Scudrunners

How many of you here have flown in a gyroplane, or would like to?

Of all the aircraft I have flown the gyroplanes were the most fun and most manoeuvrable.

Here is a link to gyroplane handling charismatics that you may find interesting.

https://www.kitplanes.com/gyroplane-safety/

For those of you who live in western Canada I highly recommend Jim Vanek of Sportcopter in Scapoose Oregon.

I did my FAA Commercial Gyroplane Pilot License with Jim and it was the most fun I ever had learning to fly a new type of aircraft.

http://www.sportcopter.com/

Back in the 60's there was a company making them based on Georgetown and we would see them around Brampton area. I was always intrigued but never had the pleasure.

Chuck, I was just chatting about this last night.  In the spring I'm going to head down to a local aerodrome and get a few hours in one.

Next in line is powered parachute.

Gyros are neat but the cost of entry is nuts.  They don’t seem particularly difficult to fly or to think ahead of, and I did get so far as to get some stick time in one.  IIRC you just need to not get too far behind the power curve and not unload the rotor, beyond that it felt like a motorcycle being carried by a Cub.

Why is the gate to these things so heavily guarded?

I am not so sure you are correct about them not being difficult.
On a rotorwing course in the US a few years ago, there was a huge emphasis on gyroplanes and their unique, hybrid, not fixed wing-not rotor wing characteristics.

Unless things have changed, the FAA rotowing manuals also have alot of space dedicated to gyroplanes.

Having said that, never flew one. They do look cool

[quote author=Trey Kule link=topic=10250.msg29528#msg29528 date=1575656875]
Unless things have changed, the FAA rotowing manuals also have alot of space dedicated to gyroplanes
[/quote]
They do, but I don’t recall it being rocket science.  What I had hoped was that there was enough overlap in basic skills to be credited something for my fixed wing time.  The full forty five hours seems like an awful lot for something that can’t hover and can’t stall.

I'm no expert but I always heard reference to retreating blade stall was on of the major issues flying a gyro plane.

I'd love to do my helicopter add-on.  In my spare time.

[quote]I'm no expert but I always heard reference to retreating blade stall was on of the major issues flying a gyro plane.[/quote]

Retreating blade stall only occurs in engine powered rotors....helicopters.

The rotor blades of a gyroplane are driven by up flowing air into the disk.