Airgyro Aviation blog » aircraft

Utah Rotorcraft Association BBQ and Gyro flying!

Jake — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:01:13 +0000

We had a great time at the Utah Rotorcraft Association (PRA Chapter 2) get together this last saturday. We had SIX gyros there. I thought that was quite the accomplishment. Four of them were flying around after the BBQ. Some of those that joined us traveled from pretty far, so we appreciate being able to spend the day with them. We have some beautiful Gyros here and I think everybody who attended had a great time.

Click on any of the photos to see them BIG.

This next picture is Airgyro’s SparrowHawk flying around. For those who were waiting, it is now ready to go. So call us to get on the schedule to recieve flight training.

Below we have Mike Brownly and his Butterfly Aurora gyroplane, Brian Bird and his SparrowHawk, and Curt Pitman and his Modified RAF.

I thought this shot was pretty cool of our sparrowhawk flying through the clouds.

SF Industrial Aerial Photographs

Jake — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:50:34 +0000

AirUtah Aerial and Commercial Photography did a photo session of the Spanish Fork Industrial Park recently. Some of the businesses that were included in these photographs are LEI, Ford Dealership, Fastenal, and Young Living.

And Here is our Beautiful Spanish Fork Airport!

Outback Videos

Jake — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:35:30 +0000

Howard Hughes has been hard at work over in Australia with the Outback airplanes. He has also been making some informative videos for us to enjoy and to help us understand the quality and thought that is put into the manufacturing of these airplanes. So here are some of the videos:

Outback Inflight Adjustable Prop

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQuUWm3aNE8

Australian Lightwing Factory Tour

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK3r55ZCge0

Outback 4 Airplane

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl7v-zOBUFg

Sportcopter 2 Update!

Jake — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:14:59 +0000

So here is an update on the progress of the Sportcopter 2. The Lycoming engine version of the Sportcopter 2 has not yet been flight tested, but I know the subaru prototype SC2 has been torn down and is currently being put back together with they new engine and new cowling. The biggest challenge for creating the cowling for the new engine is that we went from a water cooled to an air-cooled engine. This wouldn’t have been a problem other than we have some really nice aerodynamic cowling over the engine which restricts the airflow to the engine. So Jim Vanek had to redesign the cowling to provide the necessary air for the engine to have optimal performance.

While they are getting the prototype ready to go, the guys at the Sportcopter factory are also making good progress on getting a couple of the first production Sportcopters together. I have a bunch of pictures that will show you some of the progress. The machines are looking great and we are grateful for our awesome customers who have been very patient. Your patience will pay off.

The Sportcopter 2 is strong!

These foot pedals are slick

Different stages of the Sportcopter 2

I will try to get some more pictures to show you even more soon.

Mountain Flying in Utah Valley

Jake — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:41:53 +0000

Short video I took while flying in the beautiful Utah Valley. This shows the Spanish Fork -- Springville Airport in January.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HmQgzhCQg

Sportcopter 2

Jake — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:45:59 +0000

I haven’t done any posts about the Sportcopter 2 yet, mainly because I really don’t have a good update on the status of the aircraft. We will hopefully have a better update soon.

I did want to post a couple of videos that Nate Oldham (President of Airgyro) took while on his last visit to the Sportcopter facility last fall. They have been on youtube.com for a while, so here they are:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a2RI3CJC1o

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMCIi8L7Rtk

Also, here is a video done by Shawn Adams from Rotor-Head

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi3qTmYHJQ

Air to Air video of the SparrowHawk Gyro

Jake — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:24:29 +0000

Here is some more footage that was taken that same day of the same gyro.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9b1i2r9dI

Light Sport Aircraft

Jake — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:12:39 +0000

Light sport aircraft are relatively new to general aviation. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) created this category back in 2004 and since then there has been an explosion in new light sport airplanes. Since then there have been at least 87 airplanes that have been manufactured here in the US or imported under the special light sport aircraft certification (for a current list of light sport aircraft and manufacturers/importers visit www.bydanjohnson.com. “Special Light-Sport Aircraft” means that they are 100 % factory built compared to “Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft” which is at least partly amateur built.

Why has there been this incredible growth in general / sport aviation? Well there are a few reasons why:

1. First of all the process to get a light sport aircraft certified is much easier and less expensive than a normal FAA certification. For this reason there are a lot more engineers and business men that are willing to put up the money to manufacture light sport airplanes. There is less risk involved because of the quicker and less expensive process in certification.

2. It is easier and less expensive for people to get their sport pilot license. Because of the restrictions placed on a licensed sport pilot it is easier and quicker to obtain the license. There is a minimum required flight time of 20 hrs prior to obtaining your sport pilot license. This includes at least 15 hrs of dual instruction (with a certified flight instructor), and at least 5 hrs of solo flight time (under the direction of a certified flight instructor). The restrictions placed on sport pilots are that they can only fly light sport aircraft. They are also not able to do any night flights. Light sport airplanes are limited to 2 seats and are limited to a empty weight (890 lbs), a max gross weight (1320 lbs) and are also limited in the speed that they are allowed to be flown (max 120 knots (138 mph)).

3. Along with #2, being easier to obtain a light sport license is that there is no medical certificate required to fly in the light sport aircraft category. This means that you do not initially have to obtain a medical certificate. The catch to this is that if you have gone in to a aviation medical examination to obtain your medical certificate and have been denied, then you are not able to fly solo, which means you can not obtain your light sport license. So if there is any doubt that you may be denied a medical certificate then don’t try, just get your light sport license. Also for older people who have health issues come up or think that they might be denied getting a renewal medical certificate, they don’t have to apply for one and can obtain their light sport license and fly without a current medical certificate. We have seen many older fellows who thought that they would never be able to pilot an aircraft again come in to obtain their light sport rating and fly once again. You do need to have a current drivers license to be able to obtain the light sport license.

One area that creates a lot of problems is the aircraft insurance companies. Lets face it…they are the ones that are really in control of the aviation industry. One restriction that they have put on our light sport airplane training (with the Australian Lightwing Outback 2) is that if the person receiving training is over 65 years of age, then they are required to have a medical certificate. So in a way they are defeating one of the purposes of the Light Sport Aircraft license.

At Airgyro Aviation we sell and train in light sport aircraft. We have an Outback 2 light sport airplane at our location in Spanish Fork, Utah. We have been training in it for a couple of months and it has proven to be an great trainer. It is easy to fly and our students and instructors all really enjoy flying it. And I have to say, being the financial guy at Airgyro, I really like it as well. With the Rotax 912 ULS engine in it, it only burns about 5 gallons per hour and we are able to fill it with automobile gasoline. So it keeps our costs low and we are able to provide training in it for less than any other flight school in this area. The purchase price of the Outback 2 is only $89,995. This means we have a brand new airplane for less than 100K that has a very low operating cost. Perfect situation for flight schools.

We also rep the Sport Hornet light sport airplane. This has been our best seller. It is the most economical way of flying that I know of. The total purchase price of the sport hornet is under $60,000. It also sports the Rotax 912 ULS engine. This aircraft is more exposed so the maintenance is even less expensive than any airplane that I know of. It has a very strong build and comes standard with an air suspension landing gear system. This means it can take a beating including bad landings and such and hold up incredibly well. We are having a hard time getting one in our location because they keep going straight out to our customers. But I believe we will have one here by the end of this winter or beginning of summer. We are very excited about that.

We have gyroplanes that we have been training in as well. Our main Sparrowhawk gyroplane does not qualify for light sport training because it weighs a little too much. But we do have a second Sparrowhawk gyroplane that we are in the process of putting a new engine on that will qualify for light sport training. I am not sure when that will be ready though. Our real hopes are that we will be able to certify our new Gyrocopter, the Sportcopter 2, as a SLSA. This will take some time, but I think we will be able to eventually accomplish this.

For any questions or for more information please check out Airgyro Aviation for more information on light sport aircraft, gyroplanes, flight instruction or any other aviation related questions.

Outback 2 Light Sport Aircraft

Jake — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:58:01 +0000

The Outback 2 is a real aircraft. It looks like it is too large to be in the light sport airplane category, but that is not the case. The Outback 2 has a full steel frame and is Australian tough. Outback 2 is a new Light Sport Airplane that is fully certified and ready to fly. The base price is $89,000 right now due to advantageous exchange rates. So if you are thinking about purchasing a LSA airplane anytime soon, come in for a flight! Intro flights are only $49.00 for a half hour. This airplane is also available for flight training at a reduced price. Here is an informative video about the Outback 2 Light Sport Aircraft.