Skip to main content
Member login Gyro Association Become a Founding Member
Association
Yellow enclosed-cabin gyroplane in flight against a clear blue sky

Glossary

What is mast bumping, and is it the same as a power push over?

The rotor hub striking its teeter stops hard enough to damage the mast, a structural failure caused by excessive rotor flapping. It is not the same thing as a power push over: a power push over is an aerodynamic event, a nose-down pitch caused by unloading the rotor under thrust, while mast bumping is the structural consequence when flapping goes far enough to hit the stops. The two terms get conflated constantly, including on a teetering-rotor helicopter, where the word is used more often than on a gyroplane.

That is the whole entry for now. The longer version, with the mechanics and worked examples, is still to be written. See autorotation for how those read once they exist.

All glossary terms