Which Gyro?

[Lodewyk Engels]

I'm sure this has been asked a zillion times but here goes:
A friend of mine is interested to start flying and he specifically wants a gyro.
I don't have the faintest idea about gyro's nor have I flown in one. He mainly wants to use it on the farm to check water points, look for lost livestock, etc as well as plod around the patch I presume.
All I know about gyro's is that they are pretty expensive and that there are quite a couple different makes available in SA. I told him that I would try to get him some info.
So, which gyro should he buy and why Keep money out of the deciding factors at this stage... Oh, and he was also quite pertinent to know where he could get the best flight training on said gyro.
Please help [-o<

[Kerneels]

1. Magni
2. MT 03
3 Ela
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12. RAF

[Learjet]

Lodewyk, there was a similar discussion here http://new.microlighters.co.za/viewtopi ... =20&t=7479

This was part of my response on that thread. Also, I think the current May edition of African Pilot magazine has an updated review of all the current gyros sold in SA.

Here is link to the SAGPA website with a copy of the Gyroplane Review published in African Pilot in 2006. (The prices will be very out of date and the latest African Pilot Gyro review is pathetic - really don't know why they bothered? ) http://sagpa.co.za/sagpa/content/view/79/56/

Every gyro (and car, and boat, and golf club....) owner will give you good reasons why their one is the best. And they are all absolutely right. It's horses for courses and much depends on what, where and how you wish to use your gyro. And like car choices - its individual, emotive and personal.

You will read about and hear lots of debates regarding various gyro options and different makes and designs. Endless hangar talk about "must have versus don't need a horizontal stabilizer, comparative airspeeds, fuel consumptions and range, baggage space, quality of finish, with doors, without doors, open vs closed cockpits, aircraft weights, composite vs aluminum rotors, price tag etc" the list goes on... My advice is to ignore all of these type of comments (for the time being). Gyro pilots, and more specifically, gyro manufacturers are past masters at obscuring and blurring "key component points" with "key selling points"!

Instead, concentrate on thoroughly researching (so that you understand!) all you can about these BIG FOUR crucial, vital and most important aspects of ANY gyro:

1. The rotor head assembly, construction & design. (materials used / stress tests & data / component time life / hub bar design etc)
2. The engine power plant. (reliability / original aircraft application purpose? / dual ignition redundancies / maintenance requirements etc)
3. Flight envelope stability (Vne / flight stability / horizontal stabilizor question etc)
4. Accident & Safety record. (Causes of accidents / "quircks"? etc Admittedly difficult to establish with newer models.)

To me, the BIG FOUR are the most important factors (beyond your own attendance to safe flying) which will give you the greatest peace of mind in your choice of gyro, and thus your flying enjoyment. Once you've more or less got to grips with these - then, and only then, should you start considering the individual options and offerings, configurations, finishes etc which will best suit your needs (and pocket). And remember - don't be swayed from the BIG FOUR by a glossy paint job, pretty frills or sales talk. For these will be the furthest things from your mind the day you find yourself in some unexpected turbulence, looking down at some very uninviting mountain top a few thousand feet below you...!

In the original thread I gave my very subjective opinions on the various gyros - as an update, Sycamore has unfortunately gone belly up in SA, and both Xenon and Magni look set to start making inroads into the market with their fully-enclosed / side by side machines. As predicted, Xenon appears to have had some teething / technical problems which they claim to have addressed. By contrast Magni resisted the temptation to launch their new M24 Orion straight away, opting instead to only make 10 pre-production models available to select clients for evaluation before officially launching to market. I think this has now been completed and the M24 Orion may now be avaialable for order. (check with the agent)

[Grumpy]

1. Magni
2. MT 03
3 Ela
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12. RAF

WTF not you again !!!

[Trikenut]

Excuse my ignorance, but on the other microlighters page, FO Gyro says something about the gel coating on the rotors of the Magni and how it can come of in the rain. What is the gel coating???
Thanks
Ross

[FO Gyro]

Guys, I've had a complaint about Kerneels from one of our forum members about his running down of the RAF gyro. If any personal attacks don't stop, I will simply delete postings! Kerneels, consider this your first warning. Everybody, please lets keep this positive. We all have the right to exercise our opinion, but please substantiate any opinions. If one doesn't have anything positive to say, then rather keep quiet.

There seems to be a slight oversensitivity to comparing gyro's. Why? I wouldn't call a Ferrari better than a Maserati or Lambo, just personal taste at the end of the day. For me, since Lodewyk asked, I think the MT-03 offers the best value for money. Fullstop.

Trikenut, I might fly jet airliners, but I admit I"m not a technical boff. I mentioned somewhere that one advantage of the aluminium blades is that they are unaffected by rain (not that you would want to fly in rain in the first place). The gel coat (technical boffs out there please explain what this is) is the top layer of the composite blade on a Magni gets stripped by the high force of the rain striking the rotor's leading edge. It can look quite unsightly, and is a mission to then get one's blades re-coated again.

[coen]

Daai friend moet maar sy bas in sy bakkie laai en hulle almal om die beurt gaan flieg, en nie een van daai flips waar die ou wat die tjek met die 6 nulle will he die flieg werk doen nie. Se vir jou pel hy moet die ding kan rigting gee, die manne wat die goette verkoop kan almal baie goed flieg en laat alles so goed en pragtig en wonderlik en vinnig en stadig en kort land en lank land en hovver en all daaaai dinge kan hulle doen.

Maar kan jou pel die ding flieg sonder om homself sif te konsentreer binne die eerste 2 ure.As mens so daarna kyk dan is dit maar die beste om eers so bietjie by 'n skool so paar ure op sy naam te kry en dan met oop oe en 'n toe beursie na die saak te kyk. Wanneer jy klaar jou lisensie gedoen het met 'n gyro dan besef jy hoe min jy rerig weet. En wanneer daai eerste 100 ure in jou logbook begin nader staan dan moet jy weer by jou instrukteur 'n draai gaan maak.

Daar is nie iets soos 'n slegte gyro nie hulle is net nie almal deselfde nie, my grootste oorweging was maar nog altyd dat omdat ek maar net 'n gemiddelde ou is het ek vliegmasjien nodig wat sy eie ding doen ek sal hom net so nou en dan rigting gee. Soos daai ou perd wat ons op plase het wat jy as 2jarige seuntjie op geleer perdry het, hy sal jou nie byt of afgooi of bokspring nie, as jy hom los sal hy net reguit aanhou loop.Maar party mense soek daai perd wat vinniger as die wind kan hol en wat gouer as nou kan omdraai net om jou daar in stofpad alleen agter te los, maar teminste kan jy huistoe loop al is jy krippel?

Of so dink ek.

[Learjet]

Trikenut - composite rotor blades are coated with a gel coating (like a "duco") and there were reports of some of the earlier model Magni's experiencing this coating being damaged by rain at the tips (which are moving at 500 - 600km/h!) This was apparently purely cosmetic and did not affect the structural integrity of the rotor in any way and the problem has subsequently been sorted out by the manfucturers . Obviously this is not a factor in aluminium rotors but both have their pro's and con's. Aluminum rotors have a finite life cycle and limited life-span whereas composite rotors generally don't. Then again, aluminum rotors are less expensive to replace.

[Harlequin]

Glenn. Others.
You are absolutely correct in requesting our comments to be positive.
I apologise, this is the first time I have lowered myself the standard of the double O... seven.
Enough said.
The poor chap requesting a reasonable response has now had to put up with all this other nonsense.

My advice, make contact with pilots who own the various types, go for a flip and make up your own mind matched to the budget you have.
Regards.
Graham.

[THI]

My 2c...

First learn to fly. This will help you to learn the skill/balance/feel of a gyro. The more you know the better decision you can make. After a couple of hours training you will no doubt feel/know the difference between each gyro and with which gyro you feel more comfortable.

[Low Level]

Wanneer jy klaar jou lisensie gedoen het met 'n gyro dan besef jy hoe min jy rerig weet.

Baie wyse woorde. Moenie koop - at least - voor hy nie reg is om solo te gaan nie. Mense praat baie, maar as mens eers so bietjie begin kennis opdoen , begin mens sif aan al die inligting. MT, Magni, ELA is soos Mazda, Ford, Nissan. Baie naby aan mekaar. Eventually gaan dit oor persoonlike keuse. Gaan vlieg die ding as hy dit al bietjie verstaan, dan kan hy 'n ingeligte besluit maak.

As hy op die plaas wil rondploeter en sy eiendom wil beskou, open cockpit is die antwoord na my mening.

[FO Gyro]

Lodewyk, to come back to your original question, did you find the info you wanted on the link that Learjet provided?

There is some good gen there. I also drew up some points listing the good and bad points of the various gyro's as I saw them.

There are also some exciting new enclosed gyro's coming on the market, the new Orion Magni Gyro, and the new enclosed MT-03, as well as the Xenon which is gathering momentum in their sales.

[THI]

enclosed MT-03

Hi FO, do you have more info eg website?

[THI]

Hi FO, Not to worry, found it - Calidus

[FO Gyro]

Oh yes, that's the name. Looks like a nice machine. Great when it's really cold. When it's warm though, still think a semi-open gyro is more fun.