Xenon Gyro

[FLYNOTE]

Ek het Saterdag en Sondag 'n verdere 6 ure op die ware Jakob gesit. Was a lovely weekend for flying and I decided to take in all the wonderful scenery Gauteng has to offer. Who wants to fly along an azure coastline if you can take in the muddy overflow at the Vaal barage after the floods? Who wants to fly over the browns , yellows and golds of late autumn vinyards if you can take in the amazing mine dumps and sink holes at Carletonville bordering the cropfield of some farmer? Who wants to fly mountain passes amongst towering peaks and view the entrance to the du Toitskloof tunnel if you can take in the fascinating buzz at the Grasmere tolplaza ? When your wheels touch down at Tedderfield and your rotor starts to spin down , you only realise once again how fortunate we are to live and fly up here in Gauteng. I so pity the poor buggers down in the Cape.
Braam came on Sunday to give my Xenon a once over and all is still perfect on 80 hrs. We replaced the battery which was not holding charge and we replaced the rudder rivets. The aliminum ones from the factory start wearing out from day one. The locally manufactured ones sit much better holding the rudders much firmer. I think there are quite a few improvements that Braam and his team have brought to the Xenon table seeing that Celier is not too keen to take any hints or advise from the people who fly his machines . It is very reasuring to have the expertise and constant backup locally. Xenon really is a great gyro and I maintain , the nicest aircraft I have ever flown.I firmly believe that it has the potential to become the benchmark in gyroplanes .
Steve , Im afraid I cannot help you on the registrations. Braam Hechter is the SA agent for Xenon and will be in a much better position to answer your questions. You can contact hom on hechterA@caa.co.za
I am only a humble gyro pilot who loves the sport and his machine!

[braam hechter]

Hi All.

Johan while you were busy enjoying our countryside, we had the next machine testflown in Poland at the factory. (See the snow.) The machine was packed and delivered at Wagtail in last week. It is now assembled and in the final throws of registration. Once this is done, the Proving Flights will be carried out and the machine flown to Stellenbosch. Louis van Wyk and Len Klopper will then finish Joep's training and the machine will sofar be based at Stellenbosch. At least, Cilliers Burger will now have an orange compadre.

Greetings and enjoy.

Braam

[Gyronaut]

Congratulations Joep! Can't wait to have your beauty in this part of the world!
Well done to Braam & co. The side-by-side numbers are growing nicely in the Cape.

[braam hechter]

Hi All.

With all the activities we have forgotten about Frank Pinto's machine. The machine was ready before Chritsmas, but with weather, leave, work etc it was difficult to get all the parties together. The initial proving flights were carried out at Wagtail. Johan vL then ferried the machine to Brakpan and converted Matthew Zalewski onto the Xenon. Matthew then flew Johan back to Parys and had some solo time back to Brakpan. He will now complete the proving flights and will then finish Frank's training on this machine. The intention is then to move the machine to Grand Central. We have been able to secure nice hangar space and will shortly be able to offer coffee in our own "lounge"

Greetings and fly safely.

Braam Hechter

[FLYNOTE]

Ok ... the toystory ! I have a apple i phone. On this thingie I have about 2000 songs. My headsets are the Lightspeed Zulus. I have never had more comfortable and quiet ANR headsets than these. You pair the bluetooth on the headset with the bluetooth on your bluetooth i phone/i pod.Now you have beautiful stereo music in your ears while you fly. The moment you tx on your radio or communicate with your pax via the intercom or some other aircraft transmits; the music cuts out automatically so that it does not interfer with your comms. It comes on again the moment there is no activity on the frequency. I know many guys prefer to hear the drone of the engine at all times. With your favourite 60s music entertaining you on a long flight you are however constantly still aware of the drone in the background and any change in pitch or frequency will have you sitting upright in no time at all! If your i pod is paired to your headset , your pax will not hear your music. They need their own bluetooth i pod or i phone paired with their headset. You have a volume control for your music on the headset control unit which is seperate from your comms or radio receive volume.
Toy story 2; I have attached a DRIFT inovation HD 170 1080p action camera to my undercarriage. Contact Warrick Kernes
http://www.actioncameras.co.za
Cell: +27 (0)82 559 7786
Now this is a great toy to have on board. Once mounted on your undercarriage you can activate and deactivate the camera from inside your cabin with a 5m range remote control. The camera records on a sd card up to 6 hrs of material. The material is hd broadcast qulity and you can record video or stills! The camera has a build in stabilisor but if you record while flying faster than 60 mph you get wind buffeting against the camera which does not give a smooth video picture. Under 60mph it is fine and the slower you fly for your shot the smoother the picture. I fly for 2 hours and record the entire flight from take off to landing. When I get home I pour myself a large red one and watch my entire flight on the big screen. It really is a great !
Whenever you see something nice you just activate your remote and capture the footage to go home and enjoy again in the comfort of you lounge.
The whole toot , camera ,mounting bracket,32gig card , long life battery etc etc came to just on R5 000.
Are all the Xenons in for Gariep ? Come on guys This event is a MUST !!!
Welcome to the latest Xenon, a military green one destined for the Kalahari !! Jaco Holtshauzen gaan bietjie daardie Botswana grens met sy Xenon patroleer om te keer dat hulle sy wild steel !! You go Jaco !

[FLYNOTE]

And then I flew over to Modling von Ludwig this morning with my 87 year old father in law for my flight test to renew my license. He loved it, the old guy. His kop is still 100% and he hops in and out of that Xenon as though he is getting into a lounge chair at home. His kop is still... Oh have I said that already ? He is 87 and... haven't I mentioned it already? Sorry , forgot for a moment. Ja swaer... I think they made humans differently all those years ago. My skoonma is 84 and still does tap dancing! And I have a tennis elbow at 60 from only lifting the very occational glass...
So there are numerous documented signs which are seen by certain doomsday prophets as signs of the end times. If they witness what I witnessed today it will be added as a definate sign that we are living in the last days. WAGTAIL HAS A GRASS RUNWAY !! NOT JUST A GRASS RUNWAY BUT A SILKY SMOOTH GRASS RUNWAY ! Hell boet , now there is a thing hey ? Gone is the dust and gravel and in is the neatly trimmed looooong beautiful grass runway. Modling made me do an engine out landing and engine out recovery just after take off but the Xenon loved it as she couldn't wait to kiss that smooth beautiful grass runway. We then did all the other excercises and the Xenon moaned like hell during the hover in the heat of the day with 50 lts in her belly and me and Modling spread in the lounge seats inside her cabin. The vertical downward speed during hover outperformed the straight and level speed by a good margin.
In any case I am permitted to fly for another two years so Gariep "Here I come with a brand new updated orange boekie in my pocket"
In any case , GARIEP ... o sorry I think I have mentioned GARIEP already ? Did I mention my skoonpa is 87 and his kop is still ok ?

[mak]

Johan, obviously your in-laws drink a lot less red wine than some people with tennis elbows, telling stories twice, etc, etc .
I don't think it is the heat of the day that makes the Xenon moan, I think its all the cameras, trims, fuel cells, I-pads, I-pods, ice for the fridge, etc, etc . I am surprised it still manages to get two men in the air. Is that why you tried/tested it with your father in law first, shame on you.
I like the pictures/picture angles, it even makes Modling von Ludwig's runway look good, but unfortunately I can't believe it, will have to go and check it out myself first.

[FLYNOTE]

BINGO !! Got the camera mounted correctly and now no more vibration ! Videos are smoooooth and now Gariep can come. I am ready to capture the entire experience It was a simple matter of reversing the clamp mount to shorten the arm and eliminate the wind buffeting effect on the camera. Now we are in business!
Makkie jy is self n sucker vir n gadget Wagtail is really transformed by Modlings new runway. It is so nice that guys will especially be flying out there just to check out the runway. It will become one of the gyro tourist attractions in Gauteng... Modling von Ludwigs grass runway.I know that this runway will dominate all conversation during the Gariep weekend. This is an award winning runway . This runway will go down in the annals of light aircraft flying in South Africa as the grass strip of all strips. If you run out of ideas of where to fly next in this Gangster Paradise of ours... how about a few touch and go's on Modling von Ludwigs brand new , state of the art , green , smooth , grass runway at Wagtail Aviation
I have a EGT probe playing up . Will have to check it out. I had new MGL probes fitted a month ago but number two went on the blink on Saturday.It reads and fluctuates between 240 and 750 !
Other than that , I have 100 hours on my Xenon coming up next weekend. 100 hrs in 4 months is fair going. The only problem so far has been a wheel spat bracket which cracked. Mike Blythe made me new ones in his Airplane Factory and these are fine. The factory brackets were welded on the 90deg. bend ? Tell me you fundies ... does aluminium crack on a bent angle if it is subjected to vibration or maybe bent a few times if one wanted to adjust the angle? I can understand a crack on a welded bend but if there is no welding? Just asking because Cilliers' trim tab broke/cracked over the weekend ? What is the nature of aluminium ? What sort of stresses can the material take ?
It was a great flying weekend again. Hot up here too as in the Western Cape. Great to hear that the guys had a good time at Swellendam. Great pics FO. Hang but you guys fly high over those mountains hey !
We also have a few stunning mountains and you can end off your mornings scenic flight with a beautiful view of the Alberton sewerage works... a must for all visitors to our beautiful part of the world. Have an engine out here and you are deep in the s%*t

[Jabbanaught]

Johan just stay clear of that sewage plant do not want to see pics of you getting into Shut

Nice Pics , you will be able to do a nice set of pics al the way to Gariep

Paul

[grahame]

Quick question for you lucky xenon drivers. How robust is the undercarriage? Will it handle the grass strips one finds at the wild coast, like fort grosvenor, mazeppa bay etc - grass and undulations and cow pats ...

[FLYNOTE]

Hang Grahame that one I dont want to answer. Factory will say 'yes' I say dunno! I am more worried about all the other parts that can get messed by bad runways. Even if your undercarriage holds, what about your engine mountings eventually and your mgl if subjected to bumps and pains. The more the wear and tear from the runway you operate from the more regular the visits to the workshop. Undercarriage ... I had a gel coat crack under my fusilage and thought it was caused by the undercarriage where the alum struts fit into the fusilage. At Wagtail we put 2x 110/115 kg guys into the cabin and loaded another few hndred kg in weights to see if the gel crack is affected and the undercarriage showed no sign of objecting. But then we were static and not bumping along on rough terrain.
Maybe Braam can enlighten us? And now Im getting out of bed and going flying. Jipeeeeee

[FLYNOTE]

Come to think of it and following on the above The very first mark1 xenon in SA operates from Wagtail for commercial use and training..in the days before Modlings Wagtail international herritage grass rumway, the runway at Wagtail was notorius for its rough surface. The first red xenon needed engin mountings replaced and things fell off and broke and was fixed and refitted. Johan van gardering who pilots the xenon is no lightweight so the stresses on the gyro have been all but gentle and mild. The undercarriage is about the only thing that has not suffered any consequences. But for me ? Tar or smooth grass, thank you

[braam hechter]

Good Morning All.

Grahame, thanks for the question, "Quick question for you lucky xenon drivers. How robust is the undercarriage? Will it handle the grass strips one finds at the wild coast, like fort grosvenor, mazeppa bay etc - grass and undulations and cow pats ..."

We are using different sets of wheels/tyres for different applications. This helps with the shock absorbing when using rough terrain. Johan's Xenon is fitted with the small wheels and wheel spats. For rough terrain we fit the bigger tundra wheels with a lower tyre pressure. (Pilot common sense while taxying, regarding speed and area, as well as the finesse in excecuting a good landing can however never be replaced)

As Johan has said, we have done a fair amount of commercial work with the red machine (generation 1). This helped us to make improvements. (When you fly a machine for 5 hours per day, for a while, you tend to get good information) All the improvements were fed back to the factory, and incorporated into the next machines. (You will see the improvements if you have the Generation 1 and the current Xenons next to each other)

There is another commercial contract in process and old "rooies" will be used again. The current plans are to have a 120 lt ferry fuel tank incorporated and also to fit an external stores beam. This can be used for addition surveillance equipment, or weapons for the military.

We are also in the process with Alto Air and Wagtail Aviation to make gyros and equipment available to various game reserves to help with anti-poaching. The FLIR and infrared equipment available, with real time down links, should come in handy.

What we are doing is to have a continious improvement program, linked to customer requirements and tested in the real operating environment. This will ensure that the following generations of gyros keep up with specific demands.

I trust this shed some light on our doings.

Fly safely

Braam Hechter

[grahame]

Thanks for the prompt and interesting replies, Flynote and Braam.

It sounds to me that South Africa is such a useful environment for field testing aircraft such as the Xenon, which was conceived and developed in Europe (does that mean there are no rough strips there at all? I'm reminded of the robust nature of Russian aircraft, and of their famous ability to handle unimproved strips). Also, on the Celier website, much is made of the sales of Xenons to one of the African countries up north (Burkina) for military use - which implies a certain amount of robustness (wonder how well they are standing up?).

Nonetheless, we have the rough stuff here a-plenty! Braam's feedback loop (fly-break-improve) will pay off dividends in future.

The tundra tyres impose a weight and drag penalty, I'm sure. How much though? To what extent is payload affected?

[braam hechter]

Hi Grahame.

One should always keep the different design criterias and legislative baselines in mind. In Europe a gyro is limited to a MAUW of 450 kg's. There are different design standards that can be used i.e. BCAR Sect T, etc. In South Africa, most of the gyros are certified to 550 kg MAUW. In the event that a Gyro is used in the military a different set of rules apply altogether.

Most of the Russian aircraft were designed with specific uses and requirements. For example, the RD-33 engine as used in the Mig 29, initially had a 300 hr life, whereafter it was removed and discarded. Through time and Service Life Extension Programs the lifespan has increased.

Looking at what Airwatch, Wagtail, Alto Air, Microflight Aviation and others have achieved, such as the range of rotors from 24 to 35 ft, Rainier with MGL, the uprated Rotax engine, Subaru engines that will supply ample horses, real time integrated support via a tracking system for commercial aircraft, etc, it is easy to see that any possible requirement can be satisfied if it is set out correctly initially. The team as mentioned has been able to plough back a vast range of experience into gyro development. Johan von Ludwig has been involved in UFO for a while and we currently have Pierre's gyro in the process of being type accepted. Johan is also currently with Ashley in Austria to testfly the Aerocopter. There are many behind the scene actors that offers so much but are never mentioned. These are all people making available time and resources to ensure that we can continue with developmental work. They take our dreams and help to turn them into reality.

We are therefore trying to have an integrated design based on a user requirement statement. Xenon is the vehicle that is used as an aid to help with the evolvement. Take the example of the rear facing camera, it is a nice feature, but was not available when we aquired the first Xenon. Through time we have been able to test new features and retrofit them.

And then, blah, blah, blah, blah.....

The bottom line is that buying, and improving an existing gyro needs to be carried out with knowledge and experience based on the requirements of an informed client within the constraints of the relevant legislation.

Greetings

Braam Hechter