Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Crash one
#1838841
I had an idea about these things. The height of the mast on Ken Wallis’s design was a lot shorter than the modern ones.
Plus, the rotor was smaller, about 20 ft I think.
It occurred to me that Ken’s version would have less pendulum effect, so less likely to pitch over, which was a big problem.
Any thoughts on that?

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By TyroGyro
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840712
I'm not any kind of engineer, but my understanding, as a gyro pilot, is that the safety enhancements over the Wallis-type machines are:

a) addition of a horizontal stabiliser, to reduce PIO and retard any incipient "bunting".

b) re-positioning of the engine thrust-line closer to the CofG, to reduce the torque of any incipient bunt.

c) a better understanding of how pusher-type gyros actually fly, with training focused on the "gotchas". They fly quite like a fixed-wing, up to a point - a point where a fixed-wing pilot input may well induce disaster in an instant....

There was an infamous accident at Farnborough in 1970 in a Wallis-built gyro (and a string of similar fatalities around that time in other pusher gyros)




Such accidents, in the modern-generation gyro, are practically unheard of.
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