pewe
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| posted on 1/9/09 at 01:33 PM |
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The next project....
Been having a long hard think about the next project.
Over the weekend the local air-strip had an Open Day which we dropped in on.
Trial flights for not mucho in a Gyrocopter, latest generation of auto-giro.
Such a buzz - half way between completely cr*pping yourself and euphoria - floating above the ground at a few hundred feet with little to nothing
obscuring the view.
Self-build possible for a single seater and syndicates for owning a twin seater.
Maybe, just maybe.....
Cheers, Pewe 
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 1/9/09 at 01:40 PM |
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I’d recommend you look at flexwing microlights instead. Their far safer and they still land at stupidly low speeds i.e 35mph
I looked into the Gyrocopters and all I found was crash reports, seems they’re very easy to tip stall the rotors which isn’t recoverable without a lot
of height. A Flexwing on the other hand will always try to self recover from a stall. I use to own one, think it only cost £3000 and only had 500hrs
on it with new wing covering. Keep meaning to go back to it…when I ever get enough time 
Another alternative is a powered paraglider, again very cheap and the wings are a lot more stable than they use to be. Nice not to have hanger fee’s
either
[Edited on 1/9/09 by Mr Whippy]
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pewe
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| posted on 1/9/09 at 01:48 PM |
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Interestingly son had a flexwing flight on Sat. and was totally taken by it.
Suppose my instructor was biased as he flies helicopters for Thames Valley Police full-time.
In comparison to a helicopter's "accident waiting to happen" or "in-side out food mixer" status gyros must seem safe!
Cheers, Pewe
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 1/9/09 at 02:01 PM |
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I got into it when I went up to the local club for a shifty and got asked if I wanted to go up (they have such a high power to weight ratio they fly
better with a passenger). I think I spent the whole time just laughing it was so much fun, basically like being on a flying motorbike with the
passengers legs hanging out the side. Really is great fun and totally different to being in a plane, I was learning to fly Cessna’s at the time and
immediately gave that up to do the microlights. Mine was a two cylinder one made by Pegasus, it was around 400cc and even that took off at 45 degs
with only me in it  best of all it has a foot accelerator like a car so speed and height control is very easy. I could assemble the wing and lift
it on to the trike by myself, not bad for only being 5ft 5in tall 
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flibble
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| posted on 1/9/09 at 02:47 PM |
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Oooh, sounds interesting, although I'd go with whippy and think about microlights or Paramotors.
I did most of my lessons for the first but illness/money forced a stop to that - it was the best fun ever though!
Bought a Paramotor after that and really should get out there and fly it!
Either way, fast cars/bikes are the most fun you can have until you discover going skywards IMHO - go for it 
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