George Elliott

Hi Rich, Thanks for your kind compliments. I have put a tail wheel on the Panther instead of a skid. I did this as a result of my experience with the Atom on our rough tarmac surface, since the skid tended to allow the Atom to vere off course due, I think, to the lack of ground purchase at the tail. You are very welcome to use the footage in any way to further the cause! George

Hi Rich, Better late than never! I enjoy flying the Atom so much I had to try the Panther and I haven't been disappointed. As you hopefully will see from the video made by my flying buddy, the rotors spin up very easily and the take-off is very gentle. Flying is just as good but landing with my present trimming and experience is far from the finished article. This was my third flight, the first two being short trials, after which I added more weight to the nose, as the Panther seemed to drop its tail and wallow as speed was reduced for landing. This is obviously not the whole story, even given my lack of experience, since the third landing was the worst of the lot. I have now reduced the back disc angle at neutral elevator stick slightly. I had to remove a little of the material at the core of the mast at the top to allow more downward pitch of the head. I'm hoping this will make landing more straight forward, and more like the Atom. I can only repeat what others have said : that the Panther is another great design. PS I am about to start work on a RPG. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPvIH5NB2uU

Here's a short video made by Stewart, my flying buddy. Hope you like it. He has thoughtfully edited out most of the poor flying technique! George https://youtu.be/rKox5vVvmSY

Hi Mark, I fly off a hard tarmac surface and a tailwheel is a definite benefit in these circumstances as the skid tends to bounce a little and can cause erratic movements. Can't comment on grass surfaces but I suspect that there is less tendency to bounce. Hope this is helpful. George

Rich, Thanks for your nice comments and thanks for bringing up the video. Background noise is from my new indoor model ! Just kidding ....... it's from some testing at the nearby Kirkistown short circuit race track. Phil, That's a very good looking Atom; very well trimmed.

Rich, Nice to see your video of the Trimming Day. I would love to have been there to get a closer view of all the various 'takes' on your design and have a chat with the builders. However, the forum does a great job in beaming all the news across to this side of the Irish Sea. Thanks to all. George

Sorry about the poor quality of the video, but all my flying mates had gone home and I had to rely on a static camera set-up. This was the second flight of the day, the fourth in total. The first of the day ended in the adjacent field, with full forward cyclic (?) being held to prevent soaring. A bit more trimming is required, both for the Atom and the guy at the flightline. Happy gyrating ! George http://youtu.be/obB0LTx1j40 Edited By George Elliott on 25/04/2015 19:08:24

http://youtu.be/DrAPdvrKwgc Some pictures of my Atom Special George

Hi Rich, Had my first (albeit brief) flight with the Atom Special this week. What a great little autogyro! There was a crosswind on our tarmac strip, so I didn't have the luxury of trial hops. However, the rotor spun up very easily in the 8 to 10 mph breeze and it was up and away with ease. I had completed 3 sides of a circuit when, turning into wind again, it slowed, went nose up and tumbled about 20 feet to the grassy surrounding field. I'm a novice on this type of aircraft, and will need lots of time to get acquainted with its character. I approached the scene of the crash with trepidation, but amazingly, the only damage was a very slight parting of the balsa block upper front deck from the side, as my battery had shifted forward into the taper of the nose. So it's a tough little bird too. I've ordered a 1600 mAh battery ( I was using a slightly heavier 1800) as its slightly less bulky and lighter. Just waiting for it and a good flying day before the next attempt. Thanks for the plan and all the sound advice from both you and all the contributors to the forum. George

As someone who has tinkered with depron (a Foamy Jets F 15 and a couple of autogyros) I suspected that lots of applications would be found for this generally unappreciated material. However, your fantastic build has really pushed the boundaries in demonstrating its potential. Best of luck when you finally lift off; I'm really looking forward to the airborne pictures and hopefully the video! By the way, a really tough but light material can be produced by sandwiching depron between 1/64th ply with a foam friendly adhesive.

Super mag, great site, put my name in the hat please.

I look forward to both magazine and web articles. I particularly enjoy Alex Whittaker.