Stuart,

I'm definitely familiar with the Magnis and with Greg. Both are class
acts. The magni is deceptive. It's thrust line is only 2"-3" above the
CG and is more than compensated for by the stab. I like to talk about
stable gyros being Near CLT. A couple of inches high or low won't make
any significant difference as long as there is an adequate stab. Even a
true CLT machine will only be precisely CLT at one specific load.

There are lots of folks that have flown many hours in unstable gyros.
There are also too many that didn't make it. The fact is that we now
know how to build much safer gyros that are also much easier to fly. And
we don't have to give up any speed or manuverability in the process. So,
there is absolutely no reason not to do it. Combine this with the
availability of high quality dual instruction, and there's no reason
that gyros can't acheive a safety record equal to, or better than,
airplanes.

I have only ever flown Near CLT gyros, but have learned much from those
who learned on machines like yours and who find the current generation
of stable gyros to be superior in every way. I'm glad you and your wife
were some of the fortunate, talented, and/or disciplined ones that made
it and who still love to fly.

I'd love try my hand at a Helicopter....one day!

Stuart & Kathryn Fields wrote:
Peter: There is another Gyro mfr. that has designed in the HS but not the
CLT: The Magni certainly has not integrated the CLT. Pictures of Greg
flying the ship seem to have the thrust line just about lined up somewhere
thru his head. Greg, who is a gyro instructor, and a Magni dealer, has
written reams in support of the HS, but not so about the CLT.
I'm one of the "Survivors" of the teach yourself to fly your Benson. Back
in the mid 60's I had a very warm 90hp Mac driving a relatively large
diameter prop and both my wife and I self taught in the machine and never
damaged any part. I flew in winds exceeding 25mph and was able to hover the
little bird. I did one formal airshow and numerous demos and did the
"Brock" spiral and flew the thing to speeds exceeding 100mph. Like Cdr.
Wallis, who flew his "Little Nellie" with rockets mounted low, I had a metal
6gal outboard fuel tank mounted below the seat, so I know that my vertical
c.g was significantly below the thrust line. The "Rock Guard" didn't qualify
as a HS due to it's size and short moment arm. I found the bird at least
neutrally stable and very controllable. The cardinal rule was: Don't get
light in the seat without a throttle reduction and no I didn't have to
continually have to jotstle the throttle when flying in the thermals here in
the desert. I got out of the gyros because they needed too much runway. I
now own and fly a Safari helo.