richard cohen Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 While rotary wings ain't my thing, I do have a hankering for an Autogyro and have been looking at the DB sport&scale kit. Does anybody have any build/flight time on this model. Any opinions of the build and flight characteristics welcomed. ta, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 hello richard----never built one- but have seen a one at our club field......it flew ok and like most of db's design's was a goodin......... ken anderson.a D.Boddo fan...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdy Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Who isn't a boddo fan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bandit Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Richard, Like Ken I havn't built one but have seen a couple fly and they looked very stable. Cheers, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcho99 Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Richard. Try Whirlybird Aviation before you commit to buying anything to do with gyro's. Have a look on you tube aswell at some videos by imsofaman. He's a gyro guru! I'm building a Kellet Autogyro now, should be finished soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don9f Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Hi Rich, the DB Twin Autogyro has been around for many years, I've had 2 although this was probably over 20 years ago now. The first used an OS 25 which is ideal power and it was great fun.....could be hand launched in a bit of wind and could almost hover in the right conditions. The second had an OS 40 but this was overkill.....although it could just about go up vertically ! The gyro is simple to build, the rotor blades having a very easy build method and are not that critical for good performance. I think they were both eventually written off due to pilot error but they really were easy to fly! Cheers Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard cohen Posted January 4, 2010 Author Share Posted January 4, 2010 thanks for the replies chaps. I have checked out whirlybird aviation and the dag series of gyros. Very nice but bulky for my restricted hanger space with one big rotor /mast and truthfully for my first crack and limited build time i like the DB option advocated by Don. That said, everyone should check out youtube and search 'imsofaman' as batch099 said, his video of the model Fairey Rotodyne is just awesome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcho99 Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Glad you enjoyed videos Richard. There is a dedicated Autogyro forum on RC Groups, have a cuick look and let me know. We need more gyro stuff on this forum, I will add all my experiences once i've finished building the Kellett prifile gyro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowerman Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I built a Twirl from a free plan in another mag. Its a depron twin rotor autogyro by Al Foot and is a great flyer in valm conditions. A great intro to autogyros. The rotors make a funny 'waffling' sound ammusing and relaxing. Plans also available to download from internet -Google 'Al Foot' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispin church Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 got my db sports auto out after a year on the selve still gives the most talk in the pits most stop and just watch it fly but got to watch the side gust on the runway and go electric there nothing like hearing the blade wosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Recently acquired the DB auto gyro from a chap who dabbles with auto gyro' s...Richard something or other.....well! It came with an engine and tank, but I think it's worthy of a 750kv brushless...I've had this autogyro type in many guises over the years and always ic....it looks such an easy model to build, I may scale it up 2 x....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtom39 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Hello Richard, My first DB Autogyro goes back to 1980 and I have had four more since. I've just finished another. The previous one having bitten the dust when a friend was flying it. Its a great talking point and not bad value . (think I paid £85 for the latest one which runs pretty well on 350W - 3s) Spares are pretty cheap and very little preparation on the blades. Edited By Tomtom39 on 21/10/2014 01:20:02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I've had a DB Autogyro with a OS25 and also have currently got an Auto G, the DB twin autogyro is a three channel, throttle, rudder and elevator only, and flies much like a 3 channel trainer but can be slowed right down and brought into the hover into wind by juggling the elevator and throttle controls. It can also turn very tight. With careful control it can be brought in for a very low speed landing, but I did end up coming in with the vertical decent rate a bit high a few times causing the UC to do the splits. The DB autogyro isn't a conventional Autogyro in that the rotor heads are not used for control, but by having twin rotor heads it's much easier to take off than a conventional autogyro. One thing I found is that you need lats of control movement for slow speed flight but small movements when flying faster, so lots of exponential is good. It's a great little model, mine unfortunately is awaiting repair after a mid air a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Baz, Glad to hear you will be doing something with it. I have another which was built by a good friend, he gave it me just before he passed on. I remember the very model flying when I was a kid and it still goes really well on its original OS25 FSR up front, always makes me smile when you invert it and the blades just stop! I blew up Cyril Carr's 'Kestrel' and constructed it as a Christmas present for my dad a few years back, powered with a Super Tigre 3250 with a span of 100". It goes well but took a lot or sorting out, here is a video of us flying it on one of its first outings. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Let the work begin.........all the guts removed to make way for the re construction of the original shape and shift the weight into the belly......motor and Lipo will provide the power and hopefully maiden it within a week...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Original advert.....I wish they were still this cost........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtom39 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Hello Baz, That brings back some memories (although they were about £40 by the time I could afford one) Micro Mold used to be owned by Messers Scott the sons Nick and Paul run SMC. I still have my MM Wallis Autogyro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Evans 3 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have a DB Rotak painted in Russian attack guise. It always brings a smile to me and fellow club members when I bring it to the field. I love flying it but it needs a bit of wind to get the rotors turning fast enough for a good take off from the strip. As mentioned before it needs lots of input at slow speed and very little at high. Use your dual rates for this. A friend asked me what was it like to fly? I said it's like steering a jelly!! The best part is bringing it to land hovering into wind and slowly reducing speed. DB do a bolt together rotor version ,If it's not in the kit get them as spares , they are very cheap , you will at some point need them . Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I have managed to rebuild the front tonight, so will put the motor and belly on tommorrow and will make the top hatch and side wall stiffeners..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Anyone know where the DB Autogyro c of g is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I am almost certain I have read somewhere that Boddo didn't actually design this model but 'borrowed' it and kitted it under his name. He did however design the Gyrace, a far better looking model of the same pedigree. I have flown both and they can Dutch roll if the rotors are not quite right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I looked up Bob Brown (the original designer) and didn't come up trumps apart from the AMA president...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Lewis Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Vic Bond and Dave Toyer were the original test pilots of the DB auto gyro, the prevalence of the Dutch roll tendencies were diminished greatly when Dave added a top fin to the existing fin by adding it to the top of the original tailplane design. If any of these two were around today, I am sure they would love to tell us more....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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