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View Full Version : Your first autogyro. How to go about it.


JWarren
Dec 01, 2004, 11:03 AM
Considering an Autogyro?

Autogyros are very complex machines with a ton of information needed to get one flying successfully. These models are so complex, you'll need to start off on the right foot! If your thinking of building one of these machines from an idea you have in your head and this will be your first autogyro project, I recommend you stop!

I highly recommend the use of plans to an autogyro which has been sucessfully flown! RC Autogyros do not fly the same as passenger autogyros and there have been many years of testing and research put into the RC autogyros that are currently flying. By using plans to start with you will save yourself alot of frustration and possible failure. There are autogyro plans listed in the plans catalog from RC Modeler Magazine (http://www.rcmmagazine.com/). The plans catalog is very inexpensive and contains a ton of models to choose from. Thier plans service is really good and they will ship you full size, scale plans, with instructions, to make building easy. The plans are shipped folded or rolled in a tube. You must request rolled in a tube if you want to receive them that way. I order mine rolled in a tube so they will lay flat without the fold creases.

The Gyro Shtick, RCM Plan #1310, is one of the most popular models to start with. The gyro plans call for a .061-.074 glow engine. Due to the small size of the glow engine, an electric motor could easily be found to make this model a good candidate for electric conversion. As long as you stay within the models setup perameters and build to scale, you should have success.

A good source of information on RC autogyros can be found at the autogyro website (http://www.autogyro.com/). This is the most complete RC autogyro site on the internet. This site was created by Jim Baxter, a long time and very experienced RC autogyro pilot and engineer. There are other very experienced autogyro builders and pilots listed there who will help with your project if you need it. If you are building from plans you will get help from these fine folks. If you have decided to start out by building a gyro from the idea in your head, don't bother asking for help. No one wants to be included in the frustration your about to endure.

I'm not trying to sway you from trying to build an all new design, just don't make it your first autogyro project. The most common reason why there are so few autogyros and gryo pilots in the RC world, is because the first gyro project ended in failure and caused so much frustration to the builder, the builder abandoned all attempts to build another. I would hate to see your efforts fall short of success.

If you have already started a gyro build and need some info to help you out, try to make sure you have all the gyro perameters setup correctly. The gyro perameters page (http://www.autogyro.com/technic/specs.htm) is located at the autogyro website as well.

If you are interested in flying one of the coolest RC Models in the world, an autogyro will be the way to go. There is no doubt you will grab the attention from everyone at your flight field!

This thread was created and intended to be informational to those who have never flown or built an autogyro and should contain information on how to get started in this great hobby. So, please share your success story here.

John

pkrska
Dec 01, 2004, 12:28 PM
From the http://www.autogyro.com/plankit/plan.htm site:
"All plans processing have been suspended for the duration of the summer."

Um.... it's already winter where I am!! Hmmm

JWarren
Dec 01, 2004, 01:46 PM
I understand that Jim Baxter is having some health problems and has not been able to work on the web site or operate his plans service. However, The web site is still a good source for information on autogyros. Hopefully, he will make a speedy recovery and be able to fly again soon.

John

gbarc
Dec 02, 2004, 09:08 AM
I would tend to disagree...If a person wants to try and build a autogyro from an idea they have..go for it!! Research,research,research.....is the key but a little trial and error is by far the best teacher! I made a very successful autogyro with no plans! i just read up on the subject did a little trial and error and "poof" success! So even if this is your first time and all you have is a doodle....i say go for it! Just my 2 cents!!

Greg

JWarren
Dec 02, 2004, 06:32 PM
Greg,

Thanks for stopping by to give your take on this. I am very glad to hear you had success with your gyro project. You are and I can say with great experience, one of the fortunate ones. Not everyone has the ability to grasp the complexity of the gyros. It comes easy for some or I should say few or there would be more people flying and building them.

I do feel the task of building and flying gyros would come easier to newbies if there where a simple approach to getting started in RC Autogyros. This is why I started this thread. Please feel free to post a link to your gyro with plans, build instructions as well as flight instructions. I'm sure this will help someone who is interested in building and flying a gyro knowing that you have a model that has been tested and proven to work.

If you plan on selling the plans or kitting your gyro out, please let everyone know where they can be purchased. I am sure you will have some customers.

Thanks again

John

gbarc
Dec 02, 2004, 08:37 PM
John,
My gyro is in fact going to be kitted in the upcoming weeks(hopefully before x-mas). I will be posting where to purchase these soon! I can honestly say that once you build one gyro that works you'll be hooked for life!!!

Greg

David A Ramsey
Dec 03, 2004, 10:38 AM
Considering an Autogyro? John


Like to thank you for posting your collection of links.

David

JWarren
Dec 03, 2004, 11:51 AM
Your welcome David!

There's a lot of info on the internet. Finding it is not always easy. I would like to see this forum stay alive. Just trying to do my part since I did vote for it.

John

martimer
Dec 09, 2004, 05:42 PM
I take it Mr. Baxter is still having health troubles since the plans section is still suspended. I am going to build my first autogyro this winter (from a kit) and would love to learn more - I appreciate this thread and the links to Mr. Baxter's site.

Kristian k
Sep 20, 2008, 03:16 PM
well, I was thinking about designing and building an autogyro in the future, so I started doing the necessary research and got here. though I know I will have probably a lot of failures and problems I think it would be a nice challenge, so thanks for the info, but I would like to add that if you are determined to do something others have managed to achieve, frustration is not as bad, and if I am not successful, Ill get a kit.

martimer
Sep 20, 2008, 05:47 PM
Based on my experiences, run. I hope you have MUCH more success than I have. I did manage to finally get one decent flight in, but lost the gyro when it flew behind some trees and I over-corrected and crashed. It took perseverance and, I think, 20+ flights to finally figure it out in the real world. I can generally fly them on the flight simulators.

Getting the cg and rotor angle correct and then not over-correcting are KEY to flying these beasts. Fly a few feet ahead of the plane (more than a normal fixed wing plane) and make gentle control inputs on your random input generator. Make sure the swervos are strong enough to handle the load on the rotor. Simple.

I HIGHLY recommend getting on of the many kits so they can guide you away from the many mistakes.

biggaboogaboo
Sep 23, 2008, 05:25 AM
I had always wanted to fly rc as a kid but it was never an option, when it was i found rc groups i gathered all the info i could bought a gws beaver, brushless motor lipo's transmitter etc and tought myself to fly. When i was confident i made a wing with ailerons for the beaver and progressed to four channel flying, within two years of this and using all the freely available plans, info and tech advice available on this web site i now have a small squadron of aircraft ranging from foamies that fly slow to pusher jets and ducted fans that haul along and keep me on my toes. Wanting to diversify my fleet i have been trolling the net looking for all the info on autogyros i can find, lots of tech stuff here but no plans! I have gathered it up i am quite sure i have a sound understanding of how and what makes them fly and will soon (against all the advice offered here) sit down at my drawing board as i always do with a pen, compass and a big sheet of paper and have a crack at designing and building one of these machines. I have no doubt that the lack of freely available plans makes autgyros out of reach for many rc pilots like myself who are not in a position to or have too much pride to by kits or arf's but have lots of building experience and accumulated hardware with which to play. you guys need to learn to share! :) :) :)

JochenK
Sep 23, 2008, 08:44 AM
If you look here
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=469368
you'll find a list of plans and kits.

Jochen

biggaboogaboo
Sep 23, 2008, 03:18 PM
brilliant! thank you.