Hovering on a Gusty Day

Gusty winds are not an issue for gyrocopters. This blustery 30kt+ autumn day provided a great opportunity to go flying when everything else was grounded, and to practise hovering
#gyrocopteruk #gyrocopter #hovering #autogyro

[@tom95521]

Motorcycles of the sky. The descents are amazing. Almost like a roller coaster with a gentle touchdown.

[@davidcousins3508]

Stu ..only just found your channel but it’s fascinating. I hold a PPL (A) but the gyro copter seems a marvellous machine to fly …I’m considering learning to fly one 👍

[@StuWithAView]

Hi David. I was PPL (A) for 15 years before I tried a gyro; had my PPL (G) within 3 months. To me, it’s the most fun I’ve had in the sky. Fixed wing is great; but the gyro experience, particularly open cockpit, is just something else.

[@jimrees1778]

Gyros amaze me. I remember flying a Cessna 152 on a windy day, and while practicing slow flight, I was able to actually fly backward. It was a strange feeling while looking at the ground. One day I hope to get some gyro time.

[@wingsstringsandreallysharp2535]

Enjoying your videos! I too am a Fixed Wing pilot but I'm catching a mysterious bug regarding these auto gyros. Looks like an absolute blast but it also looks way different on the controls than fixed wing. Take offs appear to be more like what I would do in a really high density altitude day in a fixed wing; break ground but pitch forward to gain airspeed rather than altitude initially, once the safe airspeed is achieved then you can climb? Landing is something else but really looks like fun!

[@StuWithAView]

They are different from fixed wings; but not dramatically so. Take-offs are (unlike in a fixed wing) trickier than landings; the nose wheel wants to lift early, so you need to catch it and hold it just above the ground until the rotor has enough energy to also lift the mains; you then need to maintain ground effect for a little longer to obtain safe climb-away speed of around 60 mph (in an MT-03). Landing is more 'cushioned' than in a fixed wing, as the momentum of the spinning rotor continues to generate lift for a while after the airspeed decays; and the peripheral view in my open-tandem machine makes judging the flare much easier than in my C182.

[@comeflywithlee433]

Another great video, thanks.

[@StuWithAView]

Thank you :)

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

FWIW: I was born and raised in Florida. While flying around mountains IS beautiful, flying over "flat land" is *very nice* IMHO....

[@trickcyclists]

I've been in engineering maintenance most of my life.. and seeing that stick vibrating like that, to me, can only mean one thing.. ...something is going to break sooner or later. Pilots keep telling me it's 'normal' on a gyro. and maybe so.. but it doesn't half make me think, "Yeah, but what if..". I (think) I understand the 'advancing blade' problem, in that there's always going to be an inherent 'throb' to the stick, even if the rotors are perfectly in track and balance.. so, surely it would help to use a three or four blade rotor to tryb to cancel out the major cause of the throb.. no? I love watching your videos Stu, you're always aware of how things must appear to the viewer, which is appreciated.. keep them coming. I'd love to have a go.. but I just can't get my head around that vibration, and feel I simply couldn't trust the thing! What if..... lol. Plus.. and I know this doesn't happen, much, I hope.. but what the heck can you do to "Recover from unusual attitudes" ?? The thought of entering a tumble scares the bejesus out of me. .

[@StuWithAView]

Thanks for your comments Chris. As for the perennial stick shake issue, all I can tell you is what you’ve already heard - it’s normal for a gyro. I guess it either bothers you or it doesn’t. My blades are not perfectly balanced; they’re approaching their lifed hours limit and will be replaced within the next year or so. But even then, with new blades, there will still be stick shake! Don’t forget the stick is a lever, a couple of feet long; so what you see in my hand is a significantly amplified version of what is transmitted from the rotor head. And of course there is vibration inherent in any reciprocating piston engine, and as a rule they don’t disintegrate. As for recovery from unusual attitudes, in a gyro it’s mostly straightforward, albeit the opposite of fixed wing recovery - power to idle, stick pulled back - this loads G on the rotor disc which accelerates it and provides rotor energy. The killer is negative G, as you would experience with stick forward at the top of a climb - this decelerates the rotor, and must be avoided. That’s why the standard fixed wing recovery of nose down and add power is bad news in a gyro!

[@gordon228]

Nice video Stu, trip to Mona soon ?

[@StuWithAView]

Thanks Gordon. I tend to fly mid-week, so have not yet managed to make it to Mona. Some day soon, I hope.

[@jpmad3152]

I'm enjoying your videos very much! Nice camera placements and resolution. I am curious,....how does a gyro respond in light to moderate turbulence vs a fixed wing? I love to fly, but have a hard time with those 10 ft. "surprise" drops.

[@StuWithAView]

Rotary craft are less affected by turbulence than fixed wing aircraft because the rotor has a higher loading than a wing. Simply put, you don’t feel the bumps anything like as much.

[@AndrewTGreen]

Do you think you'll ever move to an enclosed cabin? Best Wishes/Regards!

[@StuWithAView]

No! For me, being outside is a huge part of the pleasure of gyro flying. If I want to be enclosed I’ll take my Cessna 182 - that’s my ‘go places’ machine. The gyro is pure fun 😊

[@guybuxman4884]

I really enjoy your videos. They're both instructive and visually captivating. In gyrocopters is it possible to make cyclic-only turns or are coordinated turns required? Thanks.

[@StuWithAView]

Thanks Guy; appreciated. In a gyro all turns are automatically co-ordinated; you only use rudder for balancing power changes and wind drift. For a converting fixed wing pilot it’s weird; I can remember my gyro instructor repeating ‘why are you using pedal?’ more than once!

[@guybuxman4884]

StuWithAView Fascinating. Do you have to increase power or pull back on the cyclic in turns to prevent losing altitude?

[@StuWithAView]

Yes Guy; both. In that respect it is like a fixed wing. The stick moves the whole rotor disc, it’s not actually altering the blade pitch.

[@heresjohnny888]

Beautiful machine, is it me or I'm noticing quite a bit of "stick shake." Is the rotor tracking properly ?

[@StuWithAView]

heresjohnny888 you’re not the first to comment on the stick shake; but it’s entirely normal on the MT-03, particularly with rotor system 1 (as I have). It’s really not noticeable in flight as it needs only a light grip on the control column.

[@PapaPapaGolf1]

Could you have gone above the clouds if you wanted to? Is it legal?

[@StuWithAView]

Gyrocopters must be flown in VMC (visual meteorological conditions) which in the UK requires that you have sight of the surface at all times. Therefore you can legally fly above scattered cloud, but not above a full overcast. And you certainly wouldn’t want to fly through cloud - you’d lose spatial awareness (through the lack of a horizon) very quickly.