Who flies what from where ?

[Gyronaut]

Looking forward to your Solo Eagle1 !!

By the way, Eagle1 is a BIG oke so careful what you say about Sycamore's around him!

[Coyote]

Had 1 1/2 hrs this morning of awesome flying. Skyline was a bit hazy when we took off but had great fun doing the "cool stuff" like steep turns and hovers, then it was back to the circut for the boring stuff.
I swear an hour feels like 10 minutes ?? am I the only one that experiences this. Everytime Joshua tell me its time to do a FULL Stop - I argue that we have only been flying for 20 minutes - he is always right though.

[Learjet]

So there I was happily doing my fixed wing PPL (with a dream to eventually do my HPL) when my cousin offered to take me for a flip in his Magni M16. With more than just a little trepidation I climbed into the back and wondered if this thing would actually get airborne...

A few minutes later and I was coming to understand what flying was really about!!! :D Spectacular, unobstructed views, wind through my hair and a REAL "seat-of-your-pants" sensation of flying! 20 minutes later and I'm trying to think what I can "pawn, beg, borrow and steal" to buy one of these!

Start reading up, trolling through forums and quizzing every pilot I know about gyros and it soon becomes apparent that gyro flying really is the misunderstood and under-appreciated "Cinderella" of aviation.

Several weeks later, I was fortunate to buy Francois Brink's beautiful Magni M16 and Johan Froneman sent me solo in December last year. What an incredible sense of elation and freedom! I've now clocked just over 115 hours and still have lots to learn and plenty of experience to gain but I'm loving every minute & every second of it! I hangar and fly out of Goedverwacht Air Strip (near FAFK) Needless to say the FW PPL and HPL plans are long forgotten...

Goedverwacht website http://www.itecape.com/gas/index.htm

Dave

[crashtestdummy]

I am new to this but have been listening/reading the forum for a few month

Type:Sycamore gyro - subaru 2.5
Location: PE
Experience : 4 Solo flights then my partner crashed it
Busy rebuilding waiting for head from OZ ( solid drive prerotator )

[Gyronaut]

Welcome Crash (unfortunate nickname) lol

Glad to hear you are rebuilding!! Good luck and many happy hours when she's fixed. Technically you would be an untested crashtestdummy right? Someone else broke your toys. damn!

It was nice to meet you recently and I wish you well. Keep us posted on the developments as you build.

[Low Level]

Welcome CTD. While your motor is silent, make some noise on the forum.

P.S. I would have sh!t myself if I was out of an aerie after 4 hrs solo - cause the fun starts when you get rid of the noisy sandbag in the back.

Keep us posted.

Another P.S What happenned with the crash? Maybe we can learn something.

[Gyronaut]

CTD will no doubt explain since he witnessed it but this is what I was told by him and Gary.

"The Subaru has so much power, that the nose gets light during prerotation, so to keep it down the stick comes forward while accellerating".

Ideal conditions for high speed blade flap - which obviously happened. I suggest the CofG should be looked at carefully. Stick forward before the wheels leave the ground is asking for it in any gyro. Jolts and bumps will be transferred to the rotor.. remember Gyroscopic Precession...?

Len

[crashtestdummy]

Well there is one thing to learn from my partners mistake and that is after
one solo flight there is no need for over confidence you must respect the plane javascript:emoticon(':oops:')
I had just left the airfield after my 4th solo when I got the news of the blade flap so I did not see the accident

maybe the center of gravity was out
we had it checked by the guys from messina and all was ok
hang test and all
It would be nice to know what the hang angle of a sycamore is with a rotax ? if anybody could help

[Gyronaut]

It would be nice to know what the hang angle of a sycamore is with a rotax ? if anybody could help

According to the Mass and Balance Report, part of the Flight Operators Handbook for my Sycamore, 12.5deg min and 16deg max.

Direct from the book:

"Keel Angle with Stick Neutral

And 75kg Front Seat : 12.5dg MIN and 16deg MAX"

Additional Note

The above limits are checked with the aircraft suspended from the main teeter bolt and loaded the the specified maximum all up payload (250kg). With the joystick pitched in the neutral position the keel angle relative to the horizontal should be within the limits specified above"

This is for a New Generation Sycamore Eagle, Advanced Kinetics 31ft Rotor with a Rotax 914F so ignore any weights, these will be different for different machines. Angle should stay the same though.

Hope that helps

Rgds

Len

[mak]

CTD

Sorry to hear about your plane, hope your partner is ok, physically and mentally.

Hope to see you guys back in the air soon.

One question to the seycamore gyronauts, what is your normal pre-rotation rotor speed, rotor and air speed at take off?

[Gyronaut]

Mak, in a nutshell, I usually prerotate to 120, come back on the cyclic, let it build to about 140 with propwash, release prerotator, release brake, full throttle, gets light at about 20mph, stick slightly forward so it doesnt jump into the air, airborne by 35-40 and rotor rpm by then is about 310 to 320 depending on weight. I stay in ground effect until airspeed is 60-70 then rotate.

For really short-field or strong headwind I will let the rotor RPM build to about 180 before releasing the brake but beware of flying behind the power curve so keep it low until airspeed is adequate before rotating.

Len

PS, NEVER come back on the stick in a Sycamore under 120rpm especially in a strong wind. Higher rpm prevents blade flap. Been there done that got the tail broken

[NickL]

Pearly Beach Airfield (Gansbaai)
RAF2000
+/- 360 hrs

Saw a bensen in a Pop Mechanic at school and wanted to build one. Gave up ont that idea and bought one from Willie Putter in Knysna. Got my training being towed behind a bakkie on dusty Karoo airfields and salt pans every holiday. Eventually got my wings after two years. Had three engine outs with the the 'trusty' old Mac - had regular tennis elbow from engine starting and rotor spinning - lost 25% of my hearing and eventually decided to get something quieter and and more reliable which I could share with family and friends. Ended up with an RAF (in a syndicate of 4)and absolutely MAD about gyro flying - and YES the Bensen is STILL my favourite!

[Low Level]

Welcome NickL.

Please do not hold back on sharing experiences with pics.

By the way - any pics of old trustworthy and the newbie.

[NickL]

Hi Ldel

Thanks for the welcome and sorry for the late reply. Finally took the bold step to join cyberspace (flying without control?) - can you give me some pointers on inserting a photo?

Cheers

[Low Level]

Hi Nick

First it will be neccesary to reduce the size of the picture to smaller than 100 kb - the max allowed size for pics on the forum.

Open your pictures folder - click with the right mouse button on the picture you want to post.

In the drop down menu click on "send to" and then on "mail recipient".

Click OK when asked to "make pictures smaller".

A mail will open with an attachment. Right click the attachment and save to folder again. Discard the mail.

On the bottom of your message, click on "Upload attachment" - browse, open and add file - just like that. - and we'll be able to see your pride and joy.