^^ And with that I bow out of the gyroplane discussion... An expert arrives.

Still, for the same mission and open cockpit etc...think about a trike. Way cool.

Jim

So mast bumping.

Yep. Same as helicopters. Not super hard to avoid.

I was thinking some weird thing that would cause loss of rotor rpm.

I did a little reading and one of the problems seems to be any pushover causes the rotor disc to have a negative angle of attack, and air coming down on top of the blades stops them from spinning, and can also cause a forward somersault.

Seems like a really bad maneuver.

CarterCopter anyone? http://www.cartercopters.com

If you want a low and slow, open air experience, look at some of the ultralights. I recently flew a friend's Airbike and it was a hoot. Like riding an airborne bike, just as the name implies. It has three-axis control and flew like a slow Cub or Champ. With 500 acres, you probably already have a useable runway somewhere on your property. And, it's an airplane so you don't have to unlearn any basic habits like you would with a trike or a gyrocopter.

In my case, I was doing touch & go landings. I let the rotor speed decay and accelerated the airframe faster than the rotors could catch up. It got airborne but I was putting in way to much control effort to keep it over the center line, and knew it, so I held it down low, maybe 20 feet AGL.

The rotor banged back and forth on the teeter stops, then one blade rebounded to an unloaded condition, producing a radically asymmetric lift. The machine yawed hard left and rolled left, the rotor hit the ground a few times and then catapulted me near vertical. I saw the windshield full of grass in the instant before impact.

I had two coherent thoughts during this :
1. This doesn't feel right
2. I'm going to hit that grass

After impact, 3: I better unlatch this seat belt

There were 11 rotor strike marks on the ground - at roughly 300 RRPM, it took about three seconds from first loss of control to impact.

I now consider that crash to be a truly lucky event for me - I bought my C150 before the cuts and bruises healed, probably saving me from a gruesome death by gyro later on.

But you probably had the most fun flying the gyro than anything else, before the crash of course.
" if you're not scared, then you're not having fun and you're doing it wrong"

Thats to good of a deal to pass up...the cheeseburger I mean.

Well he'll, I can live with "barely kill(ed)"

I will check them out. Thanks.

Agreed. I flew one in Hawaii, and I loved it. It was probably some of the most fun flying I've ever done. If you're a motorcyclist, you want a trike because they are a weight-shift vehicle - almost exactly like a motorcycle for the air.

Get a searey or r44, the gyro is neat but looks like a skewed risk reward scenario.

Single seat ultralight (Eipper MX ). Is about the most fun flying you can have.

Rocky

I won't lie.

I've considered getting a gyro, mostly due to low cost of operation and the it's weird, therefore I like it factor.

Being able to keep it in the garage at home goes a long way towards keeping costs down.

Never really thought about a trike. Just started reading about them and that might be the answer for me. Could keep it at home and use it like a motorcycle. Rides in the evenings and weekends in the warmer months along the river, farms and Shawnee forest.

I could keep a helo at home but a lot more investment in time and money. Just going to be me and wife playing around. Trike would seem more intuitive and safer than gyro.

So, like Robert Duval said in the movie Family Thing/Affair: "happiness ain't nothin more than something to look forward to." Now, as my wife says, I have something new to obsess, er, look forward to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightstar

I owned a Pioneer Flightstar Ultralight for several years. Most fun I've ever had flying. One of the first aircraft with the ballistically fired Parachute.

Following the terrain at low level and low speed is what flying is supposed to feel like. I used to pack a fishing rod and land next to obscure farm ponds and catch largemouth.

I also used to drive the park rangers crazy landing on the boat ramp. Oh, those were the days.