Some old Gyro's

[asra]

Its interesting that most of these things in the early days were built under licence from Cierva.Re: the rotor heads and stuff.Image Insert: 60.37

[asra]

Back in the late fifties Benson and Wallis, I think, started coming up with todays Gyro's. Light,single seat, low powered pusher designs.Seems to me that it was a big step forward from Cierva and the Pitcairns !What Happened, did a bright spark put a sketch in Popular Mechanicsor something ? Who started all of these people off building themas we know them today ? Anyone Know ?Paul, your Dad started building a Gyro back in the early days.What inspired him and where did his idea come from ?Tar.Robert DunnMackay. Qld.Growing old is good while it lasts.

[Greg Mitchell]

Red Hot and Top Shelf.Good Stuff Robert.www.thebutterflyllc.com

[asra]

Just a few more to add to the collection.Regards Sam. [][][]Image Insert: 47.4

[asra]

Rob, I don't think we should regard the fifties as a period of progress for gyros, Bensen's activities and advertising, particularly his promotion of the "Teach yourself to fly" and "Fly from your own back yard" resulted in many deaths, the legacy being the reputation they still have of being extremely unsafe, when in truth they are the safest form of sport aviation.As "eyeball engineers" found ways of "improving" on Bensen's basically sound design, and more powerfull engines became available the slaughter continued.We now have "progressed", by means of the use "history of safe operation" to the point where safety factors have been eroded. It seems we got here by ignoring the need for proper engineering calculations to determine what is safe and what is not.Only now are we seeing a swing back to the tractor configuration, which appears to be intrinsically safer.John EvansThink logically and do things well, think laterally and do things better.

[asra]

I think that in the early days of aviation a lot of pilots were probably killed untill a good understanding of the principalsinvolved were discovered. In those days aircraft were built by companies or somewhat experienced people, kits were not availableto the homebuilder, so the buyer generally got an aircraft thathad been sorted.When Benson and the others started building it ushered in a long period of exploration made potentionally dangerous by the factthat they were cheap to build and therefore available to anyone.The types of material needed to construct them and how to flythem had to be learnt. Also communication wasn't as advanced as itis today, which must have made it slow going.Certainly alot of people died, but I dont think of them as fools.Just the opposite, I think they were brave pioneering souls thathelped us along the way to where we are today. The experience has been learnt, the handbooks written and good training is available to all who want to take advantage of it.Someone had to climb the mountain and I bow my head to all thosethat didn't make it.Before we got the internet, it must have been difficult to get reliable information and I dont think we would have known of allthe deaths without it.Gyro's have a bad name I think mostly because of bad, uninformed reporting. When we hear on the news of a GA aircraft,big or small crashing, nobody takes much notice unless it happened in theirneighbourhood or unless we are active in aviation. People KNOWthat GA aircraft are safe, so it doesent mean much. Must of been anaccident, eh, but listen to how it is reported if it was a homebuiltultralight that crashed.The inference is always that the thingmust have been dangerous in the first place and the people involved should have known better ! I suppose this will change eventually but as I said before, we need to be out and about, setting a good example. I think the fools are the sort of people that continueto ignore what has gone before and the lessons learnt.I said before,I would not be seen dead in an unmodified RAF !I also believe that people should get proper training if possible.There have been alot that havent and gone on to become good safe Pilots but there is no excuse not to if you possibly can.Cheers.Robert DunnMackay. Qld.Growing old is good while it lasts.

[NiqueNaque]

Rob,I thoroughly agree, I commend you for this commentary, Thankyou.Cheers,Nick.

[asra]

I agree RobRespect to those pioneers, gyro pilots of the 50's 60's & 70's in the UK more or less had to teach themselves on Bensen and Cricket types with a few rarities such as the Ekin airbuggy and the like. Up to the late eighties I think there were about 17 gyros in the UK, mostly self taught pilots, they had an excellent safety record. In the early Nineties the relatively high power to weight ratio Air Command kits became available. Over about two to three years about 60 kits were sold, people built them in their back yards and many tried to fly them without instruction, In one year alone 7 pilots were killed mostly on Air Commands. The authorities obviously took notice and grounded the type, and brought in ever tighter regulation. But at least gyros weren't banned altogether as in some countries. Although it shows why the CAA is reluctant to allow new types to fly in UK airspace.Kevin

[asra]

Well done Rob - To have and accident is tragic but not learning from it is unforgivable! those pioneer gryo pilots paid with their life for the knowledge we have todayCheersFrankiejAlways remember you're unique, just like everyone else

[asra]

As a young boy, I remember reading an article in my Dad's Popular Mechanics magazine about private aircraft that included information on how to build a very basic, towable Gyro. The article also included information about the 'Aircar', a hybrid motor car/aircraft. This would have been in the early fifties.Regards,Ron ShannonAvoid strong drink! It makes you shoot at tax collectors ....and miss!(Robert Heinlein)R.J.W.S.

[asra]

Thanks Ron.I had a feeling that the magazine would have been involved somewhere.Robert DunnMackay. Qld.Growing old is good while it lasts.