hey guys, just a question. I am new to autogyros and I have built the kellett kit from arizona autogyros(now out of buisness) and I cant seem to get the blades to balance. I did the static or spanwise balancing on a razorblade in a vice then marked the balance point down and added lead to the lighter blade. now when I do a spinup test its even more out of balance and it wants to rip my hand off because of the oscillation. I cant seem to figure out whats going on here and would love it if someone knows anything else on how to fix this. the instructions give no further direction on how to fix the issue, thanks alot, Matt

G'Day Matt
You say that you have ballanced the individual blades.........have you also ballanced the complete three blades attached to the F/G plate ??
Chris..........

Matt,
Here's my thoughts on all this balancing (I hope I stir the pot on this one)!

I used to try to spin up the blades and add weight and go back and forth....adding weight, taking weight, chasing my tail like a dog!

Now what I do, is just get out my most accurate scale and weigh each blade. If one is off a little, I just add monocote. If it's off a lot, I add some alluminum tape, normally at the center of the blade. The problem with the Kellett kit is it uses the sig airfoil and I've had some pieces of that weight 20 oz and the next one weighs 80 oz!

So just try to get each blade weighing the same...however you can and call it good.

Did you get the video that came with the kellett? If not, I posted it here:

Autogyro Company Of Arizona Kellett Kit Video Part One (13 min 56 sec)

Autogyro Company Of Arizona Kellett Kit Video Part Two (14 min 28 sec)

And one more thing...make sure you don't have the blades tighten down too much. Should be tight enough to hold them straight but loose enough for them to find their point of center. If you tighten them too tight, they will oscillate like crazy!

Where are you located? In the USA?

thanks guys, this does help alot. Im just to new to the gyros and am cofused on alot od things. Yes i live in northern california

Originally Posted by mattisdell

thanks guys, this does help alot. Im just to new to the gyros and am cofused on alot od things. Yes i live in northern california

What part of northern California? I'm in San Jose.

Don

There ya go! An autogyro expert like Don will get you in the air no problem!

to skydanz, I live in crescent city,ca way way northern right before oregon border on the ocean.

Matt? Bummer. That's a solid 400 miles.
I would say if you don't have any experience flying these things, you may want to consider practicing with a "trainer" gyro before risking your nice one. There is a relatively steep learning curve with these no matter how much fixed wing or heli time you have. There's a saying for gyros that goes "If they aren't set up right, they either won't fly or won't fly long." We all want to see you have the best experience possible so you'll keep coming back.

Don