Ownership
The Calendar TBO Trap: Why a Low-Hour Used Gyroplane Can Still Be Overdue
Assess engine calendar time and hours against the documents for its exact model and serial number. Airframe age alone cannot establish whether an overhaul is due.
Contributor
Sean Michael
Founder, Gyrocopters.com
Proof of experience
Articles by Sean Michael
Airworthiness
What Actually Sets VNE on a Gyroplane
A fixed-wing VNE is usually a structural limit. On a gyroplane it is usually the retreating rotor blade approaching a stall, a mechanism that has nothing to do with horsepower.
Training
What a Gyroplane Checkride Actually Tests, Area by Area
Prepare for both ground discussion and flying skills. The applicable FAA standards guide assessment throughout a gyroplane practical test.
Buying
Light-Sport Gyroplanes in the US: Certification Path and Aircraft Checks
A light-sport certification path exists for gyroplanes. Confirm the individual aircraft’s airworthiness certificate, operating limitations and compliance documents before buying.
Training
Gyroplane Add-On: The Sport Pilot Path vs the Rotorcraft Class Rating Path
Two different roads lead to gyroplane privileges, one runs through two CFIs with no FAA checkride, the other through a designated pilot examiner. Which applies to you depends on the certificate you already hold.
Training
How to Get a Private Pilot License (and the Rotorcraft Most Fixed-Wing Pilots Never Try)
What the certificate actually involves, and why a real number of fixed-wing students end up adding a gyroplane rating instead of stopping at one type.
Ownership
Do Gyrocopters Have Heat, AC, or Real Creature Comforts?
Open cockpit versus enclosed cabin is the real comfort question. Here is what enclosed models actually offer, and what this category genuinely does not have.
Airworthiness
How Gyrocopters Perform at High Density Altitude
Hot and high air cuts lift and engine power for every aircraft. Here is what that means for a gyrocopter, why turbo engine options exist, and how to calculate your own numbers.
Buying
Is a Gyrocopter Safer Than a Helicopter or Airplane?
No single accident-rate number spans all three categories honestly. Here are the real structural differences instead of a guessed-at scoreboard.
Buying
How to Build a Gyrocopter: The Kit Manufacturers and the Factory-Built Alternative
Searching for build instructions? The honest answer starts with who already builds the parts. Here are the kit manufacturers, the factory-certified alternative, and how the two paths differ.
Buying
Safest Gyrocopter Manufacturer: How to Actually Evaluate One
There is no published, reliable ranking of manufacturers by accident rate, and that is worth explaining honestly. Here is what actually predicts a safer design, and how we are tracking it going forward.
Training
Magni M24 Orion: Colorado Gyrocopter Training and Discovery Flights
The enclosed, side-by-side Magni M24 Orion is the gyroplane you train in at Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, Colorado. Full specs, instruction rates, and a $175 discovery flight with a gyroplane CFI.
Training
The MOSAIC Rule Reopens Gyroplane Flight Training in America
The FAA's MOSAIC rule lifts the barriers that kept gyroplanes out of American flight schools: a first-ever factory-built certification path, no weight cap, and freed rotor designs. What it means for students and schools.
Buying
Why Aren't Gyrocopters More Popular? The Honest Answer
An old reputation, a regulatory box, scarce instructors and pricey insurance stacked up against a genuinely good aircraft. Two of the four are changing now.
Training
How Do You Land a Gyrocopter? Steep, Slow and Short
A steep approach, a flare that spends the rotor's stored energy, and a touchdown that can use just a few feet of ground. Here is how the landing works.
Buying
Gyrocopter vs Airplane: Which Should You Actually Buy?
The airplane is transportation; the gyrocopter is the flying itself. Speed, safety, cost and mission, compared honestly for a first-time buyer.
Buying
What Are Gyrocopters Used For? From Sport to Police Patrol
Mostly for the joy of flying, and then a working resume: patrol, pipeline and powerline inspection, photography, agriculture, and a real military history.
Ownership
Gyrocopter Insurance: Real Costs and How to Lower Them
Liability commonly runs $1,500 to $1,800 a year and full coverage several thousand more. Why it costs so much, and what actually brings it down.
Buying
Gyrocopter vs Drone: What Actually Separates Them
Opposite lift principles, different laws, and barely overlapping jobs. Why the quadcopter comparison fails, and which machine fits which mission.
Ownership
How Much Horsepower Does a Gyrocopter Need?
Most two-seaters fly on 100 to 141 hp, nearly always a Rotax. What the power actually does, what the turbo buys, and the underpowering mistake to avoid.
Training
Are Gyrocopters Hard to Fly? Easy Air, Demanding Ground
In cruise it is one of the easiest aircraft there is. The takeoff roll and rotor discipline are the real skills, and airplane pilots find them hardest.
Airworthiness
Gyrocopter Maintenance: What It Really Costs Per Year
An annual inspection around $1,000 to $1,500, a Rotax on a 2,000-hour clock, and life-limited blades. The real schedule and the numbers to ask before buying.
Ownership
Storing and Transporting a Gyrocopter: Garage, Trailer, Hangar
Blades off, a gyroplane fits a garage bay and rides an ordinary trailer. How owners store and move these machines, and the blade-handling rule that matters.
Training
Can You Fly a Gyrocopter at Night?
Historically sport pilots flew by day only. The FAA's MOSAIC rule now opens night flying to more pilots, with a medical requirement and an equipped aircraft.