RC Model Reviews

I thought I'd kick this forum off with some pictures of a full-sized autogyro crash that happened here a few years ago.

The pilot walked away with some mild bruising and late rebuilt the gyro.

Within a few months, he crashed it again.

It's now rebuilt and for sale. Funny thing is, nobody wants to buy it.

I wonder why?

People are funny like that.

Autogyros are just like helicopters, they want to crash and they are very persistent about it. What other form of aviation can have a major collision on it's own while stationary?

I guess painting flames on your craft may call for mishap...

I have flown and built Bensen style gyrocopters. They are a death trap and should be banned IMHO. I saw way too many crashes, one fatal, when I was into them. The design has some serious flaws (apart form their basic inefficiency) namely negative G rotor instability (think wildly flapping rotors destroying themselves by chopping off the rudder or hitting the prop) and especially "power push overs". The fact that they usually fly so low, can't be fitted with ballistic parachutes, or, even if you are high enough, easy to bail out of (not that the pilots bother to wear 'chutes) makes them an accident waiting to happen.

Fun to fly, but I was relieved to get rid of mine unscathed.

Funnily enough, the original AVRO Cierva C.30 was a far safer design and it was ten years after their introduction before there was a serious crash.