Most gyros in general today is just a copy of someone else's aircraft. The RAF was designed as a powered aircraft and did not follow the line of all the copies of the Bensen. That is why it has a patented mast design, a patented C OF G, and a patented Rotor Stabilator. This is why RAF also has indu...

I bought a used RAF 2000 three years ago, with 270 hours and no H-stab. I trained in it without an H-stab, and got my SP-gyro add-on to my PP-ASEL license. I never did like the pitch instability of the stabless RAF. It felt as though I was in a swinging bucket. Shortly after my checkride, I install...

N69EP Ortmayer used the RAF hub bar/winglets, and it failed on 12 March 2004. (The still-attached rotor blade struck student Ashley Godeaux in the left side of his skull with a fatal blow.) There were two contributing factors to the failure: 1) The Parsons trainer type of gyro has a rigid mast, and...

Below are my excerpts from the SACAA Accident Report on ZU-RHO. http://www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and%20Incidents%20Reports/9462.pdf I've not quoted the full report, but only the most relevant excerpts. Bold emphasis is mine. Regards, Kolibri Synopsis During take off from Avontuur, The pilot reporte...

OK, merged threads (thank you Mods), fine, back to the matter at hand. Whatever technical stuff y'all want reposted, let me know. The below photo is of the other RAF 2000 which popped a hub bar bolt head (AN-12) and threw a rotor (N69EP ORTMAYER). ZU-RHO's bolt head has never been found, but it wil...

Comment removed by MODERATOR My below post has no such verbiage, nor none of RAFSA. I consider the information vital for RAF owners, and request that this thread be allowed to remain, thank you. ______ Francois provided some valuable data when he experimented with different tightenings after hand s...

Rotor-Blade , thanks for pointing out my copy/paste error, which I've corrected in my post: With 2 cycles/rev, at 350rrpm, that's 700 cycles every minute. Nearly 12 every second. ___________ Kolibri, come now, you have to admit that the RAF hub bar & winglet combination is a sexy looking piece of m...

All RAF owners that has to replace their rotors at 500 hours as per recommendations, or for safety and peace of mind can now buy the Sportcopter rotor system from me as the fatory appointed sole agent in South Africa. Interested PM me. spinkaan Congratulations, spinkann ! I wish you and your client...

Even if we forget about, for the moment, the RAF hinged hub bar and its beleagered tensile bolt, there remains the crucial matter of material fatigue. Aluminum has no clear endurance limit. The one-time tensile yield strength of 6061-T6 is ~40,000 psi. However, aluminum quickly loses strength when ...

Howdy all, MODERATED I've reposted below two public safety photos, so that RAF owners may easily confirm for themselves if their hub bar contains the correct washer (with flat grinds) vs. those installed by RAFSA on ZU-RHO. (One wonders why such photos are not on the manufacturer's own website.) I ...

Howdy! I fly an RAF2000 (2.2 carbed) with Sport Copter mast, rotorhead, hub bar, rotors, and air trim. I immediately installed a Boyer H-stab right after my training and checkride, and highly recommend this. I've put 165 hours on it in two years. I'm also a fixed-wing pilot/owner, and will checkrid...