Gyro in a Gyro?

[Grant Webb]

Hi all.

Just wondering, has anyone tried a gyro in an autogyro? If so, what have been your experiences with this?

Cheers,

Grant W.

NZ

[Denis Watkins]

Not tried it yet Grant on a flying auto gyro, but an axis gyro or gyros will stabilise any flying axis, when correctly set to the lowest gain, where no shimmying of the axis is apparent. The gyro can be switched off, whilst the model is trimmed out, and when switched on at the Tx, the model will become more stable especially in blustery conditions.

[Frank Skilbeck]

Another option would be to fit a flight controller, you could then set it up so the flight controller limits the max angle of bank and levels the model when you centre the sticks (attitude mode). I have some CC3D flight controllers in a couple of quads and the software allows them to be configured for fixed wing, my Atom isn't in flying condition at the moment (motor was taken out for another model), but when i put it back together I'll try a flight controller in it.

[David perry 1]

At the risk of being contentious, isnt learni g to fly a model in all conditions part of what we do? Why leave the fun but to a gyro?

I accept that there are some very good reasons to fit gyros, but surely sports flying isnt one of them

D

[Frank Skilbeck]

Posted by David perry 1 on 22/09/2016 14:41:03:
At the risk of being contentious, isnt learni g to fly a model in all conditions part of what we do? Why leave the fun but to a gyro?

I accept that there are some very good reasons to fit gyros, but surely sports flying isnt one of them

D

Don't disagree, but if a gyro/flight controller can help you along the way then that can be good too. Maybe better than trying without and trashing the model. I can't think of anybody trying to fly a helicopter these days without at least a gyro on the tail.

[MattyB]

HH's SAFE technology (with panic buttons, limited back angles etc) might help some newcomers, but a more standard gyro really does very little to help a beginner - it just dampens out oscillations caused by other factors like the wind. The main advantage is allowing smaller, lighter models to fly in a wider range of conditions thatn they otherwise could. I was a non-believer too for some time, but having seen a few UMX planes fly I tried one out in a parkflier sized aerobat and it was great, giving me 7 or 8mph more wind "window" than before. Over 50" span though I can't see much point unless you have a very specific model (high value scale jet, or maybe something very short coupled like a Corsair that is notorious for tail wag).

[Frank Skilbeck]

And that's where a flight controller in a an autogyro might come it, they are easy to get disoriented with and get them on their side and they need a lot of height to recover, plus due to the rotor blade procession the rudder can cause the model to bank with the rudder one way and against it the other way. To fly them you have to use the rudder and aileron controls independently, a flight controller could compensate for some of these interactions and if using attitude mode stop the model from getting into irrecoverable attitudes, and save a few rotor blades as you get to grips with an autogyro.

[David perry 1]

Fair enough, especially with the smaller models thing. Im just an old git i suppose whose been around a while and i hate to see our hobby de-skill itself. Or maybe i just dont understand gyros! Mind you, after flying my micromold Lark and mfa 500 without gyros and then with...i understood them then allright.

D