UFO HeliThruster and IFR?

Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially
regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited.

However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are
that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but also
(FAA-?) certified planes.

If I would buy such a certified HeliThruster, fit it with the necessary
instruments, and give it an N-registration, would I be allowed to fly it
IFR given that I had the necessary pilot certificates? Would I be
allowed to fly it outside US?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
virtuPIC
--
Airspace V - international hangar flying!
http://www.airspace-v.com

virtuPIC wrote:
Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially
regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited.

However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are
that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but
also (FAA-?) certified planes.

If I would buy such a certified HeliThruster, fit it with the
necessary instruments, and give it an N-registration, would I be
allowed to fly it IFR given that I had the necessary pilot
certificates? Would I be allowed to fly it outside US?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
virtuPIC

With the certified probably not. With the EX-AB sure, if you can get the DAR
to write the limitations correctly.

If you do this let us know. We are always looking for a deal on good used
avionics and salvage is usually a pretty good place to look.

Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
virtuPIC wrote:
Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially
regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited.

However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are
that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but
also (FAA-?) certified planes.

If I would buy such a certified HeliThruster, fit it with the
necessary instruments, and give it an N-registration, would I be
allowed to fly it IFR given that I had the necessary pilot
certificates? Would I be allowed to fly it outside US?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
virtuPIC

With the certified probably not. With the EX-AB sure, if you can get
the DAR to write the limitations correctly.

If you do this let us know. We are always looking for a deal on good
used avionics and salvage is usually a pretty good place to look.

I did a little looking and there doesn't seem to be an FAA certified version
and for that matter I couldn't find any of them flying in the US.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:21:13 +0200, virtuPIC
wrote in :

UFO HeliThruster

Apparently this auto-gyro is incapable of recovering from negative G
forces. It is unclear what method is used to prevent encountering
meteorologically generated negative G force in the case of turbulence
for instance.


http://www.ufo-helithruster.com/safe...yrocopter.html
First PPO "Power Push Over", by far the most dangerous of the
three scenarios discussed here. What happens here is the gyro is
deliberately forced nose down creating "Negative G". Negative G is
almost always non recoverable. Gyros are NOT designed to do this
maneuver. PPO is a flight maneuver (deliberate) at the top of a
climb or a nose-down dive from level flight.

Further, an “innocent” POWER ON can bring about PPO! Innocent in
that it should be a safe thing to do, that is, putting power on.
If the design of the gyro has some fundamentals wrong with it, or
a combination of them; high profile C of G, poor stability,
insufficient tail profile, then when power is applied vigorously
the propeller in such a craft can push the "top" of the Gyro
forward while the "bottom" lags (drags) behind, thus inducing PPO.
Technically what has happened in PPO is that the ROTOR has (in
effect) been uncoupled from the aircraft. Therefore, if you unload
the rotor (by making a zero-g maneuver) the rotor drag almost
vanishes and the thrust of the engine will make the aircraft
nose-down.

Power Push Over are done by people who are stupid, maybe to
impress a crowd they will dive at high speed, pull out at the
bottom which loads up the G forces (the rotor revs will
automatically increase), they do a spectacular zoom upwards and
when they reach the position when they stop climbing, we are in
zero-g, for a second there is no incoming air to turn the blades,
even worse the airflow is reversed, and this has a dramatic effect
on stopping rotor revs. With decreased rotor revs a pilot pushes
the stick forward, but it is too late; it is impossible to recover
lost revs.

This sounds scary stuff and it is. We hope you aren't stupid
enough to see if PPO is unrecoverable. But let's put this in
perspective, when you fly an airplane you know you can't land it
up side down, so you don't do it; with gyros you can't fly in
zero-g so you don't do it.

Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
virtuPIC wrote:
Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially
regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited.

However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are
that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but
also (FAA-?) certified planes.

If I would buy such a certified HeliThruster, fit it with the
necessary instruments, and give it an N-registration, would I be
allowed to fly it IFR given that I had the necessary pilot
certificates? Would I be allowed to fly it outside US?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
virtuPIC

With the certified probably not. With the EX-AB sure, if you can get the DAR
to write the limitations correctly.

If you do this let us know. We are always looking for a deal on good used
avionics and salvage is usually a pretty good place to look.

LOL. I was wondering how you'd bring
it all together in the end...

Jim Stewart wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
virtuPIC wrote:
Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially
regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited.

However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are
that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but
also (FAA-?) certified planes.

If I would buy such a certified HeliThruster, fit it with the
necessary instruments, and give it an N-registration, would I be
allowed to fly it IFR given that I had the necessary pilot
certificates? Would I be allowed to fly it outside US?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
virtuPIC

With the certified probably not. With the EX-AB sure, if you can get
the DAR to write the limitations correctly.

If you do this let us know. We are always looking for a deal on good
used avionics and salvage is usually a pretty good place to look.

LOL. I was wondering how you'd bring
it all together in the end...

You might also want to ask yourself why
so many of the pictures show pilots wearing
helmets....

You might also want to ask yourself why
so many of the pictures show pilots wearing
helmets....

Yes, indeed. I've been wondering a long time...UFO claims they are
safe. And I can't imagine an accident where a helmet would be of real
use. Is it just my lack of fantasy? Lack of knowledge?

Well, since there seems to be no FAA-certified HeliThruster answers
have become less interesting. However, there might be some gyrocopter
with closed cabin that is easy to handle, stable, able to reach some
100 mph, and IFR-capable. (?)

virtuPIC
--
Airspace V - international hangar flying!
http://www.airspace-v.com

virtuPIC wrote:
You might also want to ask yourself why
so many of the pictures show pilots wearing
helmets....

Yes, indeed. I've been wondering a long time...UFO claims they are
safe. And I can't imagine an accident where a helmet would be of real
use. Is it just my lack of fantasy? Lack of knowledge?

Well, since there seems to be no FAA-certified HeliThruster answers
have become less interesting. However, there might be some gyrocopter
with closed cabin that is easy to handle, stable, able to reach some
100 mph, and IFR-capable. (?)

virtuPIC

I don't think you will find any gyrocopter that is suitable for IFR flight.
It just isn't the nature of the beast.

Steve R wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...
virtuPIC wrote:
You might also want to ask yourself why
so many of the pictures show pilots wearing
helmets....
Yes, indeed. I've been wondering a long time...UFO claims they are
safe. And I can't imagine an accident where a helmet would be of real
use. Is it just my lack of fantasy? Lack of knowledge?

Well, since there seems to be no FAA-certified HeliThruster answers
have become less interesting. However, there might be some gyrocopter
with closed cabin that is easy to handle, stable, able to reach some
100 mph, and IFR-capable. (?)

virtuPIC
I don't think you will find any gyrocopter that is suitable for IFR
flight. It just isn't the nature of the beast.

On the helmet issue, fighter pilots wear helmets and in the event of a crash
in those birds, the helmet is useless. Of course, they have the recourse of
ejecting and the helmet plays a big role in protecting the pilot in that
event. Wearing a helmet does not guarrantee survival but it can tip the
scales in the pilots favor under the right circumstances and we never really
know what those circumstances might be in a given emergency situation. So,
I have to ask, what's your life worth to you? If a helmet will increase my
chances of living through a given situation by a couple of percentage
points, I don't have a problem wearing one!

Indeed, I have no problem with you wearing one.

OTOH, since I've never seen a pilot in a
standard certificated fixed-wing aircraft
wearing a helmet, I must assume that the
helmeted gyrocopter pilots are feeling a
greater degree of risk than the fixed-wing
pilots.

Steve R wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...

I don't think you will find any gyrocopter that is suitable for IFR
flight. It just isn't the nature of the beast.


As far as gyrocopters are concern, I agree, they're not an ideal IFR
platform. However, neither are helicopters when you get right down
to it but they fly IFR all the time. Making an aircraft IFR
certified, at least as I understand it, is more a matter of installed
equipment (gauges, radios, auto pilots?) than the aircraft itself.

The issues that Gyros have with negative G's make them less IFR capable than
a similar helicopter or fixed wing aircraft. Has any manufactuer EVER
certified an Gyro for IFR flight?

In in most cases, in the experimental-HB arena the only difference in a IFR
legal plane and a one that isn't legal is the installed equipment.