Mike Montefusco
It’s a plane? … No!
It’s a helicopter? … No!
It’s a drone? … No!
Okay, so what is it?
It’s a gyrocopter!
A gyrocopter? What’s that?
A gyrocopter is a type of small rotorcraft that looks a little bit like a small helicopter, but it operates and flies like an airplane. A helicopter rotor is powered by the engine. A gyrocopter rotor (which is actually a rotating “wing” that generates lift) is not powered by the engine. The gyrocopter rotor turns by its forward movement through the air that it is flying into.
Autorotation describes the rotorcraft flight condition in which the lifting rotor is driven entirely by action of the air when the rotorcraft is in motion.
Gyrocopters have been around for a long time. In fact, this year, 2023, is the 100th anniversary of the first gyro flight made in Spain on Jan. 9, 1923, by Juan de la Cierva.
Airplanes had been around since the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903, so early gyrocopters looked like airplanes but with a rotor on top.
As development progressed, the gyro design shed its airplane image and need for conventional wings. Designers also found that the engine could be mounted either in front (as a tractor) or in the rear (as a pusher).
Further designs shed even more weight by doing away with much of the fuselage altogether, thus getting the vehicle down to almost a bare frame.
In the 1950s, the Bensen Aircraft Corporation exploded upon the sport aviation scene. When the brilliant engineer behind this success, Dr. Igor Bensen, introduced his first designs in 1955, its unprecedented simplicity of design and ease of flight captured the public’s imagination.
Although this early version had no engine and was towed into the air very much like a kite, shortly thereafter, his engine-powered gyrocopter was introduced, and a new age of powered homebuilt aircraft dawned. Dr. Bensen’s revolutionary designs have been copied and modified but, in the opinion of many, never surpassed.
Today’s modern gyrocopters have benefitted from numerous design and engineering improvements and refinements. They are sleek, well designed, and well manufactured. They can be purchased as a kit (owner-built) or as a factory-built and certified air vehicle.
There are single-seat models, but the two-seat versions are most popular. There are front and back (tandem) seating or side-by-side seating models.
Gyrocopters typically have 4-cylinder engines that run on auto gas rather than aviation fuel, making them quite economical to operate. They can operate from normal airports or private property as long as there is enough room and clear space to take off and land safely.
Because there is no wing above or below the pilot, the visibility is outstanding. The design is much less complicated than a helicopter; thus, maintenance is easier, faster, and much less costly.
If a person is already an aviator and has at least a Private Pilot Certificate in fixed-wing aircraft or rotorcraft, the transition to a gyrocopter is straightforward. However, it is possible to learn to fly from scratch in a gyrocopter and earn a pilot rating in the process. There are many possibilities.
For those who might be interested in learning more, one of the major gyrocopter companies has an active presence and following in the Robson Ranch Denton local area.
Bottom line: Flying a gyrocopter is just plain fun.