Another newbie question ... Humble apologies if they're boring you! :)

[asra]

Can anyone explain this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ogAzGGyG4It looks to me like he has no prerotator, and just ambles off at (almost) taxi speed and, within what appears a *very* short distance, becomes airborne.Is this just an illusion due to camera placement or is he actually taking off in a short distance with low rrpm?Also, good ol" Ken Wallis:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOh8juOEuFIIn the beginning of this video, he takes off, and although he *is* clearly using a pre-rotator, he appears to become airborne within 10 or so feet!Again, how is this possible?All the gyros I see, except super-mega-fugly designs with some sort of jump takeoff ability, require a ground roll much, *much* longer than this!Any takers?Thanks in advance for your time and advice.Apologies in advance for boring you with trivial questions.

[asra]

Hi ZoinksThe answer is very simple, light weight machines, good power to weight, light weight blades (which spin up quickly) and a windy day. The take off performace of gyroplanes increases four fold or more in windy conditions. Regards SamL.............

[Brian]

Hi ZoinksThe answer is very simple, light weight machines, good power to weight, light weight blades (which spin up quickly) and a windy day. The take off performace of gyroplanes increases four fold or more in windy conditions. Regards SamL.............A very good reason to have a true lightweight machine. Its pretty simple really, the lightweight gyros are a lot of fun to fly. The big 2 seaters can be as Birdy once said quote " A real hard mouthed dog to fly" apolagies to Birdy if I didnt get that quote exactly right. .To be fair to the heavy gyros, Birdy pushes a lot harder than most pilots are ever going to.

[tonydenton]

i"d say he had a decent wind from the left, he was tracking off to the right and as soon as he is air born he turnd in to the wind and was then able to really climb. but as sam and brian has said light weight every thing and power will do it for you as well.

[bones]

A very good example of how easy it is to run up a set of blades, congrats to the pilot, if only everyone could do it that would be a good thing me thinks.

[Disco]

ZoinksIt looks to me like he has no prerotator, and just ambles off at (almost) taxi speed and, within what appears a *very* short distance, becomes airborne.Is this just an illusion due to camera placement or is he actually taking off in a short distance with low rrpm?Like the others have said, his low weight machine lets him do it..

[asra]

Thanks for all of those great answers, fellas.So... ehr.... Which one of you is the pilot in the first video? It"s supposed to be in Coffs Harbour. I"m assuming that it"s Coffs Harbour in NSW, so I"m guessing that the pilot in question is one of you guys!Right?

[tonydenton]

not me.
..........

[Phil W]

The location is South Grafton where the Northern Rivers Gyro club used to fly from.The video is a few years old now, the pilot of the gyro is Steve Compton a past treasurer of ASRA.Unfortunately he is no longer with us due to cancer I think. His wife donated a trophy in his honour to ASRA to be used at the nationals, not sure what happened to it.

[JAL]

The others have answered the question the only comment I would make to a newbie is on the configuration of the gyro in the first video which does not have a horizontal stabiliser (HS). As already mentioned a nice light machine are great fun and safe just make sure you understand that certain configurations are safer than others and that you learn to understand the concepts of centre line thrust (CLT) and the horizontal stabiliser (HS).

[Brian]

The others have answered the question the only comment I would make to a newbie is on the configuration of the gyro in the first video which does not have a horizontal stabiliser (HS). As already mentioned a nice light machine are great fun and safe just make sure you understand that certain configurations are safer than others and that you learn to understand the concepts of centre line thrust (CLT) and the horizontal stabiliser (HS).

[asra]

Thanks Brian.Yes, I"m doing lots and lots of research, so I"ve got a fair idea of what I"d be looking to buy for a starter-offer machine.I live in Brisbane, so if I happen to see something I like, I"ll see if I can drag one of them along with me.At this stage, I"ll be looking for a Bensen/Brock design, with a Subaru/Rotax with a re-drive and as close to CLT as possible.Also, I"ll make sure it has a good, aerodynamic HS as well as your standard lump of sheet metal as a stone deflector.Question: Does the design of control stick affect vibration/stick shake? I"ve noticed there are two main designs - a lump of aluminium tubing that bends down and meets at a central fully pivoting joint which it connected to the actuator rods, and the other design which is more comprehensive.Do either either designs offer any advantages/disadvantages?

[Brian]

Thanks Brian.Yes, I"m doing lots and lots of research, so I"ve got a fair idea of what I"d be looking to buy for a starter-offer machine.I live in Brisbane, so if I happen to see something I like, I"ll see if I can drag one of them along with me.At this stage, I"ll be looking for a Bensen/Brock design, with a Subaru/Rotax with a re-drive and as close to CLT as possible.Also, I"ll make sure it has a good, aerodynamic HS as well as your standard lump of sheet metal as a stone deflector.Question: Does the design of control stick affect vibration/stick shake? I"ve noticed there are two main designs - a lump of aluminium tubing that bends down and meets at a central fully pivoting joint which it connected to the actuator rods, and the other design which is more comprehensive.Do either either designs offer any advantages/disadvantages?There is a club at Caboolture which have a variety of gyros so there would be a great start for a new comer.Yes, there are two distinctive control set ups, the first you mention is one most used for lightweight gyros, nothing at all wrong with it and reasonably simple. The second desigh came about mainly because of the larger seat tanks [60 litre] which hold most of their fuel underneath the seat tank which meant there was not a lot of room for the control rods.You probably get a bit less vibration with the latter design however, stick shake usually is a result of rotors out of balance or the rotor head not being true, there can be other reasons but they are the main ones.Main disadvantage with the more complicated design is that there are a lot of rod ends used and they will need replacing one day [all of them ] so cost is higher but I wouldnt say one was better than the other, it basically gets down to the seat tank and if you build a lightweight machine [with the 40 litre tank]Hope I havent confused you too much.Ask all the questions you want as thats the only way you find out.