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Autogyros seem to be one of those mythical creatures: we know there are actually a few of them out there and they're supposed to be fun to fly.

What are they really; how do they work? And how do you fly one?

DeltaLima
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rbp
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    How about reading the Autogyro Wiki page then come back and refine your question into something a little less broad? Perhaps solidify what you want to know into concrete questions with concrete answers. As it is, this would take a book to answer. – CGCampbell Dec 19 '14 at 14:26
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    @CGCampbell The FAA wrote a book on this - The Rotorcraft Flying Handbook. (They basically tell you to ignore everything before Chapter 15 because the helicopter stuff has its own book now - one day I expect they'll have a "Gyroplane Flying Handbook") – voretaq7 Dec 19 '14 at 17:15
  • Why you would ever want to fly one, is a question only you can answer yourself. If you are interested in the way an autogyro works, just ask that. – DeltaLima Dec 20 '14 at 10:25

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What is an autogyro?

Autogyros have been around for decades. They are also known as gyrocopters, gyroplanes, and autogiros. Gyroplane is the official FAA designation. It is basically a rotary wing aircraft just like a helicopter because the rotor provides lift instead of wings like conventional airplanes.Since the rotor is not powered, an Autogyro uses a separate source for propulsion, just like an airplane. In other words, an Autogyro uses a propeller for forward motion and a freely rotating, un motorized rotor for lift.

http://www.jefflewis.net/autogyros.html

How do you fly one?

There are only three flight controls: a control stick, rudder pedals and a throttle.

Autogyros do not stall, so it is a lot safer to fly an Autogyro than say a helicopter.You can expect control responses to be faster in a Autogyro than an airplane because you are moving the whole wing instead of just a tiny control element attached to a wing. Generally speaking, the control response will not be as quick as a helicopter because of the lower operating rpm of the Autogyro’s rotor system.The critical task in flying a Autogyro is managing the energy of the rotor. If you fail to maintain air flowing through it, the speed drops drastically, and so does the rotor's ability to provide lift.

DSarkar
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  • Autogyro certainly can stall. The difference is that it does not stall when it slows down but when the rotor slows down, so you can do vertical landing utilizing the inertia of the rotor to maintain lift for some time. – Jan Hudec Dec 19 '14 at 18:59
  • Gyros can have a Precision Stall. Gyros are in auto rotation all the time. Ergo, the pilot can easily slow up to 0 airspeed and do a vertical descent and there is no danger of it stalling. Just that the pilot will have to start regaining airspeed so that he can flare to land softly – DSarkar Dec 20 '14 at 07:20
  • Of course they are in autorotion all the time. But sustaining autorotation requires forward speed; once the gyro slows down for landing, it must touch down before it runs out of rotor energy, so it may only slow down when already low above the landing area. Remember helicopters have a range of altitudes from which autorotational landing is not possible if the helicopter was in hover, but it is possible when the helicopter was flying. – Jan Hudec Dec 20 '14 at 23:13