Yoda to answer your questions, I did do a comparison of the wing loading of various large fixed wings to that of a gyro to compare how a gyro handles turbulence. The thread can be found at:
viewtopic.php?t=5300
Because of a gyro's high wing (or more correctly) blade loading, it compares somewhere close to that of a Learjet. Also, the tip of a gyro is flying at around 600km/h, so the gyro handles turbulence as though it is a Learjet flying at 600km/h! Gyro's can handle a lot turbulence, and I would say, on a normal hot summer's day, the gyro is far easier to handle, and is more stable than the Boeing 737 that I fly. On the other hand, I have landed in a 70 knot wind before in a Boeing jet, and am not sure I would like to have flown my gyro in the same conditions, so gyro's definitely have their limit. Gyro's also don't have the penetration that a heavy aircraft has if severe sink is encountered by rotors from the leeward side of a mountain. I also wouldn't like to fly in a 40KT wind around some of those Cape mountains in my gyro. Maybe Jetranger can comment here how bad the turbulence gets around these mountains in a gyro.
I do feel that gyro's are the safest form of flying amongst
single engine aircraft, because they can't stall like a fixed wing, and can't run out of rotor RPM like a helicopter. Talking about safety, I heard an interesting stat the other day: A jet airliner is 10x safer than a car, which in turn is 10x safer than a light aircraft. Whenever flying one's trike/gyro etc. one must therefore remember you have a 10x greater chance of dying in your light aircraft/trike/gyro than in your car. Sobering, but considering the various incidents and accidents around that involve powerlines etc, this is easy to believe. Prior to leaving on an airline jet, the most dangerous part of the journey is your drive to the airport in your car!
I'll be honest, I feel 100% safe in a Boeing in the worst turbulence possible. One must bear in mind I fly with a sheet of metal around me that is at least 5mm thick , with a glass windscreen that is 30 mm thick. I do find that when flying very high in the gyro (around +-2000 feeet and above), and encountering some turbulence, I do get scared and feel quite uncomfortable. There's no reason for it. Maybe my brain tells me I am going to fall out! At low altitude, I am not at all scared though in the gyro, even if the flying conditions are really bad. Helicopter and gyro's are best flown at low altitude because of this. Maybe one feels safer in a fixed wing because of the perceived solid feel a wing gives, or an enclosed cabin, although this is boring for me!
Flying jets requires much more anticipation, than flying gyro's. On a straight approach to the runway, we already start running our flap when we are 20nm (38km) from the runway threshold. If you leave it any later, one won't make it. We also start our descent from around 100nm (180km), depending upon our weight, the QNH, upper winds etc. The thrust of the engines comes all the way back, and the jet effectively glides for 20 minutes it takes us to reach circuit height. Company policy says we have to have our thrust returned back to an approach setting (ie not at idle), the gear must be down, and full flap must be selected by 1000 feet on the approach, otherwise a Go Around has to be initiated (SAA requires us to fly a Stablised Approach). Every single approach of ours is monitored and analysed to see if we have remained inside of the various company limits. Glide approaches are not flown in jets. They tend to fly into the ground if flown this way!
Now this question is aimed at FO-Gyro cause I once heard someone make the statement that gyros can hande the same wind as a boing 747. They also mentioned that a gyro is basically the safest airie you can get.
so I just go high enough till I don't feel the bumps. (and hope that you aren't flying your bus that way!) I figure flying high is like swimming - if it's deeper than you can stand then as long as you're swimming ok it doesn't really matter if it's 60 feet or 6 thousand below you! 
