In a message dated 6/10/2007 3:36:09 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rotary.thjakits@gmail.com writes:
PS: Lynn, I am surprised you are so against
gyros?
I was fortunate in that I was there when gyros were invented. Not the big
ones that worked pretty well, but the Bensons, and the training gyro gliders
towed behind a car. My boss at the cabinet shop Carl Andre and his friend Harris
Woods were crazy for gyros, and partly just crazy. They built a few, both
tractors and pushers and when Mr. Woods gave it up while still alive he
went on to design a number of fixed wing home builts and plans for them that are
still being built today. He was an engineer for NAA back then. Mr. Andre kept at
it until one day he had a rotor hit the ground behind him on takeoff and the
gyro turned left minus one rotor blade and vanished into a blackberry bramble.
He was cut to ribbons, but still had his cigar in his mouth. That and the prop
breaking through the hub, and he gave it up.
Those were heady days for a kid on a bicycle. It was soon noticed that
there were about 600 things wrong with the gyros of the day. Name a feature
required to be safe and it wasn't there, save one, the seat belt. Anything else
was about to fail, fold, fall off, seize, lock up, delaminate, cone, drag or
flap.
Between them they figured out most of it and did so during an appalling
series of forced landings and failures. Looking back they were still way
off the mark on thrust line. horizontal stabilizer area, Blade mass weights,
shock absorbing gear, wheel size. And the McCullough drone engine was always on
the verge of not running, or running great only to seize.
My last view of the Benson training glider as it was being dragged behind a
Simca. Ever see a Simca? As Andre's son Bobby was bouncing end over end down the
runway on the now blade less Benson as the spotter got tired of looking
back at an unfortunate time, for Bobby. He was OK after about an hour and went
on to fly Helicopters for the Columbus Police department. Oops, I guess he did
get some brain damage after all.
If you cannot find the engine, a whole gyro will fit in one garbage
bag.
In your line of fun I suppose there is more danger than
gyros, but sanction bodies would not allow anyone to race without the proper
licence, or am I wrong here?
Two drivers schools with two races each and then 6 practice race weekends,
then you get a license.
All cars get an annual inspection. Sound familiar? And one group gets
inspected each weekend. The driver gets an annual physical. The drivers safety
gear is inspected each weekend.
Cars have full cages per spec in 4130. Full Halon II fire systems for cab
engine and fuel cell. Full 3" wide 5 or 6 point harness depending on seat angle.
1/4" Lexan windscreens, full double layer fire suit in Nomex. Nomex long johns,
socks, gloves, shoes and head sock. Current Snell foundation rated full face
helmet, FIA approved fuel cell. Over a million racing miles per year in the SCCA
and similar clubs in the US, and a fatality about every two years. A
number of those are heart attacks, and not equipment, or crash related.
Safer than you on a freeway in California
If the FAA would make it law that you need a TYPE-RATING for
any ROTORCRAFT it would reflect the inherent safety in any of the current
rotorcraft. Business interests dictate otherwise...
And I mean EVERY model - you go from a AS350 B2 to a B3 you
need to get a certified checkout (type-rating).....
What would racers and team owners say if it suddenly would
be legal to race with a general driver licence only (no more race school
needed - here we go wannabees!)
Never happen. No license, no insurance coverage and no racing. The biggest
expense in racing is now insurance.
Lynn E. Hanover