Ela vs Magni Gyro

[t-bird]

I have hours on both of them and would like to do a positive comparison

Prerotator
Ela direct drive. Magni bendix
Ela prerotate quicker and is capable of prerotating to 270 RPM compared to 200 RPM in the magni.
In real life the Ela gets prerotated to 190 – 200 RPM the 270 is academic.

Rotors
Magni – composite honeycombs with lead on the leading edge
Ela – Aluminum with composite foam in the middle
Not much of a difference and these rotors would probably out last the gyros

Rotor setup
Ela – adjustable for the lead and lag.
Magni – non adjustable

Trim
Magni – Electric trim
Ela – pneumatic trim
You would struggle to fly a magni without trim. The Ela is easy to fly without trim. I think the reason is the rotor setup

Controls - stick
Both look basically the same. The Ela is more sensitive than the Magni. On the ground you would prefer a less sensitive gyro safer. In the air I prefer a more sensitive Gyro.

Control – front wheel & rudder.
Magni – castoring front feel
Ela – direct control on front wheel. Very sensitive and bites when landing in a crosswind. I would prefer the Magni on this one.

Body
Magni – Composite
Ela – Carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is lighter and stronger than the composite

Chassis
Magni- I think chrome molly .
Ela Stainless steel

Fuel tank.
Magni is under and behind the seat give you a little bit more packing space
Ela more under the seat.

Tires
Magni – Shit
Ela – Shit
The tyres that these aircraft come out with is so thin that you have to apply mosquito repellant not to get a puncture.

Seats
Magni – Plastic and uncomfortable – If you pay ½ Bar for a gyro you would expect better seats
Ela – better than the Magni but not great.

The landing / Tail
Magni – Tail is in a strait line and if you round out steeply on the landing you will hit the tail wheel. A bit of a bump nothing serious.
Ela- The Ela have a V in its tail. The tail wheel is much higher that the Magni and you can really round it out nicely and bring your ground roll to 0 meters without having 100 of hours.

Instructors
Magni
Josua Groenewalt. One of the best instructors around. Was a sycamore display pilot. Got a lot of Gyro hours while inspecting railway lines and also have a gyro night rating.PPL and com rated on tailtraggers to low wing high wing etc. He has passion for aviation and the necessary credentials to back it up.
Ela
Piet Kruger. Ex-SAAF instructor , weapons instructor . Flown anything from the Harvard to the Vampire, SAA instructor , DE at SAA, Flying for Mango at the moment.
He fly, Magni , ELa and MT-03. He is based at Hanger 21 Springs. There was about 20 Gyro’s of different types in there hanger. These guys are very professional with all the necessary credentials. Piet is always prepared to help and a gold mine of info with al lot of interesting flying stories.

Support
Magni – Butch Brown – Excellent
Ela – Anthony Cohen – Excellent

Improvements
An oil thermostat should be standard.
Throttle, choke, prerotator cables should be of stainless steel or of aircraft standard.

I enjoy flying in both of these gyros. The only difference would be personal preferences – some guys like driving BMW, Others Mercs.

Due to a limited number of hours on the Sycamore , Raf and MT-03 I would prefer not to comment on them.

[Yoda]

Hello t-bird, thanks, very informative and comprehensive comparison. I think it can be of great help for anybody in the gyro market today.
Having flown Ela for about 400 hrs , I recently bought a new M22 so I would also like to ad a few comments:

Areas where the Ela beets the Magni hands down:
1) Price
2) Weight
3) Lift off a lot quicker, even if you only prerotate up to 200.
4) Landing is possible with a lot less ground roll as you mentioned.. you can "round out" a lot higher.
5) I find the fact that the Magni does not have a handbrake very frustrating.... Once you've started the engine, one hand always needs to be on the brake.
6) Short field take offs... I in fact prerotated up to 280 rpm for jump take offs. I have done this severel times.


Areas where the M22 beats the Ela hands down:
Track record
Seating... Much more comfortable
Packing space.... a huge plus
The electric trim is much better, because the air trim of the Ela tends to loose air sometimes and its difficult to find the spot where the air leaks.
Skydat computer on front pannel... warns you whenever you exceed a limmit.

Flying caracteristics:
I find the M22 much more stable in cross wind conditions on landing.
Its a lot faster.... at least 10mph
Positioning of rudder pedals much better.
Front wheel can castor.... The Ela can get you in serious trouble very quickly with the upright front wheel.
When you cut enjine power the Magni does not loose altitude as quickly as the Ela. I suppose the heavier rotor does not lose momentum so quickly. Those few seconds can save you in an immergency.

My final conclusion:
These are both very capable and safe gyros. In the end it probably boils down to the price difference.

[Bacardi]

I like them both equally, but you won't catch me dead in either one of them.

[Yoda]

Ag nee man Bacardi... why???????? Thats sad. You dont know what you missin out on.

[DieselFan]

I like them both equally, but you won't catch me dead in either one of them.

Thats cause they so safe

[Yoda]

Skerp Dieselfan!!!

[Bacardi]

OK maybe I'm just fishing for a flip, never had the experience. Actually when I pitch up at Rhino Park, Braam has to follow me around with a rag to wipe the drooling off the eggbeaters after me. They really look very nice, I just think that a proper wing would make them look even better :D

No offense intended with previous post

[Yoda]

:D None taken Baccardi.... you should really try it out some day Especially when its a very windy day and all the other aeries are sitting on the ground
Eish.... very very nice

[DieselFan]

:D None taken Baccardi.... you should really try it out some day Especially when its a very windy day and all the other aeries are sitting on the ground
Eish.... very very nice

What would windy be? I would like to compare.

PS Bacardi I know some high hour trikers who are scared or biast against gyros. Fear of the unkown perhaps. Same way my sister says I'm mad to fly a microlight yet had a lioness chase her inside and stalk her through the house leaving scratch marks on doors and windows 2m from her head...ya ok.

[Yoda]

Dieselfan, .... Very, very strong wind seems to have little or no effect on a gyro. In fact I flew straight through a "warrelwind"
several times and the gyro goes through it without much effort.
I flew on hot summer 35C days and the turbulence does not effect it much either.
Wind is a gyros friend!
Maybe some of the other gyronaughts can ad to this. Doesnt seem theres many around....
Please note... I'm not saying gyros are superior to any other form of flying.... in the end its all flying. Its just nice not having the wind klapping you around all the time and also not having to worry much about weather when you want to go fly........

[t-bird]

A gyro is the only aircraft I know that the pilots can’t wait for the wind to pick up.
Your take off roll is much shorter, but the real fund starts in the air.
Face into the wind and reduce power and you will end up in a hover, just like the choppers.
Side slip into the wind and you will fly her side ways.

[DieselFan]

Well would you guys fly today, in Gauteng? Wind is around 30-40km/h.

[Yoda]

Dieselfan, Absulutely. Just got off the gyro for a very relaxed hour of flying.
Windspeed on my ASI 25mph gusting to 30mhp when I lined up on the runway. Take off was within 10 m. Only prerotaded up to 130rpm. When I let the stick back, the wind did the rest. Landing with an almost vertical descend like a chopper. Zero groundroll on touchdown.
I must admid.... if this was crosswind conditions I would not even have started up the gyro. I only fly in this kind of wind when wind is head on the runway. Please dont take this as bragging. Its merely a demonstration of the ability of a gyro.

[t-bird]

20-30 km/h no problem.
We went up at Brakpan @ 29 knots, got airborne after 20 meters
Then to Kliprivier, Tedderfield and landed at summit West of Grand Central.

Only thing that a Gryo really needs is a diesel/Jet A1 motor.

[DieselFan]

Thanks guys, I don't take it as boasting at all, merely stating fact. I tried with my trike but apart from the wind blowing the hangar door closed...my trike lifted up a tad sideways . Wind speeds up between the hangars. Todays wx is the limit of my aerie xwind wind wise. 30km/h according to manual and now tested.

So...why would you not takeoff with xwind on a gyro? I'm loving the 0m ground roll idea. What would the "stall" equiv be on a gyro, I know it doesn't actually stall but the minimum airspeed needed before you drop?