Leave it to Peter to pick up one of the wierdest RC models we've seen to date. This is the AC-10 Gyrocopter by Unique.
Unique is the best word to describe this thing too. The 1320mm rotors have no motor basically making this a flying windmill.
Some autogyros have a pre-rotator motor to give the blades a kickstart, but this relies on wind.
The guts feature a 4250 outrunner motor with a 60 amp ESC (4S 14.8V 3000-3300mAh Lipo battery recommended)
Peter being the only one who's actually flown one of this crazy machines, was a little more excited than the rest of us.
Flying autogyros takes a lot more attention to the craft and the surroundings (a.k.a. situational awareness) than normal fixed wing flying.
Also, more attention to which direction is down wind. When flying downwind the thing has a mind of it's own!
The biggest challenge is keeping the blades moving at all times during flight.
Maintaining proper head speed is done through throttle and pitch management.
Too slow of a head speed will cause the gyrocopter to roll violently to the left. The inertia of the blades will carry the entire gyrocopter over and crash.
At the end of the day, there is nothing quite like the "thwop" of the gyros blades.
This is a blast to fly, but definately not for first time flyers. If you are looking to challenge yourself as a pilot and step out of your comfort zone, this might be just what you're looking for.
If you are interested in gyrocopters but a little intimidated by the price, you might want to start with the simpler Durafly Auto-G2.
In either case these are something out of the ordinary. If you are looking to shake it up at your flying field, gyrocopters are the perfect way to do so.
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