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.
Flight Log
Written by people who fly these aircraft
Every entry carries a named author, a stated basis for their experience, and the sources behind any claim of fact. How we work.
Buying
How a Gyrocopter Works: The Unpowered Rotor Explained
The rotor is not driven by the engine. Air flowing up through it keeps it spinning. Here is what that means for takeoff, engine failure, and why it cannot stall.
Buying
How Fast and How Far Can a Gyrocopter Fly?
Most cruise around 60 to 100 mph and cover 200 to 350 miles on a tank. Here are the real performance numbers, and the limits that set them.
Buying
What Is a Gyrocopter? A Straight Answer Before You Shop
A gyrocopter is a rotorcraft with an unpowered, free-spinning rotor and an engine-driven propeller. Here is how it flies, what it costs, and what it will not do.
Buying
Gyrocopter vs Helicopter: What Actually Separates Them
Both have rotors, but only one is powered. That single difference decides cost, what each can do, and which is safer after an engine failure.
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.
Airworthiness
Building or Buying a Kit Gyrocopter: The Honest Trade-offs
A kit is the cheapest way into a gyrocopter in cash, and the most expensive in time and skill. Here is what building involves, and the US rules that shape it.
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.
Training
How to Get a Helicopter License (and the Cheaper Rotorcraft Nobody Mentions)
What the certificate involves, why almost nobody finishes at the minimum, and the second kind of rotorcraft that costs a fraction as much to fly.
Buying
Gyroplane vs Gyrocopter: What's the Difference?
They are the same aircraft under different names. Here is where each name came from, and the one related word that is not a synonym.
Masthead
Who writes here
Everyone publishing on this site is named, and every byline carries a stated basis for that person's experience. Years in the industry is calculated from the year they started, not typed into a bio, so it cannot quietly inflate.
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