Autogyros

[wonwinglo]

Wing Commander Wallis,what can I say about this remarkable larger than life character ? well he has taken the development of the small autogyro to dizzy heights,speed,altitude and point to point records to prove the viability of this type of machine,his collection of I think at the last count 14 versions of the Wallis marque reside at Reymerston hall,where he also still flies now and again from the tiny airstrip within the grounds,the man has become a legend within his own lifetime and above all has always found time to share his all consuming passion with other enthusiasts,besides his autogyro experiments he also has a fascinating life story of his time in the R.A.F,just put Wing Commander Wallis into your browser to see what comes up and you will be surprised ?

It is such a pity that the Wallis autogyo was never marketed commercially,although attempts were made by Vintem to put her in production but I think it failed to get anywhere.

The Wing commander has shown the world,the capabilities of these small machines which continue to give so much pleasure in different forms.

He once described them to me as 'The motorcycles of the sky' what an apt description.

 

[duncan]

Agreed! I say a Knighthood is in order here.

 

[Paul]

Hi all, I've just joined this forum as I'm currently building a 2-D gyro from Autogyro Company in Arizona Kits Autogyro Company of ArizonaAnyone have any experience with this model? I've built it more or less as per instructions, except for strengthening fus as it was very flimsy, and making undercarriage removable for transportation & storage.

Overall kit was pretty good though there's some things I'm not too sure of, but lack experience to start modifying as this is my first gyro so stuck to plans!

I've attatched some pics which hopefully will appear on post if I've done it correctly?

Well finally four years later I've finished it, not flown yet but hoping to soon :dancing1:

And for my next trick bought one of these from states:

http://www.mickeynowell.com/id9.html

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[gyrocopter]

Yes that was me that shed the rotor ! mourn the passing of that DB Autogiro,in a wind you could bring her down vertically and land at your feet,the only criteria is a very strong undercarriage a la the original machines,found that four bladed rotors worked well,regarding flying anyone with some fixed wing experience can handle the DB example,once you have mastered the angle of dangle that she flies at ( ie very nose up ) then you are there,to land just throttle back and aim 45 degrees and let her settle,in wind they will hover and what a sight they make as the tailwheel/skid touches first,these are fun machines with a capital 'F'by the way loops are great fun,as you go over the rotor stops for a few precious seconds and then picks up as the g-stops,rolls also are possible even on rudder,climb steeply and whack on full rudder over she goes !

Built the Hobbit but never managed to get her to fly,she had a pulley where you wound string around just under the rotor head,the other end went under your foot as you gave her the gun for take off as the rotor in theory spun up,the problem with the Hobbit is that she had a complicated helicopter type head and bi-symetrical rotors,this was also un-usual in that she also had an Hiller fly-bar for rotor dampening,totally un-necessary with autogyros.

Next winter I will build another autogyro but at the moment I am too busy flying,I have plans for one fitted with an Outrunner electric motor now that would be really something !

Hi Wonwinglo,

I was just browsing this site and came across your reference to The Hobbit. I am a keen autogyro flyer and would very much like to find a Hobbit plane kit, plane in need of repair or any other info to get one in the air. Yes I know its a long shot but I would appreciate if you or anyone else can help .

Chas