I have been interested in gyroplanes since the 80s. I was flying ultralights at the time, and those machines seemed so nimble. I still want to build a CH-701 from a kit, but the total cost of the project would probably be around $30k. A single-seat gyroplane will set me back about $9k. So, I will apply the saying here “Go small, go now!” The two-seater airplane will have to wait a few years..
I chose a design based on a well known safe gyro, the Gyrobee. The new model, called a Hornet, has some improvements, including, and most importantly, a line of thrust aligned with the center of gravity. It also has a large horizontal stabilizer. Those two safety features, though the Gyrobee has a great reputation of stability, will make the Hornet even more stable. Hopefully, it will reduce the risk of bunt-over to near-zero. Bunts are what unrecoverable flat spins are to airplanes.. You make the wrong mistake and wham, lights out, forever. That is why I will also seek professional instruction, even though I know enough to take-off and fly around..
Here are the parts I am starting with:
Airframe Parts
I will describe the whole building process here, on the Rotary Forum.
If you are curious about the helicopter’s Grand-Daddy, keep reading…
Gyroplanes are probably the least known and most intriguing flying machines. Invented in 1923 by Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish civil Engineer and pilot, they are the precursor of the helicopter. The first gyroplanes, or autogiros, had an airplane fuselage with a rotor mounted on top of a mast. The engine and propeller were mounted forward, as on a regular airplane. The rotor blades are not powered by the engine, but spin freely. they must be pre-rotated before takeoff, either by hand or using a mechanical system. The propeller ensures forward movement.
The most famous gyroplane is without a doubt “Little Nellie,” piloted by Ken Wallis in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice.” There was one also in the Mad-Max movie “The Road Warrior.”
The early machines had an excellent safety record. A gyroplane can not stall like a fixed-wing aircraft. However, a gyro can’t hover without a strong enough head-wind, which prompted the development of the helicopter. These amazing machines faded out of our aviation landscape, and probably would have disappeared if it wasn’t for one Russian immigrant, Igor Bensen, who simplified the design in 1955 by reducing it to a keel tube and mast, with a pusher engine in the back and a seat up-front. Bensen created the Popular Rotorcraft Association (PRA) in 1962, and the aircraft made a huge comeback in the 70s and 80s.
Unfortunately, people tend to modify designs, install bigger engines, and try new configurations. Many did not have Bensen’s understanding of the aerodynamics of rotorcrafts. Many of these machines did not have a horizontal stabilizer, and their high thrust-line above the center of gravity sometimes caused them to bunt-over. Pilots started dying, and the gyroplane developed a bad reputation. Today’s machines are much safer. Although much of them are based on the Bensen, a few went back to the tractor design of old days; notably the Little Wing models, which I find very attractive.
The Mecca of gyroplanes in the United States is in Wauchula Florida, where the Sunstate Wings & Rotors Club organizes the annual Bensen Days fly-in. That is where I met Joe Pires, a Bensen Days organizer who was kind enough to arrange a ride for me, and give me the information I needed for this article. Joe told me that the movement actually started in Immokalee Florida. When instructor Dave Seace left town for Wauchula, some followed, and the rest is history, as they say. Dave has trained a good number of pilots on his Dominator gyroplane, and I was eager to get a ride in his machine. The Wauchula airport welcomes gyroplanes, unlike many others, thanks to it’s manager, Jim Hay. About eight machines are based on the airport, in a hangar area called “Moron Ville,” name for which I didn’t get an explanation, but would probably be an interesting story. Around eighty five machines were parked on the tarmac, mostly Dominators from Rotor Fligh Dynamics, a few modified RAF-2000s, and numerous other designs such as the Monarch, Gyrobee, Sportcopter, to name a few. More are expected tomorrow, along with a few hundred visitors. Club President Scott Lewis also organizes fly-ins on the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve, though this week-end’s event is the largest.
Rotor Flight Dynamics Dominators
Monarch
Sportcopter
Mosquito XEL Ultralight Helicopter
Dave Seace’s Dominator gyroplane
The Tori Tanto is a Chinese made replica of a Japanese tanto knife. Mine arrived today, and I have to say, I am impressed. It is one of the first 50 that were made with T10 steel instead of the Swedish powdered steel Hanwei uses. They were recalled, but this one got away.
My first impression was “this is a big knife!” The blade is 11”1/4. Overall length is almost 17”. I had to grab some junk mail on the kitchen counter and cut it.. Wickedly sharp is an understatement. The blade goes through paper almost like it wasn’t there. The mount is solid, with a very nice ray skin tsuka. That grip won’t slip, that’s for sure. My blade is not folded, like the new ones. The hamon is very prominent and looks artificially enhanced, something I wish Hanwei would stop doing.
Cutting palm fronds was very easy, as you’ll see in the video. The Tori Tanto cuts even better than my Cheness Kaze Ko Katana. I did not want to try it on bamboo. It would be a shame to scratch that blade. I know what the result would be anyway, given how sharp it is.
The tanto must have been a formidable weapon in it’s time. They were worn by Samurai inside as a backup, when wearing a sword was impractical. A skilled swordsman could probably chop a wrist clean off with one of those. It is still as formidable today as it was then, as far as self-defense goes. My interest in knives has always been about how such a simple tool can take so many forms, as well as metallurgical and historical factors. The Tori is a lot of knife for the money. Priced at around $300 new, I believe it would still sell at twice that amount. So, when I found mine at $230, I couldn’t let it go.
I keep seeing those TV commercials for house alarms.. A young women with a child is in her house, she turn on the alarm. You see a prowler outside. He kicks the door in, the alarm goes off, frustrated, he turns around and runs away. Sure, it could happen just like that, but the thug is already in, ten feet from the potential victims, and he just got pissed-off.. Why would he leave right then? Criminals do not think about the consequences of their actions, otherwise they would be in another line of work. Even if a squad car is a couple blocks away, he still has plenty of time to kill the mother and child, just because that alarm ruined his day, or he just feels like it.
Your first line of defense should not be a house alarm. By all means, get one, but you should think about your doors first. A good solid door with a steel frame and quality locks can save your life. Windows can be armored too, and you get the benefit of hurricane protection as well.
Martial arts training is a must, but what you really need in your house is a gun. That requires training too, but it is an excellent life insurance. Some will say “but I don’t like guns.” It’s just an object, it won’t shoot you all by itself. If you are not comfortable with one, you just need an instructor to show you how to handle it safely. You also need a safe, the kind you can open quickly by pressing a finger combination:
A robber has to go through a series of evaluations and actions to get into your house. Why would he pick your house? Get outside, stand across the street and look at your place.. Imagine how you might break-in. Imagine watching yourself get in and out. Are you an easy target? You need to evaluate your value as a target to make yourself look less inviting to unwanted guests.
Next comes you physical protection. How strong are the entry points to your house? Not only doors and windows, but roof, garage door, and any possible weaknesses? Robbers will find ways to get into your house you would never think of. You need to plug those holes.
Last, your response to a home invasion. It shouldn’t be just calling 911 and hoping for the best. You do need a weapon. The choice is yours, but is limited. I see baseball bats near front doors fairly often; wrong place. If someone kicks in the door, they got your weapon! It takes a lot of strength to damage the human body, and if you can’t swing that bat hard enough, forget it. A gun, sure, but you must practice with it. A sword would be better than any kind of club. Non-lethal options like the Taser or mace are in my opinion not good options. The Taser is a one shot deal, and mace might just piss-off your attacker.
One last consideration is the legalities of self-defense. If someone breaks into your house, you have a petty clean-cut case. If however you shoot a robber on your front lawn while he’s getting away with you TV, you’re going to jail..
I am not an expert, but I hope these suggestions will help keep you safer. Comments and suggestions are welcome…
I have been pretty busy forging, with the completion of a scimitar inspired knife out of a railroad spike, hardened in water, and a sort of tanto for my friend Phil who provided me with steel for a new anvil and helped me build it. The tanto was differentially hardened using the clay method with Satanite refractory cement and transmission fluid for the quench. But first, here is a photo of the scimitar (the handle is parkerized), sheath by Robert Jones:
Railroad Spike Scimitar
Parkerizing
Tanto Steps
Next was polishing with sand-paper in the following grits: 100, 220, 400, 800, 1000. I could not remove all the file marks and some imperfections due to poor hammer technique (this being really my second completed knife), but the result is still pleasant. I did sharpen the edge, and it shaves nicely. For the handle, I used a piece of wood I had laying around, traced the contour of the blade on it and carved the inside with a narrow wood chisel.
Carving handle
Gluing the handle with epoxy
There is much debate about the use of protective gear in martial arts. Many styles only allow light or no contact, no strikes to the face, etc. and therefore do not require protections. What happens when a practitioner encounters violence in real life however comes at a surprise. You have a lot to learn in a second while getting pounded in the face by an experienced attacker.. Not the best time to learn taking hits. Aikido would be a very fierce style if it incorporated strikes, giving and taking. I attended a Kung-Fu (Wushu) class as a teenager. We were not allowed to strike the face. Actually, we barely touched each-others. After six months, I realized that I wasn’t learning anything useful and quit. My Karate experience (Shotokan) was a bit better. We had protections, but there wasn’t much control. The same was true for my full-contact and Taekwon-Do short practices.
My friend Phil recently stopped-by with a couple padded helmets he got at Goodwill for a few dollars. While Systema discourages the use of protections, it was too tempting to give it a try and see if it would affect the way we worked. It wasn’t really sparring, because Phil wore the helmets (he put on two!) and attacked, while I wore gloves and defended.
Taking hits to the body really isn’t much of a problem. Most people can not hit hard enough to cause internal damage. Proper breathing, relaxation and a bit of practice goes a long way to prevent injury. Getting hit in the face is a bit unnerving, but you get used to it and start to care a bit less.. In five years of Systema, I have been hit in the face countless times, hard enough to be really uncomfortable, but I never got a black eye or lost a tooth. I give credit here to our slow practice and control. Top Systema instructors are masters at precision and control. They know exactly how hard to hit someone and where without hurting them while inflicting a good amount of pain.
Add protective gear to he mix, and the psychology of sparring changes. People start to hit harder. The positioning of one’s fist becomes less of a problem. You can hit bone with a glove, it doesn’t matter. A slightly misaligned wrist is no longer a painful reminder to strike at the right angle. Precision goes out the window. Wearing a helmet might have you step into a position you would otherwise not occupy without it. The more protection you add, the more removed you become from reality.
I am not advocating giving up protective gear, mind you. Once in a while, going “all out” with protections is good, if only to get used to the speed. You can however go almost “all out” with good control, without any gear. This way, you actually do get hit and learn to deal with it properly. The key is to start really slow, and I mean extreme slow motion. It looks goofy, but you gain much in precision and timing.
If your martial art style does not allow much contact, you need to ask yourself why you train. If you have a good time and consider it more or less an exercise, great. If you want the extra benefit of acquiring self-defense skills, you need to be able to get hit hard by bare fists as well as deliver heavy strikes the same way. No-contact effective self-defense is a fantasy.