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Gyrobee Overview
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The Gyrobee was designed from the ground up as a no-compromise,
Part 103-legal aircraft. The features incorporated into
the Gyrobee assure that it has the characteristics you
want from an ultralight - legality, ease of handling,
and a decent level of performance. Design features to
accomplish this often run counter to current design trends
in Experimental machines. Ultralights (fixed-wing or gyro)
that work well are not simply scaled-down. Experimental
models and different approaches are often required. Every
feature of the Gyrobee is there on the basis of careful
ultralight design considerations, backed up by extensive
flight testing.
It is no secret that most legal ultralight gyros don't
fly very well, especially with heavier pilots. In contrast,
the Gyrobee is a very solid performer. Much of this can
be attributed to the fact that the Gyrobee is a very light
gyro. Performance has been specified on the basis of a
215 pound pilot weight, not the mythical 170 pound wimp
favored by the FAA.
 The
engine, reduction drive, and prop are well-matched, yielding
very close to an optimum static thrust coefficient. What
that means is that a 40 hp engine provides plenty of power
for the aircraft. The Gyrobee cruises at 50 mph at only
5000 rpm (about 30 hp), which is excellent for any gyro.
The Gyrobee features a tall mast with a low vertical center
of gravity. In addition to providing the clearance to
swing the blades, the tall mast provides very positive
pendulum stability resulting in a gratifying level of
flight stability.
The tail boom is quite long, which makes the rudder very
effective at any airpseed, but not over-sensitive as is
often the case in a close-coupled design.
The Gyrobee landing gear is optimized for operation from
grass strips, including bungee-loaded struts to absorb
stresses and strains that would otherwise be transferred
to the rotor control system and blades. The very wide
main gear track is a pain when it comes to trailering
the machine but results in extremely solid ground handling.
The preceeding information was taken from Ralf
Taggart's website.
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Star Bee Gyros LLC.
