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In olden times, gyrocopters were an important part of experimental aviation, starting with I. Bensen, K. Brock and last year, the CarterCopter. There were a few brands of commercially made gyro's present. FAA does not yet certify gyrocopters except as experimental. I could not find any forums on them. They are sold as certified aircraft in most countries in the world, even Canada, Europe and U.K.
What might be the reasons for this?:confused:
EAA accepts forum submissions from almost anybody on most any aviation related topic. The only reason there weren't any forums or presentations on gyrocopters, autogyros, gyroplanes, etc., is because nobody submitted one.
Zack, I'm being a bit of a smarta** here, however this is a true but useless statement and really, really obvious. To ask everyone, again: why are there no gyrocopter forums? And, no, I did not think EAA was suppressing them. Why are there no longer any members with a sufficient interest and/or expertise in gyrocopters?Quote:
Originally Posted by Zack Baughman
You may feel Zack's answer is obvious, but what's not obvious is what do you mean by "this" when you ask the question. In fairness to Zack, I think his answer directly answered one of your observations that you couldn't find any forums about gyroplanes. Zack's answer was that no one from the gyroplane community asked for a forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Handelman
If by "this", you're asking why don't gyroplanes have more visibility, including events like AirVenture, I'll offer what may appear to be an obvious answer to that question: because they are such a small number compared to airplanes. Airplanes are so predominate within the EAA that the organization could change its name to the Experimental Airplane Association and hardly anyone would notice or care. It's the same with the AOPA; it could change its name to the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association and I doubt its membership would decrease to any noticeable degree because of that. That's not an indictment of either organization; it simply reflects where their members' predominate interest lies.
If the core issue of "this" is why are there so few gyroplanes, I think the reason lies in the fact that they haven't been allowed to advance beyond being experimental. As you observed, the FAA does not yet certificate these smaller gyroplanes with other than than an Experimental airworthiness certificate. Consequently, from a practical viewpoint, the FAA doesn't allow these smaller gyroplanes to be factory-built. As a comparison, what if the only airplanes in which persons could learn to fly were Experimental? If that were the case, I think there'd be a whole lot fewer airplanes around. Persons who fly experimental airplanes didn't initially have to learn to fly in an experimental airplane.
But despite all this, I'm a gyroplane enthusiast and I'm finding that gyroplanes are becoming more popular in the US even with the FAA regulations stacked against them. Part of that increased popularity is due to your observation that in many other countries, gyroplanes are allowed to be factory-built. In those countries, gyroplanes are becoming increasingly popular. These factory-built gyroplanes are making their way to the US even though the factory-built models, due to FAA regulations, have to re-engineered so that they can only be kit-built in the US. As these newer generation gyroplanes become more common, they're changing the notion of how a lot of persons have perceived these aircraft in the past. These are not the gyrocopters of the Bensen era, but gyroplanes of today's era. And there's been some solid advancement recently that gives hope that the FAA may soon come around to allowing these gyroplanes to be factory-built and certified as other than experimental.
Maybe soon, there will be so many forums about gyroplanes, you won't be able to fit them all in.
Thanks, Ira. I will have to look into your book. There was one LSA gyroplane vendor that we stopped into at the EAA and since they turned out to be close to me, I may have to investigate further. I have a crapload of clamps that I received from a friend's father who was laminating gyrocopter blades years ago and didn't need them anymore and donated them to me because I was a woodworker.
If you are a gyro enthusiast, perhaps you could be the person that gets the ball rolling. Speak to the industry leaders, designers and pilots and get something together for next year. I know I would attend some forums with my wife who is just fascinated by them and has shown a lot of interest.
Rick
http://www.rotaryforum.com here is a popular rotary forum. http://eaaforums.org/attachment.php?...tid=4979&stc=1
And here I thought it was because they couldn't find enough crazy bold people to fly 'em.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Zack Baughman