Gyroo!...an autogyro for under £25?

[Muriwaipete]

Hi all,

Pete here,

just need a little help (Some club members would say need a lot of help)

Totally new to this gyrocopter stuff, Gyroo is built so now I need to get my head around this CG , hang angle business.

Does any one have a video or photos of this being done?

If there's already some on the the thread then I have totally missed it.

Hopefully I can get some advice on this.

All help is greatly appreciated.

 

Regards

Muriwaipete.

NZ

 

 

[Richard Harris]

Hi Pete and welcome to the forum.

 

To make life easier I opted for a point of balance rather than a 'hang angle' which should be taken with your model ready to fly (battery, rotors fitted etc) This point is 50mm in front of the mast where it intersects with the top of the fuselage and should balance horizontally. There is a tolerance of 8mm back and forth of this point and should be easy to achieve by moving your battery back and forth (some have had to cut the battery aperture so as to  get their heavier batteries back a bit).

 

Hope this make sense?

 

Rich

 

[Muriwaipete]

Many thanks Rich.

Have managed to achieve the 50mm, Had to cut a bit more out for battery.

Any way thanks for clarifying a couple of points.i.e model ready to fly.

Now just need a couple of fine days and low wind.

 

Cheers
Pete

[lesley]

Hi, Finally got back to finishing my Gyroo but need to ask a question please. I bought the razor head from coolwind but the ball links inserted in the head only accept 1mm piano wire not 2mm as stated in the mag,  If I use 1mm will i get some flex regarding control . Thank you.

[Richard Harris]

Lesley,

 

The ball links for supplied with the Razor head should be correct for an M2 thread to be screwed into them tightly creating their own thread within the plastic, for this reason the hole should be smaller than 2mm (if this makes sense?).

Even with 2mm rods fitted there will be flexibility in them until  model is flying where they are subjected to tension and become rigid. To some degree this flex helps save servo arms in 'an event', a lot of builders have stiffened these up once they have got to grips with flying an autogyro.

 

Rich 

[Magnatilla]

Hi,

I’m a new member on the forum. I was after a bit of advice on a Gyroo I built over Xmas. I had the maiden flight with it over the weekend and got in the air really easily but then had a panic as it flew off to the right and then climbed really hard (actually did a loop) and then sort of landed hard and broke the boom. ☹️ I think I may have over throttled at first as I normally fly fixed wing and on a maiden normally gain some height before trimming. Could anybody help me as to where I’m going wrong as really want to be in the auto gyro club! 🙂

[Trevor]

I think the main thing to remember is that whereas with fixed wing airspeed is your best friend, with an autogyro, it is rotor speed so don’t be afraid to slow down and ease back on the ‘elevator’ to keep the rotors turning and give yourself time to think.

 

Good luck,

 

Trevor

[Magnatilla]

I think your right it’s a different mind set you need to be in to fly them, almost forgot what you known about flying fixed wing and start fresh,

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

 

It's all about throttle control, to climb with an autogyro power is increased, vice versa to descend. Pitch control is generally used to control airspeed. 

I'm guessing that you have simply added too much power, to help with this fixed wing instinct it may be worth propping down a bit until you get the knack.

It's also worthwhile starting your take off run downwind to where you are stood and try and get the lift off close to you as you can, you can then observe whats going on and react in accordance as its easier to see. At the point of lift off  you will be probably be at quite a high throttle setting, it's best to back off as soon as you ROG, this will drop the nose. Try not to pull back on the rotors and force things, the gyro will get airborne on its own if trimmed correctly.

I took this video Sunday and you can see how I do it, if you listen you can hear me back off the throttle on both models for a steady climb out as soon as they are in the air.

It will become second nature eventually, also worth trying the same technique with your fixed wings. 

Hope this helps?

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Richard Harris

[Magnatilla]

Hi Richard,

Thanks very much for the tips I need all I can get I think. I definitely took off away from myself so not ideal. It all happened quite quickly but as I remember when it lifted off it flew to the right and then into a cross wind which didn’t help. I have made sure I’ve got a couple of degrees of left pre trimmed in now. I’m running an overlander 3530 1100kv motor and I’m using 10x5 APC style prop so smaller than recommended for that motor. When it flew off the way it did I was thinking it must be down to the way I set everything up, Rotor head CG etc.. I don’t think I had the rotor head set up quite correctly so went over everything again last night. Chris Dowell had a good video on settings for movement and rates. I am balanced near the 50mm from the mast so hopefully the CG should be ok. It’s tricky as with three blades if two are sitting over the back more the balance point shifts a bit when trying to check if you see what I mean. Really wanted to give it another try at the weekend but I think there’s some wind coming through which might make it a bit harder for me. There is a guy down the club who has an autogyro and he fly’s allot of helicopters so might get him to give me a hand or even trim out first to give me a fighting chance. Don’t think my nerves will take another flight like the one I had at the weekend! Hopefully I will be able to get some footage when I go with it next so might put some up.

 

Paul,

[lesley]

Hi, Just trying to adjust the CG on the Gyro. I have drilled a small hole 50mm from front of mast to where it intersects the body and suspended it with some string to get it to balance more or less horizontal but when I think I have got the correct CG the blades tend to swing and throw everything out of sync. Thank you for any advice.

[Magnatilla]

Hi Lesley,

I was having the same problem with CG, as there is 3 blades if 2 are positioned at the tail end it throws the balance off when I’m checking. Can’t see why it can’t be done with the rotor head and blades off. 
 

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Lesley,

 

Just add a bit of tape to stop them rotating, I always have two blades pointing forwards and the third backwards.

 

Rich

[lesley]

Okay, Thank you.

[Magnatilla]

Tried the Gyroo again today, needless to say it’s in two pieces again ☹️ Bit more damage this time. An experienced guy at the club tried it and it did the same thing to him as it did for me. As it ROG it just goes vertical and stands on its tail almost. I have set everything up as the plan so don’t know where I’m going wrong. Any ideas? 

 

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

Sorry to hear of your mishap, there are a few things that can cause this. The most likely is that it's simply out of trim in pitch and why I always suggest doing small hops before committing to a full flight.

Could you take a photo of your model from the side, set ready to fly so I can view everything? 

Have you added the correct thickness shim to each blade and are the aerofoils close to the plans?

 

Rich

 

[Magnatilla]

[Magnatilla]

Hi Richard,

I think I may have found the problem, I’m pretty sure I was tail heavy by quite a bit. Basically my tail and boom weight was the same as Steve Jones as he had posted weight of all his parts. But my main fuse battery I am using and my motor were lighter. I ended up using slightly lighter light ply for the sides that didn’t help matters but it was all I could get at the time.

I have standard aerofoils and negative shims under the blades. The head was set as per your instructions in the write up.

 

Paul,

[Magnatilla]

One good thing is it’s dam strong! It’s taken 2 heavy crashes with hardly any damage. Only really the boom snapped. Had a bit of blade damage as the guy went inverted and the prop impacted the rotor blades.

 

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

 

From what I can see it all looks good, you've not altered the down thrust at all? Reason I ask is I know of one gent who didnt quite get the bulkhead on right.

If your tail heavy it would certainly push the nose up.

 

Rich

Edited March 7, 2023 by Richard Harris

[Magnatilla]

I have the down thrust exactly as the plan so should be ok. I have a heavier battery still 2200mah but a higher C rating so it’s 190g the other one was about 160g and also added approx 40g nose weight and now seems to balance much better with more nose down attitude. I can upload a pic of that tomorrow if you like. I hope I will get there eventually. I have seen a few others go through this sort of thing with auto gyros. You just have to keep trying till you get it I suppose.

 

Paul,

 

 

[Magnatilla]

On 20/11/2021 at 17:09, Stephen Jones said:

 

Hi Richard,

As stated in a previous post I had to fit the heavier motor as my model was Tail Heavy. ( I dont like dead weight )

So my overpowered Gyroo does balance on your recommended CoG point with approx. 15 degrees nose down angle. And flies just fine. ?

Just out of curiosity why is the CoG point not moved further forward to a point where the model is level to make it easier for other to determine if the model is balanced correctly ?

 

Steve

This is what I was reading that made me think mine was tail heavy. As Steve’s battery is 40g heavier than the one I was using and his motor is 50g heavier than mine + the fuselage weight difference. Mine has to be tail heavy. My overall flight weight with the changes is 980g

 

Paul

[Magnatilla]

Just hung the Gyroo from the rotor head mounting bolt hole and I have 17 degrees nose down with the weight adjustments, heavier battery etc.. does that seem about right? Also have included a picture of the down thrust.

 

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

 

Better to be nose heavy than tail heavy, all looks about right to me.

 

Rich

[Magnatilla]

Hi Richard,

 

We have success! Bit more wind than I expected up the field and only had short flight. I needed to land and trim as I was holding a bit of down trim. It was coming in lovely but forgot to flair at the end. Seems I was tail heavy by about 70g so that was my problem! Thanks for all your help getting me going its much appreciated.

 

Paul,