for me. I hope the newer gyros prove to be safer, but I'm going to let other people do the testing. |
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