Whirlybird Aviation has been at it again and they have produced a nice scale profile Kellett Autogyro. I was fortunate to get to build one from their laser cut kit and I have to say, everything fit together well and it was a well thought out kit. The 24 page instructions have plenty of pictures to show dummies like me how things are supposed to look.

Some of the hardware that is not normally found in great numbers of your personal supply came supplied with the kit, like landing gear straps (6 pairs needed) and control horns. The 1/8" wire UC as well as the rotor mast is included too. There is a bit of wire bending and soldering needed for the UC so a good wire bender would be recommended to make the job a little easier. In the end, the UC is very stout and should hold up well to those harder-than-planned landings. The steerable tailwheel mount is also included.

Thanks to the Aerobalsa Blades and Flying Balsa's new and improved delta head kit, the business end of this Autogyro is worry free. Callie Graphics supplied the beautiful Eastern Airlines decals.

I'm not going to go into all the construction details right now as the instructions are quite complete. However, I will say that if you set up all the angles and dangles per the instructions, the model will perform perfectly right off the bench. My maiden "test hop" turned into a 6 minute flight of joy! With just a click of trim, she was flying hands off.

Normally I wouldn't test fly an Autogyro in 12-15 knt wind but, since my next opportunity to fly was over 2 weeks away, I went for it. I had to use throttle just to hold station and needless to say, it spun up quick! Just as the rotor was about to lift I added a touch of throttle and she nearly did a jump takeoff. It took a bunch of down and full throttle to penetrate into the wind but most of the flight was done in a hover. Although I had a blast flying it, I can't wait to try a more calm day.

I have some great HD video taken of the first couple flights but I've run out of time to do the edits and get it proccessed to YouTube. I will post it as soon as I can. I will be out of town for a couple weeks so my computer work is limited to my iPad. Meanwhile, here's a few pics of my Kellett.

Don

(update) Here's the video of the maiden. Had a hard time judging the sink rate in such a stiff wind. The windsock in the background gives you an idea. It is designed to be fullyy extended in 12 to 15 knot wind.

Dons New Auto Gyro yes there is a crash at the end (4 min 43 sec)

Here is a surprise video just taken this last weekend! Sorry about the video quality. It was taken on an old digital camera that could also take low res video.

Kellett on floats (4 min 47 sec)

Looks good Don!

Here's a picture of mine...been flying it for a while now.
Joe

Hi,
Congrats Don! Looks nice, but then again so does everything you build. My Kellet Profile is by far my favorite autogyro. I have been abusing it since Nov of 09, and she's still holding up in spite of my piloting skills. I prefer the nitro over electric since I like to fly all day when I have the chance. I modified mine a bit from the original profile that used to be available. I was happy that Dave and Joe approved of my changes back then.

You're going to love it for sure!

Best Regards,
-Mike

Looking good Mike!

Here's what is included in this kit:
1. All the wood needed.
2. Wire for landing gear and mast
3. Flying balsa delta head
4. Aerobalsa blades
5. Decals
6. Other hardware (some bolts, gear straps for landing gear, ect)
Kit price will be $125.00 plus shipping.

It's a pretty fast build and I think you guys will love how it flies. We are going to put these out for only a limited time and then go back to the short kits. So there will be about 20 of these deluxe kits ready to be sold this fall.

Looking forward to your build pics Don!
Joe

Don,
Nice work...a question?? was there only one of this type of full size made or are there other schemes to choose from?

Would have been good to see a build log I think so we could have seen it progress to the finished example. Looking forward to your flight videos


Regards

Rich

I'll have some video of this one flying later. A guy in the club built this prototype and really enjoyed it! Another guy joining the autogyro club!
Joe

Joe set a kit aside for me , Or tell me how to order one now.

Bill

You got it Bill!

Eastern Airline Kellett Kit (3 min 36 sec)

Sweet!!! That looks like a rock solid flyer

Bill

Joe
That is a very nice looking model that has good handling.I hope you do well with it.........
Chris.............

Joe..
Is this the same size as the original Kellett or does it just have shorter rotors ? It looks a little smaller/ lighter ?
What are the recomended Motor,servo's.......I am a little tempted........{as if a need another model }.....freight to OZ ??
Chris.........

Yes Chris,
This one is much lighter. The blades are 18 inch aerobalsa blades, the motor is 25 size. We decided to shrink the model so we could use the standard aerobalsa blades that are used with the flyingbalsa delta head. Both companies were very kind to let us work with them to get such a great flying model.

$125.00 for model and I think I can get it to you for $45.00 shipped (and I'm still paying extra)
$15.00 shipped in USA
Joe

Check my first post with new video!

DC

Don...AWESOME! Love the floats! Wasn't sure if she was going to go there! Glad it worked!

I hope you have tons of fun with the model! You did a great job on it!
Joe

Hi Don, those strong winds can be a real bastard to land, otherwise the flying was real good in that wind.
Martin