Training
What a Gyroplane Checkride Actually Tests, Area by Area
There is no separate oral exam. Ten Areas of Operation test knowledge and flying together, and two of them are exactly where a fixed-wing or helicopter background works against you.
Flight Log
Written by people who fly these aircraft
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Training
How Much Does Gyrocopter Training Cost?
A sport pilot gyroplane rating usually runs about $5,000 to $8,000 all in. The biggest lever is not the hourly rate, it is how consistently you fly.
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.
Training
Do You Need a License to Fly a Gyrocopter? (US)
Yes. In the US you need at least a Sport Pilot certificate with a rotorcraft-gyroplane rating. Here is what that involves, and what MOSAIC just changed.
Training
Learning to Fly a Gyrocopter: What to Expect
What the training actually feels like, why airplane and helicopter pilots have to unlearn habits, and how to pick an instructor who will not get you hurt.
Training
4 Reasons Gyrocopters Crash and How to Avoid Them
Most of them were avoidable, and most of the decisions that caused them were made on the ground. Here is the mechanism behind each, and why the first hours on type are the ones that matter.
Masthead
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