autogyro
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Gyroplane. Photo. Story. Characteristics.

What is a gyroplane? a look into the future...

 

Gyros, this word is familiar to all fans of aviation and for people not associated with the technique, the word is likely to be associated with something archaic, obsolete.

 The first work on autogyros was carried out by Spanish inventor Juan de la Sierva. His work on these rotary-wing machines, in 1919, aroused great interest. In the Soviet Union, in the 30-ies, autogyros of well-known designers were actively developed. For example, in 1929, the KaSkr-1 “Red Engineer” was created by the designers Kamov and Skrzhinsky, which showed quite decent flight data. N.I.Kamov became better known as the creator of the Soviet Ka-brand helicopters.

KASKR-1 «Red Engineer"KASKR-1 «Red Engineer» 1

KASKR-1 «Red Engineer"

  Subsequently, with the development of aircraft, and most importantly helicopter technology, interest in gyroplanes fell, and all work was practically curtailed. Gyrocopters or gyrocopters were reborn in the USA, in the 60s of the last century. Igor Benson, an American engineer and inventor with Russian roots, began to vigorously promote gyrocopter flights. The devices he invented were cheap and accessible to the widest masses of the population. Their control was very simple, and taking off from a small patch and landing with practically no run made this type of transport interesting for a common man. His lightweight gyroplanes were sold as a designer from parts sent by mail, from which almost anyone could assemble their own apparatus. On the wave of popularity in America and Canada, two-seater light autogyros were already created, which received an official type certificate. Until now, some of them can be seen flying.

autogyro

 So what is a gyrocopter or gyrocopter? Technically speaking, a gyroplane occupies an intermediate position between an airplane and a helicopter, or rather a hybrid of one and the other. “The gyroplane combines all the disadvantages of an airplane and a helicopter,” but this is, of course, an old aviation joke. The fact is that of all flying equipment, the gyroplane is the safest type. The device is, in fact, the cockpit, single or double, with an engine that drives a pulling or pushing propeller for horizontal movement. And the function of an airplane wing, to create a lift, is performed by freely rotating rotor blades. The blades rotate under the action of the incident flow. Rotating in the autorotation (free rotation) mode, and installed with a positive angle from 0-6 degrees, the rotor blades create sufficient thrust to maintain the aircraft in the air and all the necessary evolutions. The gyroplane is not subject to a spin, this terrible "beast" that aviators on airplanes fear. The fact is that, with a decrease in forward speed, the gyroplane simply begins a smooth descent. Even in the event of a main engine failure, the gyrocopter is able to make a safe landing, content with a small patch of surface.

autogyrogyroplane 2

 Modern gyrocopters are popular due to their good flight characteristics, low cost, simplicity of design and control in the air, safety, the ability to fly with significant wind, when other light aircraft simply can not safely rise into the air. Thanks to the take-off from the jump, or just a significantly shortened take-off, and landing with low mileage or even by helicopter, the gyroplane becomes interesting for various services. Such as the service of forest protection, traffic police, fire inspection, monitoring services, transmission lines and pipelines. Yes, and lovers of flights for the soul, this device brings a lot of pleasure with a minimum of costs. Most modern autogyros are equipped with a drive for a carrying rotor, which spins up to take-off and allows for a minimum run-up reduction. In the air, the rotor is disconnected from the transmission and goes into autorotation mode.

Huntsman autogyroHuntsman gyro 123

Huntsman autogyro

 Along with the undoubted advantages, the autogyro has several disadvantages. The main one is the low efficiency of the power plant. For its class among helicopters and airplanes by weight, it needs a more powerful engine, and, accordingly, higher fuel consumption. Like any other aircraft, the gyroplane has several dangerous flight modes that are unique to this species. But, it is enough to follow the instructions for flight operations to avoid such regimes.

Raven-01M gyro 123Raven-01M autogyro

Raven-01M autogyro

Several well-known Western firms produce gyroplanes on an industrial basis. They have a comfortable cabin, usually closed, equipped with the necessary instrumentation for safe flight. They are sold ready-made, or delivered in the form of so-called KIT sets, for self-assembly. In Russia, several types of gyroplanes are also produced. Such as "Huntsman", "Raven-01M", Angara department of FLA of Russia, Autogyro "Kazachok", produced by the wife of Korneyev from Sergiev Posad (there is even a queue for this gyro!). "Laboratory of Aviation" from Yoshkar-Ola produces a gyroplane for travel M22 Voyager, equipped with a comfortable cabin and cargo compartment. The same Aviation Group offers another light, open, two-seat gyroplane M14 Scout, a favorite of the Russian market. All gyroplanes of the "Aviation Laboratory" are distinguished by a high level of production quality.

M14 ScoutM14 Scout 2

M14 Scout autogyro

 The approximate cost of Russian-made autogyros is about 2-3 million rubles. and depends on the equipment configuration.

 In recent years, gyrocopters have attracted more and more attention from a wide range of aviation enthusiasts. They are used for tourism, patrolling, agricultural work, video shooting and photography. Due to the minimum forward speed, it guarantees high quality photo and video shooting. The simplicity of control of the gyroplane allows you to learn how to fly it in the shortest possible time, and with minimal costs. The undoubted plus is the minimum required storage space. With the main rotor blades folded, the gyroplane can easily fit in a regular garage.

 Given all this, we can conclude that the autogyro has excellent prospects for becoming a mass vehicle.

 

Valery Smirnov specifically for Avia.pro

There is a drawback - low capacity of human 3 have one pilot and without luggage.

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