How Hard Could It Be to Fly a Gyrocopter Safely???

Preparation, Startup, Takeoff, Fly, Land, and Shutdown

3/23/2026

Disclaimer – I am NOT a CFI. Or even a certified pilot. This paper simply summarizes the current state of my understanding of flying a gyrocopter.

Admittedly, I am still a relative newcomer to the world of gyrocopter piloting. I’ve read and studied a stack of books about a foot high, I am anxious to learn all I can on about everything related to the subject so I’m working my way through my third formal ground school training course, I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos, and by the way, I have taken and PASSED my FAA knowledge exam for Sport Pilot Gyrocopter (SPY); but my actual CFI (flight) training hours are fairly few in number. I still have a way to go before I even meet minimum requirements to request pilot certification, not to mention achieved competence and confidence in my knowledge and skills. I’ll get there someday before too long. Until then, as I am taught, and gain experience, and learn, I’ll update this paper to reflect my growing knowledge and explanations.

Don’t tell your instructor that you know something because you read it here. Because next time you come here some incorrect or incomplete factoids may be changed or removed. I will keep updating the date at the top, so keep an eye on that. I’m sure that even after I am certified and have flown hundreds of hours I could still update this with new things I’ve learned. But, I will NEVER be a CFI, so this paper is just one old guy’s perspective.

I presume that someday I’ll formalize this paper as a bonified statement of expertise, and I’ll defend what I say here; but until then I’m just enjoying the journey, fat, dumb, and happy.

So for now, the tone of this paper is as though I am speaking to myself. So, please don’t be offended if it seems like I think “you” are a knucklehead. I’m pointing my finger at myself in the mirror.

Preparation

(at home or office)

· Are YOU (and your passenger) up to flying today? Healthy, calm, well rested, fed, hydrated, etc.

· Review the Maintenance Log Book to confirm that the gyro is ready to fly.

o No open Airworthiness Directives

o No past-due inspections

o No open maintenance issues

· Assure all aircraft and pilot documentation is on board.

o Airworthiness Certificate

o Registration Certificate

o Operating limitations

o Weight and Balance information

o Current valid driver’s license

o Pilot Certificate or Pilot Log Book with student solo and other relevant endorsements

· Make sure you aren’t planning on exceeding any piloting privileges: Certified and Endorsed Sport Pilot, student-solo pilot, or trainee.

· Measure all passenger(s) and baggage weights. Determine if weights and balances are within the margins of safety. Make adjustments or cancel the flight if necessary.

*** By the way… Don’t disregard weights and balances. Doing so will alter the factory-specified controls. In other words, it will reduce the effect of power, rudder, and stick. That means it could extend takeoff and landing distances, and reduce availability of safe takeoffs and landings, and responsiveness of maneuvering and corrective controls. All of which could be disastrous. Remember, rules are for maximizing safety, not imposing bureaucratic restrictions.

· Make sure you aren’t planning on exceeding any light-sport aircraft privileges either.

· A good rule would be to stay below 1,500 ft (or even 800 ft) AGL, and fairly close to home for now. And be mindful of Density Altitude on a hot summer day. Plan adventures as practicing what you have been trained, not extensions of your courage. That’s for AFTER you have TONS of experience.

· Plan out-and-about trips for now, save cross-country trips for later.

· Plan the flight on the EFB.

· Identify waypoints, landmarks, obstacles; identify refueling and alternative airports, and identify emergency landing possibilities along the way.

· Plan fuel requirements and where to get it, especially for cross-country trips.

· Get weather reports, NOTAMs, etc. Adjust the flight plan according to the realities of the day.

· Compute Density Altitudes at runways and everywhere in between to beware of altitude hazards.

· Leave a full copy of the plan with your wife or someone responsible.

· If flight plan is cross-country, file it with the EFB system or the FSS.

· Always alert FSS for Flight Following wherever you roam.

· Before you head out the door:

o have a drink of water

o put sunscreen on your face

o go pee

· Pick up as much fuel as needed. But don’t keep an inventory – gasoline octane will degrade over time.

*** If you deviate from your flight-plan in-route, you gotta check weather, NOTAMs, etc., and emergency landing runways in-route too! And communicate that to the EFB or FSS, and wife.

Startup and Taxi

(Prepare the gyro and yourself to fly)

1. Push out of the hanger (trailer).

2. Set the parking brake.

3. Remove and stow the rotor cuff.

4. Perform your Preflight Checklist.

5. Assist the passenger as needed. Instruct them in headphones, seatbelts, safety, etc.

6. Put on your jacket and helmet (or hat and headset).

7. Climb in, buckle up, and plug in your headset.

8. Mount and plug in your GoPro, and turn it on.

9. Put on your dark glasses and gloves.

*** Remember that controls must be moved slowly and deliberately; not abruptly or even too quickly – especially when the prop or rotor are spinning. Doing otherwise tends to introduce hazardous conditions and maneuvers, unnecessary stress and weaken parts; lead to over-correction, unintentional oscillations, and endanger your safety. This refers to brakes, choke, throttle, pedals, and stick.

*** Remember what happens to cars at the drag strip that accelerate real fast? Their wheels produce enough grip and torque to lift the front end right off the ground. And the engine accelerates so fast that it produces enough torque to twist one corner of the front even higher. Well, if you move the throttle on a gyro too quickly it will torque the aircraft so much it could pitch and roll out of control and crash upside down. This ain’t an exhibition or a race. Take it easy!

*** Beware of errors to the takeoff safety margins and high altitudes to avoid hazards. Remember, when it’s warm out, you will be in lower air-density, and subject to the effects of higher altitude than what the Altimeter reads. That means reduced engine and airfoil performance, not to mention oxygen to breathe.

(Prepare the cockpit to fly)

1. Plug in the removable electronics – like the EFB and flight-data recorder – external disk drive.

2. Turn the key on to power up the electronics.

3. Turn on the display panel(s).

4. Check that all the display(s) and sensors are working properly.

5. Check the radio mic, and adjust the volume and squelch if needed.

6. Check the intercom with the passenger.

7. Check the rotor dial, and assure it is set to brake.

8. Check the (pre-rotate/trim) air pressure, and pump it up if needed.

9. Check the lights and fuel pump, and assure they are on.

10. Confirm local barometric pressure to calibrate the Pressure Altitude in the Altimeter, and local ambient temperature used in the Density Altitude calculations.

11. Pause. Listen, feel, look around, be mindful and aware of everything inside and out.

12. Look around, check mirrors/camera views for bystanders and obstacles.

13. If you see any bystanders, get them to stand way back.

(Start the engine)

1. Set the throttle to idle.

2. If the engine is cold, set the choke, otherwise give the engine just a little extra sip.

3. Turn on both mag switches.

*** From now until the rotor is still and you shut the engine off, you must ALWAYS keep your right hand deliberately on the stick, your feet on the peddles, and your left hand doing ALL the other cockpit tasks!!!

4. Holler out “Clear Prop!”

5. Turn the key to start the engine, but don’t release it yet. After it starts hold the key an extra 3 seconds before releasing it (to preserve the starter mechanism).

6. After another second or two release the choke.

7. Check the engine instruments to assure they all are responding properly.

8. Make sure you got engine oil pressure.

9. Set the throttle to bring the engine to 2,500 RPM to warm it up.

10. Watch the water temperature. It will heat up within a minute or so.

11. Watch the oil temperature. It will heat up in another minute or two.

12. Wait until the oil temperature shows some heat.

13. Rev up the engine to 3,000 RPM.

14. Test both mags, one at a time, to confirm the engine-speed dips slightly when you turn each one OFF temporarily.

15. Return the engine throttle to idle.

*** If you haven’t already determined which direction and which runway to take off on, check the weather or windsock, or listen to the ATC, Weather, or CTAF to discover which direction the wind is from and which runway direction to take off on.

*** Always take off into the wind, or some head-quarterly angle – never with the wind at your tail, or some tail-quarterly angle. You need airspeed to gain lift, not ground speed. A tailwind does you no good. It just blows you faster down the runway, and takes you to the end of the runway sooner. On the other hand, a headwind allows you to gain airspeed with a shorter distance down the runway to achieve the lift to get off the ground, over obstacles, and safely up to altitude.

*** BE MINDFUL, DO NOT TAXI TOO FAST OR BRAKE TOO HARD, CAUSING HAZZARD # 1 – A FORWARD TUMBLE. (By thrusting or braking over the CG without rotor disk stability.

(Taxi out to the runway)

1. Set the transponder squawk to 1200, and turn it on.

2. On the radio – as the airspace requires, request permission from the ATC, or announce your intention on CTAF – to taxi to the runway.

a. Pilot: Coolidge UNICOM, gyro 678 golf tango, taxing from the east ramp to runway 23

3. Hold the stick full forward and pointed into a side-wind, and keep it there (including turning) while taxiing.

4. Release the parking brake.

5. Taxi to the runway. SLOWLY! Never faster than you could trot along next to. Rely more on the throttle to regulate your taxi speed instead of the brakes. Especially go slow over bumpy ground – bouncing the rotor is a very bad thing!

6. Before you get to the runway, decide if you want to spin up the rotor before rolling out onto it, or out on the runway itself.

7. If you are at a towered airport:

a. Stop and hold short of the runway, idle the engine, and set the parking brake if necessary.

b. On the radio to the ATC – indicate your position and your request to spin up before or after entering the runway, and your intent to takeoff. Then wait for clearance and instructions before progressing onto the runway.

c. If you are going to spin up first, follow the steps below.

8. Or if you are at a non-towered airport:

a. On the radio to CTAF – announce your intention to spin up before or after entering the runway for takeoff.

i. Pilot: Coolidge UNICOM, gyro 678 golf tango, about to enter runway 23 to prepare for takeoff.

b. If you are going to spin up first, follow the steps below.

Spin Up and Takeoff

(Enter the runway)

1. Look very carefully in both directions, up and down the full length of the runway (and into the sky beyond) for other aircraft and birds before entering the runway.

2. Look around and check mirrors/cameras for any obstacles to the rotor.

3. Release the parking brake.

4. Taxi onto the runway.

5. Align with and center on the runway.

6. Brake.

(spinning up the rotor)

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT FEW STEPS AVOID HAZZARD #2 – BLADE FLAPPING! When the rotor is spinning below disk speed it is rather prone to flapping like a tissue in the breeze. This transition period during spinning up or down is very dangerous whether rolling along or in any wind. So, spin up or down as deliberately as possible without rolling.

*** This applies to takeoffs, touch-and-go’s, and landings.

1. Switch the rotor dial to flight.

2. (release the brake lock if necessary, and) Hold the brake.

3. Increase the throttle to rev up the engine to 2,000 RPM.

4. Press the pre-rotate button (thumb on the stick).

5. (The rotor starts turning and accelerates.)

6. When the rotor-speed seems to discontinue accelerating, slowly increase the throttle to bring the engine-speed up until the rotor-speed reaches 220 RPM.

7. If you are pre-rotating before entering the runway, release the pre-rotate button and return the throttle to the idle position.

a. When you are ready to enter the runway follow the instructions above to do so.

b. When you are in position to take off, set the parking brake, if necessary, rev the engine to 2,444 RPM, and press the pre-rotate button again to get the rotor back up to 220 RPM.

(taking off)

1. Release the pre-rotate button.

2. Count 1-2-3 seconds, while pulling the stick to the full-back position. (Airspeed, along with the stick in a back position, will increase your rotor-speed, which increases lift.)

3. Release the brake. (You’ll start rolling.)

*** The ideal control to strive for during takeoff is steady increase in throttle and forward stick, a little stick back during climb, and then steady again thereafter.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT STEPS AVOID HAZZARD #3 – BAD TAKEOFF!

· If at any time during the takeoff, you feel something is just not right, like unusual vibrations, can’t get expected power, not getting expected airspeed, not getting enough altitude, etc. – ABORT THE TAKEOFF –

a. Reduce the throttle to idle

b. Pull the stick full-backward until you come to a stop, then

c. Push the stick full-forward

d. Turn the rotor switch to Brake

e. Pull the trim pad to pressure-up the rotor brake

f. AFTER THE WHEELS COME TO A COMPLETE STOP – Apply the (wheel) brakes

· Otherwise…

4. Steadily increase the throttle to increase airspeed until you lift off. You should achieve full throttle and 60 kts airspeed well before the end of the runway.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT STEPS AVOID HAZZARD #4 – RUNWAY DRIFT! Anticipate the gyro WILL tilt and be redirected by engine power and the wind. Be prepared to keep some left pressure on the stick (as you are pushing it forward) to keep the gyro centered on the runway, and right pressure on the peddle pointing the nose straight down the runway.

5. As you accelerate down the runway, within a few dozen yards, when you feel the front wheels getting light and bouncing off the ground, then loosen your grip on the stick, pointing your fingers forward for a few seconds to remind you to NOT yank it back-and-forth – but to anticipate holding it deliberately forward and steady (balancing on the rear wheels) – riding a wheelie!

*** REMEMBER when the string leans to the side, push the opposite peddle forward to pull the string back upright.

*** The next few steps happen in rather quick succession. Don’t let them catch you by surprise – again, Anticipate the process and preemptively manage it.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT FEW STEPS AVOID HAZZARD #5 – PREMATURE LIFTOFF!

6. Pretty soon the rear wheels will also feel like they are ready to lift off the ground (in another few dozen yards). Anticipate that the stick will abruptly push back – don’t let it! Preemptively keep a steady forward pressure to let the wheels come up only a few feet and no more.

7. By this point the throttle should be around 75% or so. Keep the throttle going forward.

*** If you haven’t gotten and kept the stick forward enough, you will lunge upward prematurely. You will find this increase in altitude is premature because you have left the “ground effect”, and your rotor-speed cannot sustain the lift at your altitude and pitch angle, and you will begin to descend shortly.

a. Do not over-react by trying to get your altitude back down! Like, reducing the throttle and/or pushing the stick forward to get the nose and/or altitude back down to where it should’a been.

b. Instead, over about 1 second firmly increase the throttle to 100% and push the stick forward only enough to level off so your airspeed and rotor-speed can continue to accelerate at a level pitch.

c. And never let that happen again!

· otherwise

*** Notice that when all 3 wheels are off the ground your airspeed will accelerate faster with increase in throttle!

9. Increase the throttle on up to 100%. (watch the string, and anticipate adding right peddle).

10. When you lift off the ground and the engine is accelerating, its torque will tilt you to the right, so give it little left-stick to counter the tilt to stay level with the horizon.

11. Likewise, the accelerating rotor also will nudge your nose to the left, so anticipate it by being ready to hold the right-rudder as necessary to counter the drift to stay heading straight down the center of the runway.

12. As your airspeed accelerates, the gyro will increase lift, which will increase your altitude, but you still need stay close the ground by keep your stick moving forward as needed.

*** When your airspeed reaches 60 kts – Whew! You made it!

13. Now you can pull the stick back some to climb in altitude, and off you go!

14. When you reach the end of the runway, look for and avoid obstacles.

*** BE MIDEFUL, YOU ARE FLYING VFR, SO KEEP YOUR EYES IN THE SKY AND THE GROUND 90% OF THE TIME. Just check the instruments now and then to assure they indicate what they ought to be. Four good rules of thumb are to

a. scan left and right

· move the focus of your attention in 4-second steps, 10° at a time across the sky, looking for traffic

b. then look down both sides and up and around

c. and then glance at the instruments

d. strive for intentionally steady airspeed and altitude

*** Umm… Speaking of the ground… It is natural to go where you look, so don’t fixate on the ground below you (that’s what Craig calls your crash zone), keep your attention on the horizon.

*** And… Speaking of glancing at the instruments, you only need to notice the airspeed and altimeter values, and whether any warning lights are illuminated. You really don’t need to notice the values on all the instruments, they are only there to give details if something is wrong.

*** If you decide your altitude or airspeed need adjusting, do so without fixating on the instruments. Decide what to do, and do it, then give it a few seconds before you recheck your instruments. Only apply half of a control adjustment seems like ought to happen. It’s better to ease-in to a change than to overdo it and have to go back and correct it.

*** IT IS YOUR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AS PILOT IN COMMAND TO WATCH OUT FOR AIR TRAFFIC – on the ADSB-In map and in the sky (because not everything up there is broadcasting ADS-B Out).

· When you are up to speed (and in the air), you can manage the rate of climb by reducing the engine throttle a little (you don’t need full throttle to continue to climb nicely) and/or easing the stick forward a little (so you don’t climb too steeply), then you can continue to speed up and climb as high as you please.

· Fly straight and level, at least for a little while. Apply some pitch-trim now to reduce the effort to hold the stick to fly without any manual effort.

*** BE GENTLE WITH THE CONTROLS. Do not grip the stick like a shovel digging a hole or push on the peddles like you’re expecting a collision. Lighten up! If you need to hold tightly to the stick, it’s probably because you haven’t trimmed it properly.

· At this point, you enter the “cruise mode”. You can fly with only minimal attention to the throttle, stick or peddles.

· You should be able to fly straight and level with your hand momentarily off the stick. If the nose points up or down, adjust the pitch-trim accordingly. This throttle/trim state establishes your cruise speed.

· And, a mentioned before, be prepared to give extra attention as you steer right and left, adjust the throttle, and encounter wind.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT STEP AVOIDS HAZZARD #6 – DISRUPTING YOUR CLIMB-OUT!

· Let the lift created by airspeed propel you upward. (Pointing your nose higher only gains altitude by trading away airspeed – which could eventually reduce altitude as well, which is dangerous at a lower altitude.)

· (While you are climbing you are consuming energy. If you climb too quickly you will you consume energy faster than the prop can create it, and you will start decelerating and/or descending. Just gently push the stick forward a little to manage your airspeed.)

· When you have climbed to the altitude as you intend, adjust the stick and throttle to level your nose at your intended airspeed.

· Feel for any abnormal vibrations.

· (If the stick is vibrating side-to-side too much the rotor might need to be rebalanced. If the nose is vibrating too much the propeller might need to be rebalanced.)

Fly and Practice

*** BE MINDFUL; THE FOLLOWING REMINDERS HELP YOU AVOID HAZZARD #7 – FLYING ON THE PROP! The prop CANNOT lift a gyro, only the rotor can. So, if you orient the nose up expecting to go up (like a jet) the exact opposite will happen – that rotor orientation will slow the prop and you will descend!!!

· Remember:

o The throttle controls the engine, which creates energy in the form of prop speed, which causes thrust.

o Thrust (against drag) asserts or manages airspeed.

o Notice that the throttle causes an (almost) immediate effect on the engine-speed, but thrust only asserts the force of thrust against the resistance of drag of the body through the air, so the effect will be somewhat delayed until the force overcomes the resistance. Yeah, you can “varoom, varoom” the engine, but it still takes a little time to make it down the runway.

o Airspeed pushes on the rotor to assert its rotation speed, according to the position of the stick.

o Rotor-speed asserts lift to gain or manage altitude, at the expense of airspeed; or vice versa.

o Lift and drag affect altitude.

o Therefore, the throttle asserts airspeed, which asserts lift, which asserts altitude.

o And, the stick vectors the lift, which manages the airspeed.

*** Just remember when you are flying around under power, that eventually everything you control eventually effects everything else! So, to avoid overcorrecting… first use the throttle to manage the altitude, and then use the stick to manage the airspeed. NOT BOTH FOR BOTH, OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!!

Throttle è Altitude – and – Stick è Airspeed

*** Now, that being said… The engine generates energy. Drag consumes energy. Accelerating, Ascending, and turning all consume more energy, and decelerating and descending both consumes less energy. Don’t obsess with micromanaging energy management – just increase or decrease the throttle to make subtle changes to airspeed, altitude, and/or direction while cruising. And be prepared to follow throttle adjustments with subtle stick and rudder corrections.

*** In other words, use the throttle to control how much energy is inserted into the system, and the stick to direct where that energy is to be spent, or how much energy will be withdrawn from the system, and the stick to indicate where that energy is to be drawn from – affecting altitude and/or airspeed.

*** And if you move the stick without preceding it with a change in throttle, you are simply exchanging altitude for airspeed (by moving the stick forward), or vice versa (moving the stick backward).

*** Note that is more comfortable to fly with constant altitude than airspeed.

*** And if all that is not perplexing enough, some more things to remember regards these dynamics too:

· The rotor thrust vector and the propeller thrust vector are not aligned with the center of gravity. That means every change to stick and throttle will affect the pitch because of an induced torque.

· As the engine changes RPM, and the propeller pushing against the air, the gyro body reacts by producing a roll torque (to the right while accelerating and to the left while decelerating) (opposite to the prop).

· AND, as the gyro changes direction (turns), the effect of the air (and compounded by any wind) on the right and left sides of the propeller will cause a yaw torque.

· Each on which will require subtle compensation to flight controls to avoid what a passenger or instructor will consider as roller-coastering all over the place, AKA, attitude management.

· The good news is that all these accommodations are not a matter of memorized or calculated preemptive controls, but intuitive feedback. It will become as instinctive as hiking, on uneven rocks, in the wind, while chewing gum, and carrying on a negotiation with a friend over the BEST ingredients for superior Bar-B-Que recipes, while navigating back to camp before everyone else eats all the food and all you’ll get for dinner is last year’s crumbly granola bars. Yeah, you can do this – no problem!

*** Ok, Sorry. One more thing… When you are flying around NOT under power, the effect of stick movement is basically reversed. That’s because the energy is flowing in the reversed direction; provided by the altitude and airspeed instead of the engine. In other words, instead of the kinetic power (of the engine) asserting an effect on the rotor, it is a potential energy (of the altitude and airspeed) powering the rotor.

For example,

· when the stick is pulled back under power,

o the sustained airspeed and rotor-speed

o provide controlled lift and increase in altitude.

· but pulling the stick back without power,

o reduces airspeed and rotor speed

o causing uncontrolled loss of lift and altitude.

· But when the stick is pushed forward without power, (presuming sufficient altitude)

o the diminishing altitude,

o sustains sufficient airspeed and rotor-speed to maintain flight control.

*** JUST SO WE’RE CLEAR: Sometimes an action will cause an effect, like pushing and pulling the stick back and forth causes the rotor hub to change its orientation. And sometimes an action indirectly asserts an effect that may take a little time to occur (if at all), like changing the rotor hub orientation asserts a change on how the rotor can move, but since the intention of pulling the stick may have been to increase lift, it may be resisted and delayed or declined by other factors like airspeed, angle of attack, rotor-speed, and wind-speed. In other words, some effects we can control, and other effects we can only assert. Thoughtlessly asserting your will on your gyro is like selfishly asserting your will on others – it never quite turns out like you imagined it would! Obey your training, not your imagination.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE FOLLOWING REMINDERS HELP YOU AVOID HAZZARD #8 – MIS-MANAGING YOUR ALTITUDE!

· The stick asserts pitch (pointing nose upward or downward) and roll (tilting right or left).

· Pitch up increases rotor-speed by sacrificing airspeed, which asserts an increase of lift, which increases climb (or decreases descent).

· Pitch down increases airspeed by sacrificing rotor-speed, which causes decrease of lift, which increases descent (or decreases climb).

· Therefore, forward or backward stick (pitch) exchanges altitude for airspeed (respectively), and it consumes or recovers energy (respectively).

· Roll right or left asserts a sideways thrust, which asserts a tilt of the body, and a banking turn.

· A banking turn causes drag, so it reduces airspeed.

· Therefore, right or left stick (roll) exchanges energy for change in direction.

· Therefore, moving the stick affects energy. So in order to maintain constant airspeed while moving the stick forward (or backward) you must temporarily increase (or decrease) the throttle. And in order to maintain level flight while moving the stick right or left you must also temporarily increase the throttle.

· Let me say this in another way. If you want to change airspeed or altitude, adjust the throttle first, then adjust the stick to accommodate it. For example:

o To increase airspeed, first increase throttle, then push the stick forward to point the nose down enough to maintain constant altitude.

o To decrease airspeed, first decrease throttle, then pull the stick backward to point the nose up enough to maintain constant altitude.

o To increase altitude, first increase throttle, then pull the stick backward to point the nose up enough to maintain constant airspeed.

o To decrease altitude, first decrease throttle, then pull the stick forward to point the nose down enough to maintain constant airspeed.

o If you want to increase airspeed and altitude at the same time, first increase the throttle, then be careful adjusting the nose to achieve what you want because you may be pushing your gyro up to and beyond what it is capable of, and it simply won’t perform like you wanted. Remember, reality is governed by real physics, not wishful fictional imagination.

o If you want to decrease airspeed and altitude at the same time, first decrease the throttle, then be careful adjusting the nose to achieve what you want because you may cause your gyro to enter an unrecoverably hazardous maneuver.

o Also, remember to adjust your trim before, during, and after maneuvers.

o BE CAREFUL to not try maneuvers you have not been taught. The gyro is actually capable of some pretty amazing and safe maneuvers, but you ought to experiment carefully by gentle trial and discovery, rather than by ambitious trial and error. You don’t want to be the star of a YouTube debrief of an NTSB report of a crash caused by pilot error!

o By the way, don’t forget then whenever you adjust the throttle, you should anticipate a roll and/or yaw reaction that will require a proactive stick and/or peddle correction.

o And while we are on the subject of increasing airspeed… Be mindful of the hazards of high airspeed. Increased stick vibration is normal, and stick and peddle controls will be significantly more sensitive. Be very careful! And stay well below the manufacturer’s published Maximum speeds.

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT FEW REMINDERS HELP YOU AVOID HAZZARD #9 – DANGEROUS MANEUVERS!

· Remember, a gyrocopter is a recreational aircraft not an aerobatic toy. The airframe and rotor do not have the structural strength to withstand the higher stresses of aerobatic maneuvers, and doing so could weaken, damage, or break critical parts and endanger life and limb. YouTube is full of videos of idiot-pilots who do foolish things and crash. Follow your training not your daredevil ambition.

· Be very careful to not move the stick forward and/or backward between climb and descent too quickly, lest you enter negative or excessive G forces. This will likely damage your rotor, lead to over-correction, unintentional oscillations, and endanger your safety.

· Be very careful to not move the stick sideways too much (bank too sharply), lest you enter into a barrel roll. This could also damage your rotor, lead to over-correction, unintentional oscillations, and endanger your safety.

· Be very careful to not let your airspeed fall too low while your rotor-speed is a too low at the same time, lest you experience rotor flap. This could also damage your rotor or even tip your entire gyro over and endanger your safety!

· Don’t fly at low altitudes above the ground that compromise your ability to recover from unstable hazardous conditions. The safety of a Gyrocopter depends on adequate altitude to safely recover and/or land if necessary.

· Feel and check the instruments occasionally for any abnormal conditions, vibrations, etc.

(turning with style and comfort)

1. Look all around for air traffic that might interfere with your intended path. Start by looking the opposite direction of the turn, then forward, then in the direction of the turn, and then further in the direction of the turn (the best you can). (check the ASDB map and camera views if you got them.)

2. Pick a point on the horizon in the direction to go, and visually fly towards it. Do NOT watch the magnetic compass.

3. Increase the throttle a little. (Proportional to the intended bank angle.)

4. Tilt the stick to bank the turn.

5. Pull the stick a little to maintain pitch attitude.

6. If turning to the right, add a little right peddle. (No need for the left.)

7. Keep looking around for air traffic and at the instruments, adjusting them as usual.

8. When finishing turning… roll the stick back to how it was before (out of the bank and nose back down a little).

9. Reduce the throttle a little.

10. Restore peddle to straight ahead heading.

(flying with a cross-wind)

· If the wind is a’blowin from the side, heading into it is preferable to leaning into it.

· In other words,

o Use the peddles to aim the nose to a correction angle to compensate for a cross-wind – do that by keeping the string on your windshield vertical.

o Don’t tilt the stick to bank into the wind – that would be an uncomfortable ride because your weight vector would not be vertical.

(preparing for the Pilot License Check Flight)

· Do the following while gaining PIC flight hours and having fun:

o All the appropriate check-lists

o All the various radio communications

o All the airport protocols

o Lots of takeoffs & landings; some with a total stop, some taxing back to base (ie, shortest ground roll or soonest maximum climb)

o Takeoff abort: Stop, abrupt turn-around, and quick turn-around

o Choose and fly Right or Left traffic pattern correctly.

o Enter, exit, and follow the traffic pattern

o Hard- and soft-field takeoff & landing

o Max climb-, speed-, and efficiency- takeoff

o Head-, cross-, tail- wind flight control

o Safe wandering, S- & circle- maneuvers

o Climbs, descents, lazy and tight turns,

o Dead-stick control, emergency (cautious) simulations

o Pilotage, dead-reckoning, VFR, pseudo-IFR navigation

o High- and low- speed control: Straight & level, turns, intentional climbs, & descents

o Higher (pressure) altitude hypoxia risk, testing, and mitigation

o Trim management

o Airspeed, altitude, and yaw management

o Maintaining constant airspeed and altitude while turning with and without changing wind components

o Balancing of instrumentation monitoring and obsession: 10% eyes on the dash, 90% eyes on the sky

o Always be on the lookout for air traffic and ground obstacles

o Hunger, thirst, and gotta-pee resolution

o Fatigue, weakness, vibration tolerance

o Situational Awareness and Attention to Detail

o Calm demeanor, confident and deliberate control

o Give your nervous passenger, CFI, DPE good reason to be calm and enjoy the ride

Land and Taxi

(approach)

1. Listen to the radio chatter, whether it is tower, approach, or CTAF, for wind direction and active runway.

2. Decide a landing direction more into than with the wind. (Never land with the wind at your back – that can cause high ground speed landing which is difficult to prevent from ending badly!)

3. Talk on the radio! Let others know your intention.

4. When you are 10 nm out, announce on the radio to tower, approach, or CTAF.

a. Pilot: Coolidge UNICOM, gyro 678 golf tango, on approach 10 miles northeast for landing at Coolidge

*** BE MINDFUL; THE NEXT STEP AVOIDS HAZZARD #10 – BAD LANDING!

o If at any time during the approach or landing, you feel something is just not right – ABORT THE LANDING

a. Increase the throttle and pull the stick back.to regain airspeed and altitude as necessary to maintain control.

b. Reenter the traffic pattern and go around.

c. On the radio report to the ATC or CTAS your intentions.

o Otherwise…

5. Decide which side of the runway and where to enter a traffic pattern.

6. Announce on the radio as you enter the base leg of the pattern, begin reducing the airspeed and altitude.

*** A steeper descent slope is better than a long approach and low slope.

(touch down)

*** After the approach, the ideal control to strive for during landing is steady backward stick movement until just before you come to a stop and you gently let the front wheel settle onto the ground.

*** REMEMBER that decreasing the engine speed will tend to both tilt you to the left and push your nose to the right. Anticipate needing a little right stick and left peddle when decelerating.

*** If at any time, anything just doesn’t feel right, abort the landing – power the throttle back up, pull the nose level, and go around again. Don’t risk a wonky landing. Your butt is more valuable than your ego over a missed landing!!!

o If you do go around, announce it on the radio, and get back up into the pattern. No problem!

o Remember, that when you goose the throttle anticipate that it’s going to want some left stick and right peddle.

1. Reduce the throttle to lower the altitude, and manage the stick forward/backward to reduce the airspeed. Aim the slope of descent for the runway number.

2. Keep your eye on the touchdown point, but focus down the runway.

3. Get aligned with the runway and use the stick to stay there. And, of course, keep the string straight up with peddle controls.

4. Don’t reduce the throttle too much – make sure you have enough altitude to allow time and space to dip the nose to maintain control of airspeed, and raise the nose to manage descent.

5. If you haven’t already done so, reduce the throttle to idle before you actually reach the runway.

*** Just before you touch down, disregard the string and align your nose with the runway. Don’t let your wheels touch the ground with your nose “crabbing” at an angle – it must be pointing straight ahead.

6. As you get down close to the ground ease the stick back to lift your nose up (flair) to bleed off enough of the airspeed to gently touch your rear wheels down (kissing the pillow).

7. Keep the stick back (nose high) as long as possible, balancing on the rear wheels to delay touching the front wheel to the ground. (to bleed off even more airspeed and rotor speed)

*** BE CAREFUL HERE. Hold the stick back while you roll, which will slow your ground speed as well as your rotor speed. Keep your nose properly centered and pointed down the centerline using the stick.

8. As soon as the wheels come to a COMPLETE STOP,

a. push the stick all the way forward (to avoid causing the rotor to strike anything behind)

b. switch the rotor switch to “Brake”.

c. Thumb the trim tab to pressurize the rotor brake to slow it down.

d. Lock the wheel brakes.

e. Just before the rotor comes to a stop, switch the rotor switch back to flight to let rotor slowly approach the front, and then just-in-time, again thumb the trim tab to pressurize the brake to stop the rotor directly straight overhead.

*** JUST SO WE’RE CLEAR: The peddles turn your rudder and front wheel (around a vertical axis) opposite to your intuition – so beware!

Notice how on a bicycle you turn right by pulling the right handle backward, causing the front wheel to change direction clockwise into the turn; but on a surfboard you turn right by pushing the rear end to the left away from the turn. That’s because a bicycle turns by directing its front – and a surfboard turns by directing its back.

The front wheels of a car turn right (clockwise) when its steering wheel is turned to the right (clockwise). But a motorboat has a motor and rudder in the back, but turning it’s steering wheel is like a car – turning the steering wheel to the right ALSO steers the boat to the right (because it discreetly turns the rudder counter-clockwise). Large ships actually have rudders and directional motors in the front as well as the back, to help steer at slow speeds and over short distances.

Like a large ship, a gyrocopter is steered in the front by directing its front wheel AND in the rear by directing its rudder.

The irony is that on a gyro (and on an airplane) to turn the right you push your right peddle forward (to angle the front wheel to the right), and it angles the rudder to the right (counter-clockwise)! Just opposite to every other land and water vehicle on the planet. Can you imagine driving a bicycle by pushing the right handle forward to turn right?

That means in a gyro (as in an airplane), to turn right, you move the stick (or turn the steering wheel) to the right, and if your tail isn’t following very well, give it a little right peddle. That’s because the peddle steers an aircraft rudder like a handle steers a bicycle. Except that a bicycle steers the FRONT of the vehicle, and a tail-dragger and rudder steers the BACK of the vehicle!!!

I’m sure there is a funny historical story about a very assertive dyslexic aircraft designer who convinced shy pilots to quit complaining and just deal with it.

*** Be very careful to not pitch up, then roll and yaw the opposite directions during takeoff or landing (low airspeed, low altitude, pull nose up, roll right, and rudder left), lest you tumble. This will likely cause a crash – and your kids will be very disappointed that you didn’t leave this cool gyro to them along with your watch when you are dead! (Sorry, one of our favorite family movie quotes from, The Three Amigos)

· At lower airspeed and on the ground, steer with your rudder pedals, not the stick!

· As you taxi around, keep the stick into the wind to counter-act it.

· On the radio – if necessary, request then wait for permission to the ATC, or announce your intention to CTAF – to taxi back to the hanger or take off again – whatever!

· If you are going to taxi back to the hanger, do so SLOWLY! Never faster than you could trot.

*** BE MINDFUL, DO NOT TAXI TOO FAST CAUSING HAZZARD # 1 – A FORWARD TUMBLE. (By thrusting over the CG without rotor longitudinal stability.) or HAZZARD #2 – BLADE FLAPPING! – rotor spinning below 120 RPM while in airspeed or wind.

· If you see any bystanders around, get them to stand way back.

· Remember, keep your hands and feet on the controls whenever the prop, rotor, or the wheels are moving.

· If you get a little ambitious while you are taxiing along, slow it way down when you anticipate a turn or bumpy terrain. Gyros are just not designed to taxi fast, especially on turns or over bumps – they are embarrassingly top-heavy.

Shutdown

1. Set the parking brake on.

2. Make sure the throttle is at idle.

3. Switch off the two mags.

4. Turn off the displays.

5. Turn off the key.

6. Take off the headphones and head-gear.

7. Climb out.

8. With the rotor braked while the stick was in the forward position the front of the rotor should be within reach. But if not, don’t jump up and grab it to pull it down; throw the rotor-tip cuff over it and pull it gently down, and secure it to the nose.

9. Perform your Postflight Checklist.

10. Make an entry in the Log Book.

11. Remove and bring with you any removable electronics (including your GoPro), along with your hat, coat, glasses, gloves, headgear, etc.

12. Return the gyro to the hanger (or trailer).