Gyroo!...an autogyro for under £25?

[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,

 

 

 

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

That's better, a nice controlled text book take off.

No wonder you were struggling if 70g was needed in the nose!

Thanks for taking the time to grab footage, look forward to more once the weather improves.

 

Rich

 

[Trevor]

Well done Paul! Are you sure you forgot to flair? I ask because that landing looked very much like my first autogyro landing. If you push forward to maintain forward speed on the approach into the wind (as per fixed wing practice), when you come to flair, you can find there is not enough head speed, so no flair. I now try to descend using the throttle which, in windy weather, can result in a near-vertical descent.

 

Enjoy the learning curve!

 

Trevor

[Magnatilla]

Thanks Trevor,

I was holding the stick forward a bit so I needed to put some down trim on. I was intending to make a quick landing and then trim a bit on the ground and then go up again but nosed over and had a blade strike the tail so that was it for the day. I was ok till it took off then I was bricking it! I’m a bit scared of it at the mo!

 

Paul

[Magnatilla]

Hi All,

Had my first successful flight with the Gyroo last Saturday! Managed a full flight battery this time and I think I might be getting the hang of it. Landing was perfect as well just almost hovered down. I did have a club member standing next to me trimming it for me a bit while I was flying and giving me some tips. Now it’s trimmed it’s flying great. In all the excitement I forgot to stick the camera on my head so I will have to get some footage next time. Looking forward to it!!
 

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Paul,

 

Good to hear, this is what it's all about , look forward to footage.

 

Rich 

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Richard,

 

Having always fancied flying an autogyro, I decided to give your Gyroo a go. The fuse build went well and is now ready for covering (photo attached). Today I have been working on the blades. I have finished shaping them and have glued the lower and upper blade mounts in position. I am not sure if it is a problem but the blades currently weigh 43.6g, 39.4g and 36g. When I worked out the chordwise cg position for each blade, the lightest blade has a cg 2mm further forward than the other blades. Will this be a problem? Also when I come to balance the blades, I will need approx 7.6g of extra weight adding to the lightest blade to balance with the heaviest blade. I understand the weight must be added at the lengthwise cg position. Will it be ok if I cut a slot in the balsa and epoxy in a piece of lead? Looking at a 7g piece of lead, it looks pretty large!

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

[Richard Harris]

Matt,

 

I am sorry I missed your post, busy with the family and all that...

 

Great job on your Gyroo 😉

 

Regarding your blades, yes there will be a problem if you leave them as they are. Adding lead is fine, just be considerate of your lighter blades CG position. You will  need to insert your lead further back to bring its CG rearwards, to get it in the right place I would firstly tape it on until it matches the other blades, then commit to digging out a hole.

 

Let us know how it goes?

 

Rich

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Rich,

 

Thanks for the advice. I've done as you suggested and managed to balance the blades and move the cg rearwards. Hopefully it will be ok! Fuse and tail are now covered - just got the blades to do now. I'll post some more photos when it is finished.

 

Thanks again,

 

Matt

[Richard Harris]

Matt,

 

Glad it's worked out ok, look forward to seeing it completed.

 

Rich

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Rich,

 

Tried maidening the Gyroo today without much success! It took off and then rolled steeply to the left and got blown downwind on to the ground resulting in a broken mast and boom. Full right aileron had no effect. I think it was a combination of things: probably not enough rotor speed, too fast take off, a little too windy and a lack of  (zero!) autogyro experience! It's an easy repair due to your design and fortunately the rotor blades and head are ok. I'm determined to master it so will hopefully give it another try this week. I totally forgot to take a photo of the finished model so once it is back together I'll take a few snaps. I noticed on your videos that your take offs are very slow. Am I correct in thinking that you use full up pitch to get the rotors up to speed and then slowly open the throttle until the tail lifts? It feels like learning to fly all over again!

 

Matt

[Richard Harris]

22 hours ago, CorradoMatt said:

Hi Rich,

 

Tried maidening the Gyroo today without much success! It took off and then rolled steeply to the left and got blown downwind on to the ground resulting in a broken mast and boom. Full right aileron had no effect. I think it was a combination of things: probably not enough rotor speed, too fast take off, a little too windy and a lack of  (zero!) autogyro experience! It's an easy repair due to your design and fortunately the rotor blades and head are ok. I'm determined to master it so will hopefully give it another try this week. I totally forgot to take a photo of the finished model so once it is back together I'll take a few snaps. I noticed on your videos that your take offs are very slow. Am I correct in thinking that you use full up pitch to get the rotors up to speed and then slowly open the throttle until the tail lifts? It feels like learning to fly all over again!

 

Matt

Matt,

 

It sounds very much like you didn't have enough head speed if it rolled to the left. Always best to do a few hops to determine whether any trim needs to be applied. 

Yes, I do hold rearward tilt to get the blades spinning. It is neutralised well before lift off.

The key is a slow start to the take off run to get the blades whistling, once they are you just simply power away. It is like learning to fly again but you will soon get the hang of it.

 

Let us know how it goes?

 

I had a video sent me yesterday of Emanuel from the Netherlands flying his newly built Gyroo, his features 3d printed blades, the video is put together well.

The blade STL files are available for free on thingiverse.

 

 

[Richard Harris]

I had this video sent me this morning from a young lad flying his Gyroo in Thailand over the weekend, I thought it was worth sharing:

 

 

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Rich,

 

Had another chance to fly the Gyroo today following the not so successful maiden flight! I took your advice and tried test hops to get it trimmed before finally committing to flight. After a wobbly start I managed to do a circuit and land it successfully on it's wheels. I think I just need plenty of practice now to get used to it and build my confidence. Photos and video attached.

Thanks again for your help and advice!

[Richard Harris]

Nice maiden Matt,

 

Almost a text book ROG, just a little roll to the left as the wheels lifted which is nothing more than not quite enough rotor rpm.

Look forward to hearing how your gyrooing skills evolve.

You can now adjust your throws to suit yourself.

 

Rich

[CorradoMatt]

Thanks Rich. I found it easier to get the rotors up to speed when there was more of a breeze and holding rearward tilt with the model stationary. This gave me confidence that the rotors would be going fast enough (and making the swishing noise) before taking off. If there is little or no wind, is it just a case of having a longer take off run to get the rotors spinning?

 

[Richard Harris]

Matt,

 

Rather than stand behind my Gyro I much prefer to start my take off run down wind from where I'm stood, generally I have my rotors up to speed by the time it's reached me which sets up for a close ROG and first circuit.

Even with minimal wind if you taxi slowly with the rotors tilted back they should spin up easily, it's worth practicing this to get a feel for things. There is a balance using this method as you need to reduce the rearward tilt slowly back to your neutral position as the blades accelerate and your ground speed increases, if its held back to long into the run it will tend to roll on to its left side.

It is worth practicing  these taxi runs with the Gyroo as there's no excessive mass to it, once you have nailed it it will become second nature.

 

Rich

 

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Rich,

I’ve now had 5 successful flights but I am still struggling with take offs! Once airborne I am fairly happy flying circuits etc but it is hit or miss if I am able to take off or do the classic roll to the left and end up in a heap! I’ve taken your advice and stand downwind of the model whilst getting the blades up to speed but I do find that the model starts to pull up on its own and then roll over. I’m wondering if I have too much rear tilt at the neutral position? It seem fairly well trimmed in flight.

 

Matt

[Richard Harris]

Matt,

 

What you are explaining sounds very much like your blades are tipped too far back or you ground speed is a bit too fast before the blades are at full rpm. If your rotor is at the neutral position when this happens and your still moving slowly try lowering your U/C by widening it a touch. This will alter your neutral angle of attack whilst your model is sat on the ground.

 

Let me know if the works for you?

 

Rich

 

[CorradoMatt]

Hi Rich,

 

Thanks for the advice. I read your message at the flying field so I widened the U/C as suggested and made sure that i wasn't going too fast. This certainly seemed to help as the next take off was much better! Unfortunately it was also my last battery for the day so i'll have to wait until tomorrow to try it again (plus a few minor tailplane repairs to carry out this evening!). The Gyroo has certainly received a lot of attention at the club and a couple of members are now thinking about building their own.

 

Thanks again for all your help and advice!

 

Matt

[Richard Harris]

A few weeks ago I removed the electrics from my well flown and bruised prototype. My 'build photos' example was then covered and  assembled  before fitting the electrics, it had its maiden at our annual fly in the following week without a hitch. The original airframe was passed on to someone else to get them going.

 

Steve kindly flew it around so I could catch a photo.

Rich

 

 

 

[Magnatilla]

Hi All,

Had the Gyroo out last night, Starting to get more comfortable with it now. Had to take allot of expo out of the rotor head as It was a bit sluggish. Its flying well now I've even manged half decent take offs and landings.

 

Paul,

[Richard Harris]

Paul, 

 

Nice flight and landing. Your like me, I much prefer flying without Expo as I feel more in control, well most of the time......

 

Rich

[Magnatilla]

Thanks Rich,

I usually fly with expo on my fixed wing for pitch and roll. But with the auto gyro it seems like you put a stick input in and 5mins later it responds lol.😂 I’m down to a about 20% now but may even take more out and the rudder as well. 

really enjoying flying it now I’m not so nervous. 😁

 

Paul

[Richard Harris]

Here is a short video I took of my Gyroo flying off the Cliffs whilst on my Hols. 

Could of done with more wind to maintain lift without using power and more ballast weight to penetrate. Nice relaxing flying.

 

Rich