Based upon the work of Anton Flettner whose similar aircraft in the 1930's led the way to the world's first practical helicopter. This contra-rotating rotor system neatly eliminates all problems associated with the advancing blades causing dissymmetry of lift whilst keeping the overall dimensions small. The rigid rotors will also take rather more abuse than the conventional two blade teetering systems on most gyroplanes. The side-by-side layout is much more efficient than a coaxial arrangement would be. The downside to the splayed masts is blades at chest height in relation to spectators so keep clear of them!
Nominally, a single-seat design, it will actually carry two if the second occupant is not too large. My niece, for example, who wanted to call the aircraft "Daddy long legs", bless her.
This 1990's 'doodle', so far has remained just that and the design work has been superficial at best due to poverty and so is unlikely to see the light of day. However, in FS all things are possible...
Installing:
Just drop the X-Gyro folder into your main Aircraft folder. FS2002 users must move the gauges and the entire Unreal folder in the aircraft's Panel folder into the default Gauges folder. Do not move the contents of the Unreal folder anywhere else, otherwise the aircraft will not work at all. Should you have an existing Unreal folder in your Gauges folder then overwrite it with this one.
Important. In the FS2002 folder is an alternative Panel.cfg file that won't attempt to use the FS9 GPS!
FS2002 users should move this file out of the FS2002 folder into the Panel folder.
The delightful engine sounds are by Mike HAMBLY and are used with kind permision.
They are from the Gypsy engine but suit the generic radial engine here perfectly. (Full size would have a 110 HP Rotec 7 cylinder radial which wasn't around when I made the model...)
Flying:
Important. In order for this aircraft to work properly, you must cycle through the cockpit views at least once before flying (S key).
To start the engine and pre-rotate the rotors immediately you can just press CTRL E. However, you shouldn't taxi with the rotors spinning; you might have someone's eye out! :-)
To start just the engine, click the switch on the left of the panel. The rotors will remain stationary and you can taxi past those envious onlookers provided you keep the speed below 5 knots IAS.
Note that the panel airspeed indicator isn't accurate enough for this so you might want to press SHIFT Z to get the enunciator up on the screen and read the numbers off that. There is no rotor brake and once the rotors get going they will continue to spin in the engine's slipstream.
It is important to start and stop the engine with this switch if you want the autorotation effects to work properly due to the limitations of FS.
If you want to get the rotors spinning (you will, you can't take off without 'em) then you can either increase your taxi speed, keeping below 10 knots until they are a blur, or you can press CTRL E to initiate the pre-rotor sequence. Attempting to take off before the rotors are up to speed could see you going by road. In real life, you could actually damage the rotors.
Once the rotors are spinning and you are lined up, firewall the throttle and you will be off the ground by 30 knots. Fly like any other aeroplane but revel in the agility and seemingly bombproof handling. Note that inverted flight is impossible and rolling past the vertical or attempting any negative G manoeuvre is not advisable, in real life, this would kill you! A loop is possible with LOTS of entry speed but you will lose a lot of height so make sure you have plenty of it. The real fun and indeed the whole point of autogiros are at the low speed end of the flight envelope where you can really chuck it about. In the real world this would be the perfect tool for cattle mustering with virtually none of the dangers associated with helicopters.
To land, just line up and close the throttle. Be sure to disengage the autopilot if you are using it. Descent is steep but slow and you can get into the tiniest of fields.
For an even more fun landing, position yourself at roughly double your usual height over the boundary and shut off the engine by clicking the switch on the left of the panel. The rotors will continue to spin in autorotation until you land. Keep to a minimum airspeed of at least 30 knots for safety and 45 knots is advisable to allow for gusts etc. The glide is akin to a similarly-sized biplane, i.e. quite steep but the disk loading is very low so it will be nothing like attempting the same in a helicopter and there is no need to worry about getting the collective lever down as there isn't one. :-)
On touchdown, the rotors will stop unless the engine is running or you happen to be flying in a gale.
The VC is a token affair as far as gauges are concerned and you should refer to the 2D panel for navigation with the autopilot etc. The upside is that the VC is full and complete for those with Active Camera installed and it is quite nice to 'walk' around your aircraft for that 'pre-flight inspection'.
Please note:
This aircraft, like most of my others, has a working autopilot even though the real thing most certainly wouldn't have.
Thanks to Mike HAMBLY for the lovely Gypsy engine sounds which suit it so well. The others sounds are default ones remixed.
That's it, have fun.
Kevin Bryan
Unreal Aviation
whirlybug@cix.co.uk
