I finally got my RAF2000 inspected yesterday and it was given its FAA airworthiness certificate.
I took it up for its maiden voyage around Paxton, Il today. The winds were over 20 mph ..but that doesnt bother a gyro in the least…if anything…I would rather fly in the wind.
Anyway….here are some rather blah pictures out of the cockpit of Illinois. Any view with altitude isnt blah to me though.
It flew very nice and I am training myself how to fly it..so I am now learning to trim it out for different speeds.
Edited 2/29/2004 6:25:47 PM ET by Stan Foster
Replies
Stan-- very cool pics. Good luck with your copter and enjoy your flying.
How much range does it have?
Shep: It will fly over three hours and still have a half hour of fuel that is required for reserve. It will cruise at 80...but cruising at 70 will still have a range of around 220 miles and be less strain on the engine.
So I guess a flight to NJ isn't in the immediate future.
BTW, don't you have any hills there in Illinois? Those pictures show some pretty flat ground.
Shep: It very flat around here....
Stan,
very cool indeed! Nice layout on the instrument panel. I'll bet it's a lot different flying one with a cabin and doors. As I remember your old one was an open cockpit.
I have looked at the idea of purchasing a kit myself from RAF. of all the manufacturerers of Gyros I think that one is the best looking and the most practical. How does the Subaru run and did you hook up a heater being it is water cooled?
Also do you think their timeframe of 300 hours plus or minus a few is realistic for assembly? If I remember correctly yours was partially assembled. Correct?
How does this one compare in terms of area needed to take off? I know it makes a difference with one or two passengers
very nice.
Mark
Mark:
The Subaru is running perfect. I cant believe how much different it is than the two stroke I had.
The water heater is hooked up...and it is circulating in the cabin..but I do not have to turn the fan on at all. It will easily heat the cabin to 75 even in 10 degree weather.
It was about half built and I had to finish all the controls...wiring..the stabilizer etc. I would say the 300 hours is a good benchmark.
The take off will be shorter with this one. I am going to take awhile getting the hang of bringing the rotors up to speed at the optimum rate. You just dont firewall the throttle..you have to pre-rotate the blades to around 140 rpm..then you start your take off roll and once the blades hit 200 rpm...then you can go to full power. Its off real quick then. As far as landing...this RAF seems to land even easier than my lighter Air Command. It handles like a dream and the rotor seems to have more reserve kinetic energy.
When you land..you bleed off airspeed with backstick..this loads up the rotor and it increases its rpm...then you use this extra lift to make a zero roll or very little roll. They can land in a rockpile if they had to.
Edited 2/29/2004 6:59:55 PM ET by Stan Foster
Edited 2/29/2004 7:06:28 PM ET by Stan Foster
As I said before, that is the coolest project. I am afraid to fly but really like the building it part. DanT
That is just so cool!
I have a buddy with an old Russian acrobatic plane, and I have gone up and done some silly stuff with him...what a kick the whole flying thing is!
I like the idea of small...and it looks like you've got just enough room without anything extra.
Congrats!
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Jake: Here is my cockpit I had in my Air Command...now that is small when I ahd to design my instrument panel around my legs.
feel good to be in the air again?
congrats on getting it up and certified...
should be a lot of fun with the nicer weather ahead.
Way to go Brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gabe
Gabe: Thanks for the comment.....I think I am going to quit my stairbuilding and just fly....if I can only figure out how to make a living up there....
CAG: Thanks...it did feel good to get back in the air. I had to be very cautious as I am checking out all my controls...wondering if I set the horizontal stabilizer to the correct negative angle of incidence...and many other things.
But........after a few turns...I was able to kick back...trim it out...let go of the controls...take my headset off...and for the first time be able to use my cellphone while flying. I called my wife Barb and my son Jeff to say "Hi" from up "high"
Barb likes that I can call now while flying.
come on stan..
all cellphone and pagers must be turned off from the time the aircraft leaves the gate until landing.
actually that's pretty cool you can call from the gyro, pretty quiet inside then?
Cag: I throttle back a little ....and its pretty good. I will be flying with the doors off soon....so I still think it will work..I just may have to slow it down to around 30 to cut the wind noise around the open doorways.
Very nice. Maybe one day ...
So how much time have you saved on the comute to the job site?
I havent saved anytime yet......I need to build a little trailor to pull along for my tools.
C'mon! Just leave 'em there overnight, and fly in one day! How cool would that be!!?!?!Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Stan,
Have you ever used the gyro to get to a job site visit (for an estimate, for instance)? Would that be too ostentatious? It seems to me that you have the perfect commuter vehicle, except for the tools issue.
Jon Blakemore
Jon: The other one I had was more of a toy...but this one I will fly and bid on stairways just for the fun of it..plus its faster to the desination...not counting the airport stop.
I could theoretically land at the jobsite...take off in the street...but I would lose my pilots license for sure...
Stan, thanks for sharing.
I really look forward to your posts on this gyro.
You bring out the little kid in me.
Be careful up there, and keep posting pictures.
Thanks againS!!!!!!!!!
Butch: I know my gyro has nothing to do with housebuilding...but I posted a picture once..and guys like you kept commenting wanting to see more. So..I get a kick out of sharing. I expect all kinds of comments...from you idiot...to "awesome". I will keep posting. The pictures will get a lot better when the color comes back to this state.
Stan, you sure know how to make a guy drool. A Gyro has been on my toy want list for two decades. Your pictures and stories are so awesome, keeps the dream alive.
Gota hypothetical question:
I know you can set down anywhere but, what do you in an emergency if you have to set down in the woods. How do you get the machine out. What about water. I realize the smart pilot won't let that happen, however around here there is miles and miles of nothing, I often wonder about puking out and setting down in no mans land, long walk out and long walk back in with tools?.
Armin: First of all...let me state that you will never find me flying over a woods or open water just relying on an engine to keep me out of the trees. That is my RULE # 1. Dont fly over anything you cant glide out of.
However...you did say hypothetical...and there are guys that do do these dumb stunts...so...should I find myself over a woods and I have a forced landing...I have two options.....my preferred would be to glide down....this by the way is at a 4:1 glide ratio. Imagine a badger jumping off a hayloft...thats the glide angle.
Anyway..usually there is a clearing wide enough to settle down through between the trees..you dont need very little space at all. Ok...lets say it is solid trees...then the best option is to glide down to near the tree tops..slow the speed to zero..and do a vertical descent down through the trees....the rotor will cut off small branches...and it will totally destroy the machine..but you should walk out of it ok. These machines can do vertical descents...under full control coming straight down at zero mph forward airspeed. You will impact the ground hard tearing up the machine...but you should walk away.
Now...the forced landing over open water. The correct procedure..and this is all done very smoothly an automatically because you have this conditioned into your reflexes...is to......
unfasten your seatbelt/shoulder harness....hit the master switch...slow to zero mph at about ten feet above the water..you will then do a vertical descent into the water. Just when you hit the water...you must give the cyclic full right stick. The rotor blades turn counter clockwise..and this causes the blades to strike the water at the 3 o/clock position. What this does then is causes the momentum of the rotor to shear the mast off away from your head...and it will be sheared off immediately. If you used left cyclic... your blades would hit the water at the 9 o/clock position...the momentum of the rotor would shear the mast off and it would then come forward possibly injuring and or killing you.
I have had 18 actual forced landings since 1985....and have shut the engine off on purpose many more times than that ...and have yet to scratch myself or the machine. It takes strong discipline and good application of basic procedures.
A gyrocopter is BY FAR the best machine to have an engine out in...even a powered parachute. You can literally land it in a rockpile.
Thanks Stan, I suspected as much but wanted to hear it from a pro. If I got one, flying over woods would be all most a necessity, I can see where it could become a problem. Assuming you were lucky enough to set the machine down with out damage you are still faced with getting it repaired and airborne again. Most of the land around here is federal or state and I suspect they would frown upon going in with a chainsaw and cutting an airstrip.
So how does one get started, I assume you just can't buy one off the lot and fly it home. Some basic get me started info would be interesting.
Armin: You do need a pilots license...but you can get a student permit while you are learning to fly...then when you are signed off...you can go solo while you are building your time up.
You can order a new kit...or find a partially completed one. There are a lot of them out there that the owners lost interest or something and they are just collecting dust.
You would have no problem whatsoever building..or learning to fly one. I taught myself to fly the three I have owned..but I did already have a pilots license and flew an ultralight for a while as well.
I was up today and took some more pictures.
My home town of Paxton, Il. The last one is the RAF2000 finally on the ground
"I took it up for its maiden voyage around Paxton, Il today."
Stan,
Caught your most recent pics after my last post to you. Congats, that has to be an absolute blast. Best of luck with it,.......and, my Angels stay on your side.]
Jon
Jon: Thanks...and speaking of angels.....All pilots have a checklist to go through before each flight. My checklist has a prayer as part of the procedure. God is my co-pilot