Kyler Laird writes:

I see that the Fairey Rotodyne had a max. gross weight of over
32,000 pounds. The only gyro in which I have time was close to
2% of that weight. It's been years since I've been to a PRA
fly-in, but I only recall seeing *little* (two-person max.)
aircraft - much lighter than the 5200 pound fixed-wing I'm
accustomed to flying.

I'm curious if there are special design problems that emerge
when gyros exceed some weight, or is it just that people who
want gyros don't want large aircraft?

Thank you.

--kyler

I thought it interesting that the other people responding to Kyler's
thread had apparently not heard of the "Rotodyne", and didn't check out
the Fairey Rotodyne (google for it!).

There IS a company working on a very cool -new- gyroplane - Groen
Brothers. See http://www.groenbros.com/product/hawk4.htm. Elsewhere on
their website, they propose converting existing fixed-wing airframes to
rotary wing.

"The same process would permit the quick and economical introduction of
VTOL GyroLiners in the 19, 35, 50, and 75 passenger sizes. These runway
independent airliners could provide safe and reliable, regional
point-to-point transport and alleviate the continued congesting of air
travel systems, a topic of major concern for the airline industry as
growth begins to return. "

-Jack