QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q: What Licences and Training?

A: The Australian Sports Rotorcraft Association (ASRA) control gyroplanes in Australia and each gyro has to be registered with ASRA and each pilot has to have a gyro licence issued by ASRA. To obtain a gyro licence requires about twenty to thirty hours of dual instruction by an ASRA Certified Instructor. There is no aircraft that can compensate for an un-trained or un-safe pilot.  The controls and systems found on most gyroplanes are similar to those found on most conventional aircraft, but a thorough understanding of the small, but vital differences are required to safely fly a gyroplane.  Although gyros can be easy and relaxing to fly, good training and constant vigilance, even for experienced pilots are absolutely essential.  Many of the negative safety perceptions associated with gyroplanes are the result of overly confident and ill informed pilots.

Q: What is a gyroplane?

A: It is an aircraft with a rotating wing which means that it has a rotor to provide lift like a helicopter, instead of a fixed wing like a conventional aeroplane.  Unlike a helicopter, the rotor is not powered by the engine but is made to spin by the aerodynamic forces of the wind moving through the rotor as the aircraft moves forward.  The gyroplane therefore needs an engine and propeller for forward propulsion.

Gyroplanes can fly slower than aeroplanes and will not stall.  They can fly faster than helicopters but cannot hover.  Since the rotor blades on the gyroplanes are turned only by the airflow, they are in auto rotation and therefore there is no need for a tail rotor for anti-torque.  Helicopters pull the air down through engine powered rotor blades making it possible to hover, but also making the aircraft very complicated and expensive to buy and fly.  Due to their inherent simplicity, gyroplanes are easier to operate and less expensive to buy and maintain than helicopters.

Q: Why a gyroplane?

A: Gyroplanes are safe.  Because the rate at which the rotor turns is independent of the air speed of the gyroplane, a gyroplane does not stall at low air speed.  A gyroplane will instead, go into a controlled decent as the engine power and airspeed fall below the minimum required for level flight.  Rotor RPM is therefore independent of engine power and the rotor will continue rotating as long as there is relative airflow over the rotor blades.  By eliminating the two most critical and dangerous attributes of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters the gyroplane provides a safe, stable flying platform for a well trained pilot.  In the event of a complete engine failure, a gyroplane can be safely controlled to a landing with zero ground roll if necessary. 

Gyroplanes are stable.  A gyroplanes rotor blades are long and narrow and therefore need to rotate fast to produce enough lift to keep the aircraft airborne.  The high wing loading of the rotor means only a small portion of the blade is in contact with a section of the air at any given time.  The long blades can also flex a great deal, absorbing rapid vertical changes in air movement.  The rapid rotation of the rotors creates enormous rotational inertia that resists rapid changes in direction.  All these attributes combine to make the gyroplane highly resistant to gusting wind and thermal conditions. 

Gyroplanes are manoeuvrable.  It may sound like a contradiction, but the same characteristics that make a gyroplane so stable also allow it to be turned around any axis with ease.  There are no large flying surfaces that need to be pushed onto the airflow in order to change direction.

What configuration of Gyroplane?

Q: One seat or two? 
A: if two seats, side by side or one behind the other (tandem).

Q: Open frame, partial pod or fully enclosed?
A: The answer to this depends on what you want to do with your gyroplane.

Q: Do you want to fly on your own, or sometimes with another person?

Q:Do you want to go flying just for relaxation?

Q:Do you want to use it for work on a station for mustering or observation?

Q:Do you want to use it for sight seeing or commuting?  Locally or cross country.

Q:Do you wish your flying to be less dependant on weather or cold?

Q:Are you flying from a bitumen airport or un-made grass/dirt airstrip?

These are some of the questions you need to answer before deciding on the type of gyroplane you purchase.