Low flying in a GYROCOPTER

Gyros can fly very low, and do so safely, because they need so little room to land if the engine fails. But there are few places where the terrain allows flying REALLY low. I am fortunate to live near just such a place - the coasts of Wirral provide the perfect environment - as long as the tide is out...
This is a flight from May 2021 in perfect flying conditions with superb visibility, nil wind and at low tide.
#gyrocopteruk #gyrocopter #gyroplane #autogyro #stuwithaview

[@patricksmith3710]

nice to here commentary and the engine instead of music. Great video.

[@virginiahansen320]

Low flying is the best flying!

[@James-gf9jl]

Good to see you taking to the air again.

[@StuWithAView]

Thanks; finally working my way through a big editing backlog 😊

[@notyhbynorthwest]

Just sensational flying around the Wirral Peninsula in these conditions. Very envious. As you say, it really is a magnificent playground for you - and it is a real treat to be brought along for the ride.

[@orical2832]

Bloody brilliant!

[@sarah-nm6dt]

Loved the footage! Hello from Oregon USA. 🍺🤠👍

[@StuWithAView]

Now there’s a place I’d like to fly…

[@brunogiannibenzi7412]

Very nice video. Exciting flight.

[@Hackamores]

Hi Stu ! All the best for 2022 and plenty of flying vids as a consquence !!! Yet another very inspiring video of yours. Makes you want to head up to the hangar and push out... Looking forward for more. ^^

[@StuWithAView]

Thank you; and to you 👍

[@crawford323]

Superb

[@mikew.inversegravitycraft]

Awesome

[@CornishColin]

Nice video & flight. About 8 years ago I got through all my gyro training & exams etc - even got 30 hours solo in an MT03 but never did the final license - life kind of got in the way. Fun machines.

[@StuWithAView]

Fun machines sums it up for me; they certainly are 😊

[@stephencameron4032]

Hi Stu, Happy New Year, great flight, I'm still persevering with the training, next stage is practice emergency landings, unfortunately, the gyro I'm learning on is temporarily off-line at the moment, but on the last flight, we had a 10 knot wind blowing straight down the runway, the climb-out was amazing, and the landings were a breeze, felt sorry for the fixed-wing guys, gyros really don't care about the wind, anyway, stay safe, all the best from Scotland, Stephen.

[@StuWithAView]

HNY to you too Stephen. Yes, gyros are great in windy conditions; we can fly on days that keep the fixed wings grounded. Hope you’re back flying soon.

[@andrewrodger775]

Brilliant bit of flying and looking like great fun. Guessing you use visual reference when low level rather than instruments?

[@StuWithAView]

Thanks; and oh yes, it is fun 😊 Yes that low you don’t have time to look at instruments; eyes have to be outside the cockpit because there’s no room for error, and there are plenty of birds. You can feel the slight altitude changes through the ‘seat of your pants’ and can get a good feel for airspeed by the engine note.

[@marcospaim77]

Sou inscrito no teu canal Admiro o voo do autogiro Muito bons teus videos Assisto todos Sou afqsionado pela aviação

[@neilcross462]

Hi stu love your videos allways thought gyrocopters were dangerous..but after discovering your great videos WOW man just amazing would love to have a back seat ride anytime..im a 66 year old ppl pilot not flown for 11 years looking to get into microlights ie skyranger..eurostar..c42.. so if you have a spare seat message me happy flying chap..

[@st.georgeguardabassi7286]

You should fly through the Mach loop in Scotland

[@StuWithAView]

I really shouldn’t. I’m flying that way tomorrow (the Mach Loop is in Wales, BTW; centred on the town of Machynlleth) - and I’m taking a detour to avoid it because it is popular with fast jets travelling at up to 550 knots. If I met them it wouldn’t end well.

[@robertheywood141]

Awesome video!! How slow can you safely fly when your at your lowest? Could you land and takeoff from some of those sand bars like bush planes do?

[@StuWithAView]

Thank you. Flying low is all about energy conservation, so as you lose the potential energy from altitude you need to increase speed to compensate with kinetic energy. I try to keep the speed up above 80mph when low. I could land on the sand bars, but you never know how hard or soft the sand is, so taking off again may be problematic. This estuary has a very high tidal range, so I’d rather not risk it.

[@beagle5]

Brilliant Video.....Very difficult to get a Licence in the u.k sadly, many give up after 40 hours plus, yes it is the best flying I have done having flown 17 different types of aircraft and one Fast Jet. Tiger Moth is great, and other aircraft enjoyed, aerobatics. Yet many ppl people I know still have to do around 70 to 90 hours just to get licenced in the u.k on a gyro, so what is going on? are we all that uncapable?

[@StuWithAView]

I do sympathise, but this wasn’t my experience. When I did my PPL(A) I had a young family and had just started my own business, so was only able to fly once every two weeks. With frequent instructor changes (the flying school instructors kept being poached by the airlines) this meant that the first half of each lesson was relearning what I’d forgotten and proving myself to the new instructor. This is a very inefficient way of learning and as a result it took 2 years to get my fixed wing licence. When I did my gyro licence some 15 years later I was able to devote three solid weeks to it and got it done in minimum hours. Yes it definitely helped coming from a fixed wing PPL, but even more so devoting the solid blocks of time.

[@beagle5]

@@StuWithAView Agreed, sadly it appears that many feel all they do is a Glorified Trial Lesson, and all in slow motion, asking many, they feel the same. The P.P.L. was clear, and precise training, with a refresher if one has not been up for a while and one knew exactly where you were. With the Gyro In some cases, a different Instructor may show, possibly, where one is not taught correctly or other failings. Finding an instructor who will give the hours can be hard, many would like to complete in at least a year, not much to ask all being well.

[@dplaing4475]

Great video (as usual.) Spectacular scenery. One thing I would like is if you stayed with the forward facing camera a lot more instead of cutting away to the mast camera etc. Especially during takeoff and landing sequences. I fly a Cavalon in New Zealand and I am very interested in various techniques at different stages of the flight. Your commentary is just great. (BTW do all ATC controllers speak at a million miles an hour ? We have a 'running battle' here to get experienced operators to slow down their radio calls.)

[@StuWithAView]

Perhaps I’m spoilt by too many cameras; although only 4 running for this flight 😁. I take your point; it’s a difficult balance trying to make it accessible for gyro pilots and non gyro pilots alike. I think the UK controllers talk reasonably slowly; I found ATC in America much more challenging. I’d love to fly in NZ; spectacular. I’ve been using MSFS to explore the Marlborough Sounds and it’s just beautiful; would love to see it in real life, and the Southern Alps…

[@stippolyte]

Great to have you back on YT, such wonderful scenery. Video made me think would it be legal/possible/practicable to buy or make inflatable skis/floats? Thinking of cog, drag etc. Any legal issues launching, taking off on rivers, estuaries,reservoirs, lakes (know its banned on Windermere). Wish I'd followed up on flying lessons when I had the chance 😔.

[@StuWithAView]

There are gyros in other countries on floats and skis. Floats in particular would give a lot of drag; there’s enough drag already on a gyro from the rotor. Would be fun though.

[@Froestenpust]

I am a student gyrocopter pilot and would like to ask about the video stuff: Is your raw footage as blurry as here at youtube? I don't mean your 360°-cam, knowing it can't deliver really sharp pictures, but the other camera seems having problems creating crisp footage, too. Just asking for a good decision making in buying an action cam... Please, don't take this as an offence, I like your footage really much and the lovely countryside. Can't wait for more. 🙂

[@StuWithAView]

Nope 😊

[@KRAUCH74]

Is that place tidal? looks like all that sand would be underwater at high tide..

[@StuWithAView]

Yes; it has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. I time my flights for low tide.

[@philryder966]

Wow! Fantastic! Great photography, Sir! How slow can you fly?

[@StuWithAView]

Thank you. My gyro needs an airspeed over the rotors of around 40 mph to maintain altitude; if pointed into a 40 mph wind that means I can hover, with zero ground speed. Any slower and I would gradually descend.

[@lagyro]

That looks like way too much fun...

[@StuWithAView]

Yep; I need to do it again 😁

[@lagyro]

@@StuWithAView when flying over high-risk terrain most of the time, it is just necessary from time to time to unwind and simply have fun...

[@StuWithAView]

Oh yeah. Although the high risk terrain stuff can be fun too 😊

[@lagyro]

@@StuWithAView Oh, absolutely... Otherwise nobody would watch the videos... :)

[@garyjones2582]

Love your videos.. I subbed.. Would love to get one, one day... I noticed in another gyro video, the pilot was waving his arm and there appeared to be no one there.. is there a reason for this?

[@StuWithAView]

Probably someone you couldn’t see on camera.

[@lebojay]

Is this safe? Would it be safe in a fixed wing aircraft? Why or why not? I’m not judging - seriously asking, because I want to do it.

[@StuWithAView]

Is it safe? Well it's general aviation flying in a small aircraft down low, so there are safer ways of spending your time. There are three main hazards to flying so low. Firstly, you need to be accurate on the controls - there isn't much room for error. Secondly, birds are a hazard over terrain like this, so knowing the areas to avoid and keeping a good lookout are essential. Thirdly, there's the issue of what happens if the engine quits. The first and second issues are the same for fixed wing. As regards engine out, the gyro has two key advantages over a fixed wing. Firstly the rotor acts as a store of energy so, particularly when flying fast, as I do when down low, the energy in the rotor gives you time to assess and cushion any engine-out landing. Secondly, and related to this, the gyro lands much slower and in much less distance than a fixed wing.

[@user-mt1qw4vp2t]

Панель приборов нужно расширить - катастрофически не хватает места для монтажа ,,будильников" .

[@alanwhitfield1907]

Why do you call this a gyrocopter?. Do you understand the difference between an autogyro, a gyrocopter and a Gyroplane?. This is an autogyro.

[@StuWithAView]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro - 'An autogyro (from Greek αὐτός and γύρος, "self-turning"), also known as a gyroplane or gyrocopter' - I personally prefer gyrocopter.

[@alanwhitfield1907]

@@StuWithAView I appreciate that my view might be a bit pedantic, but for me, an autogyro has two blades on what is known as a ‘teetering head,’, with just a cyclic control stick. A gyrocopter is similar, but with more than two blades, usually three, which requires a more complicated rotor head that has both cyclic and collective control, requiring a mixer unit and swashplate interface between the pilots controls and the rotor head. I would refer to this a a gyrocopter.There is another variation, that has a three blade rotor, with cyclic and collective control, but also having stub wings, as in that Mculloch J2 that has a three blade rotor head from the Hughes 269 helicopter, with additional stub wings that add to the lift in forward flight and also provide fuel tank capacity. It’s not cast in concrete, but I think there is a difference between autogyro, gyrocopter and gyroplane. Examples of all three type are on view at The Helicopter Museum at Weston Super Mare

[@halfrhovsquared]

@@alanwhitfield1907 - The official terminology according to the CAA is “gyroplane”. However, the correct RT phraseology is “gyrocopter” - any distinction made between the “three types” is purely arbitrary (other than two of them being used as trademarks, of course).