Sport Copter in Australia

[bones]

As for blade size, it depends on alota things.Your flyn style, avarage DAs, power to weight of the machine, to name a couple.I have a 26" AK set for the ferel in winter and 27"ers for summer.29"ers struggle for air wen its hot, and the 27s are too sluggish in winter.I second that, i have been flying 27" ak but the air is soo thin up here now, i puttin my 28" on tomorrow, just no fun needing 5k just to keep s/l

[birdy]

I asked about engine preferences because I thought there may have been some votes for the 914. I flew a single seat rosco machine once that had a 914, and theres no way known you need that much soot.I know im only a stick figure, but the bloke that owned it was 120kg, and he couldnt hold the tap open for long either. And it only had 26"AKs.As for blade size, it depends on alota things.Your flyn style, avarage DAs, power to weight of the machine, to name a couple.I have a 26" AK set for the ferel in winter and 27"ers for summer.29"ers struggle for air wen its hot, and the 27s are too sluggish in winter.

[IanM]

Thanks again guys for your imput.Jim Vanek of Sport Copter considers that 25ft x 8" blades with the lead/lag hub bar would be the ideal rotors on a mustering machine powers by a 912.

[Brian]

RE blade length, Rosco has a standard he works to unless the buyer chooses otherwise and thats 26"s ft"ers for a 912 gyro and 27"s for a suby. 26 ft AK"s are Birdys weapons of choice and he has flown more different variety " of gyros and blades than most. Another thing is weight of pilot.My gyro is a Rosco with a pod, Suby 2.2, lots of stuff in the dash and a solid pilot [70 litres of fuel] and 27ft 6 in Patroneys are excellent as are AK"s 27"s with at least 1.5* pitch. Anything less just doesnt cut it.I have heard varying reports of sport copter blades so I"m looking forward to having a fly on them at some stage.

[adrian_clince]

hi ianadrian here, i was impressed by the sport copter rotors , i fly on 26 ft 7 inch cord larkins with a 3 foot hub bar, i dont do any mustering as yet, maybe a bit down the track, but i like to throw the gyro around abit ,but i had the thought weather sportcopter was making 26 foot ,7inch cord, im looking in the direction of going away from the 8 bolts and adjustible pitch blade, is it possible of getting them to make up some sorta package? cheers adrian

[asra]

Hi Ian, I think the length would depend a bit on each pilots preferences and how much lift they"ve got. Most likely it will be 26 and 27 foot blades. You would need to get some out there flying, see whats most popular then have a couple of options. I think the blades are usually a bit bigger for mustering to have more float at low speed. Im fitting a different motor to my machine to try but the most popular would be the 912s then the subaru. Maybe acouple of options on the motor as well.

[Greg Mitchell]

Ian,I rang and left a message.....if you want trailer space, contact Allan W, asap.Mitch.

[IanM]

Hi Birdy/Peter,Sounds like to have a pure mustering machine it would be better to option up the Lightning (base model) rather than the Vortex which comes standard with the cabin and a folding mast.

[asra]

Hi Ian, After reading about Jim Vanec and the sport copter I think it should make a pretty good mustering machine. Youve got some comments here from musterers that you have asked for. Ive done over 5000 hrs mustering and although its not a lot in terms of mustering, its enough to give me a fair idea of what I want in a mustering machine. Bring a two seater out some time and Ill take you for a run staying right on the deck mustering feral goats out of pulled country with plenty of shade trees to make life interesting. It will give you a new perspective on flying and youll know where me and Birdy are coming from.I see they sell the rotors seperately as well. If they fly well and with the design to reduce cone and lead lag flex, a lot of the musterers will start using them. I think one bloke was working up a bit of lead lag with cotrol inputs and cracking his hub bars at the blade tangs. As for the AD its a blanket hour limit no matter whether the hub bar is designed for 200hrs or 5000hrs so it would be good to know that it will make the 500 hours. Also this AD is only mandatory on two seaters and type aproved gyros.

[birdy]

Air speed is the thing you gota be able to feel, specialy wen your yardn up. Tryn to hold position, 50" up, hangn off the prop. you need instant feed back of the slightest change in air. Iv always got me viser open wen do"n this, coz in winter, wen im dressed like a frign eskimo, those suttle changes aint feelable with the viser down and all that gear on.BTW, iv often felt like kickn the little 1"x1" dash of the ferel, coz its amazn just how often that little blind spot gets in your way.Even full faced headsets are a pain in the ass, coz the chin part takes away alota periferal side of your vision.

[IanM]

Hi Peter/Birdy,Yes, I think that the lead/lag in the hub bar should take some stress off it so you would expect it should have a better life.

[birdy]

Dont SC blades have the lead lag hinge?If so, id imagine the hub bar life would be considerably longer n a standard ridged one.so do you think it is really necessary to take it off for mustering? Yep.Specialy if youv been sent out to that "area of scrub" to flush out them "cheeky critters". And Pete nailed the main reason; The other thing is when Im down low working stock I never use any gauges or yaw indicaters, just the wind.You get a much better "feel"

[asra]

Hello Ian, to sell them as a mustering machine plenty of endurance is a must. especialy if your working 20k or more from the strip. If the stock are playing up you can lose the last hours work in the time it takes to go back and refuel. Having just half a cup of coffee instead of 2 or 3 on a winters morning soon fixes the bladder problem. As for the removable cab thats just somthing I would like to see. I havent done much flying in the last couple of years but Ive put in a lot of tome over thick mulga. When stock are planted in that, Ive found the best way to get a decent muster is to run a 250 meter grid pattern looking down over my toes for movement in the shadows as Im approaching. A little glare on the windsheild and you dont see it. The other thing is when Im down low working stock I never use any gauges or yaw indicaters, just the wind.Im particularly interested in the rotors as it looks like that setup allowing movement for lead lag and cone, will take a lot of pressure off the hubbar and blade root. The blades that Ive done most of my flying on always have a lot of black crap from fretting, running from under the blade straps and teeter block after rain. Also has there been a fatigue life worked out on the blades. Peter

[IanM]

Hi Peter,Thank for your questions.I will get some history of hours flown on Sport Copter blades from the manufacture but as our AD stands we are controlled by that for the hub bar life.

[Greg Mitchell]

G"Day Ian,After talking to Allan, it appears