DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

The Centerline-Thrust Issue

Because the Gyrobee has the appearance of a "classic" pusher gyro, it is often assumed
that the aircraft has a high thrust-line (relative to the vertical center of mass) and
therefore it must be unstable or hazardous to fly. In fact, because of the distribution of
mass, the relatively light airframe, the upright engine mount, and the tall mast,
appearances are deceiving. Repeated measurements of a number of aircraft have
demonstrated that a stock Gyrobee has an engine thrust-line that is typically only 1-2
inches above the vertical center of mass. This, coupled with the modest thrust of a 40-50
hp engine, means that any over-turning moment (even at full throttle and full load) is
modest and easily countered by an effective horizontal stabilizer. Everyone who has
flown a Gyrobee reports delightful flight characteristics, Your job, should you choose to
build one of your own, is not to do something stupid that would change that! Here are a
few guidelines:

? Never add extra weight to the basic airframe. Trying to keep the machine Part
103-legal helps a lot.

? Stick with the basic engine recommendations (see below). More power is not
needed and can only lead to problems.

? If you are using light blades (such as Dragon Wings), think about adding a
prerotator. In the case of the Dragon Wings you will definitely need one and the
added weight will compensate for the lighter blades.

? Always use an adequate horizontal stabilizer. The Watson tail has four square feet
of stab area and the stab is located in the propeller slipstream for even more
effectiveness. All of this is actually more than the minimum required, but there is
nothing to be lost and everything to be gained if you overdo the stab requirement.

Entry-level fixed-wing ultralights have a reputation for being uncomplicated aircraft that
are relatively easy to fly. They tend to have definite limits with respect to wind, for
example, but if flown within these limitations they handle very easily and provide a lot of
pleasure to those who fly them. The goal of the Gyrobee project was to achieve
something similar in the area of sport gyroplanes. This effort was highly successful, but if
you are intent on duplicating the aircraft, despite all my earlier warnings, you must
have a solid understanding of why the aircraft is configured the way it is. If you don't
understand some of the critical design choices that were made, it is quite possible that
you will make modifications that would result in an aircraft that is dangerous to fly!

Engines

Power is king in the area of sport gyroplanes and most experienced pilots find it difficult
to believe that you can get decent performance out of the 40 hp. Rotax 447 used on the
prototype. I weight 220 pounds and I certainly would not fly an aircraft with marginal
climb performance! Since the aircraft is designed to fly well on comparatively low
power, there are other advantages as well. The Gyrobee is a "floater" compared to almost
all other gyros out there, which means you get optimum glide performance should the
engine fail. This not only improves your chance of finding a suitable spot to land, it
means that you can fly your approach at a significantly lower airspeed. You can also
execute a no-roll landing much more easily, even without a stiff breeze to help. Unless
you are very heavy or routinely fly from high elevation fields, 40-45 hp should do just
fine. If you have an altitude or weight problem, the design will accommodate a Rotax
503, but that is absolutely the biggest engine you should use! . You don't have to use a
Rotax as other manufacturers make perfectly suitable engines in the 40-45 hp range that
would do just as well, assuming the use of a reduction drive that would let you swing an
efficient 60 inch prop!

VW engines are bigger and heavier than the Gyrobee was designed to accommodate. A
complete redesign of the engine mounting provisions would be required and a direct-
drive VW would have marginal power while a geared engine would have too much
power. While a 1/2 VW may seem attractive (typically rated between 30 and 40 hp),.
None of these variants has the torque to fly the Gyrobee. The Rotax 447 puts out 32 foot-
pounds of torque at 6250 RPM. With the 2.58 gearbox, the prop torque is 2.58 x 32 or
~82 foot-pounds. Before spending a lot of money and time to adapt an alternative engine,
see if the system you propose will develop a minimum of 80 foot-pounds of torque with
a 60-inch prop. If not, try a stock engine option!

Rotor Blades

Rotor blades are critical with respect to several aspects of the Gyrobee, including
performance and legality. The Gyrobee has been flown on all the blades listed below and
I have included some notes with respect tp each option:

? Dragon Wings. Current production Dragon Wings (those with a reflexed trailing
edge) are very light and fly the gyro very well. Unfortunately, they cannot reliably
be hand-started so a prerotator would be required. Fortunately they are light
enough that you could add a basic Wunderlich prerotator and keep your machine
Part 103-legal with respect to weight. The top speed of your machine may exceed
55 knots (63 mph), but weight is a bigger issue with respect to Part 103 than
speed (within reason!). A 23-foot rotor disc is adequate with these blades.

? SportCopter Blades. These are very smooth blades and, while not quite as
efficient as the Dragon Wings, they do a fine job. They will hand start but are
light enough that a prerotator may be legal. Good performance would mandate the
use of a 24-foot rotor disc.

? Rotordyne Blades. These are solid blades that hand-start easily. Unfortunately,
they are too-heavy to permit the use of a standard prerotator. A 25-foot rotor disc
would be optimum with these blades.
 ? Rotor Hawk Blades. These blades are more difficult to set up initially, but will
provide adequate performance on a 24-foot rotor disc and hand-start easily.

? Brock Blades. These blades are light and hand-start very easily. There is enough
of a weight margin for the use of a prerotator. Performance is adequate with a 24-
foot disc but the blades do not conserve energy well. As a result, you get
essentially one chance to execute your round-out before the blades play out.

? Sky Wheels. These blades will perform well in the 24-25-foot range but the
blades are so heavy you may not make Part 103 weight.

Rotor Disc Diameter

The major problem early in the flight-testing of the prototype was how to get a good
climb rate when using blades of moderate performance and an engine of only 40 hp.
Fixed-wing ultralights solve the problem by having a relatively high wing area for their
weight, resulting in low wing loading. The solution with the Gyrobee was similar -
increase the diameter of the rotor disc to improve the disc loading. The typical single-seat
gyro flies at a disc loading of 1.2 to 1.4 pounds/square foot (psf) with engines in the 65-
90 hp range. In the case of the original Rotordyne blades, we used with a 5 foot hub bar,
producing a 25 foot rotor disc and a disc loading of about 1.0 psf. This produced
excellent performance yet the aircraft could easily be flown in winds up to 30 mph,
assuming a reasonable level of pilot experience. The ten-foot Brock blades were lighter
and were flown with a 4 foot hub bar, producing essentially identical disc loading on a 24
foot rotor disc. The tall mast provides ample rotor clearance in either case. Although the
aircraft will fly at a disc loading of 1.2 psf, I do not consider the climb performance
margin acceptable. Rotor disc diameter for the various blades options listed above has
already been provided.