Interesting opinions. We manufacture American Ranger (AR-1) gyroplane in Florida. In the past we have designed and manufactured trikes and airplanes for the LSA market.
Lets start with safety. In theory there is no stall and hence no loss of control which is the biggest killer in airplane world. Gyroplanes also should have an advantage in emergency engine out situations because they can land with close to zero roll on the ground. There is a height-velocity curve which tells you how the safe airspeed you should have at low altitudes. Basically in most current production models you could have close to 0 IAS at 300 feet AGL and be fine. We have in our testing demonstrated 250 feet AGL but we officially write 350 feet AGL for average pilot technique.
A recent analysis by a magazine that restricted itself to what it called modern gyroplanes showed that there have been 6 fatal accidents and in terms of fatal accidents that safety record was on par with airplanes statistically in NTSB records. There have been accidents in the past with what we would not term modern gyroplanes. This article was I believe published in Powered Sport Flying magazine may be 6 months ago (?). Training is an absolute must. I can't even fathom how someone can think its ok to fly them because they fly airplanes.
There are much more efficient ways of going from A to B if that is your ultimate goal but in terms of recreational flying and fun and being able to handle windier days and thermals while flying low comfortably, they are better than airplanes their size or many times their size in fact. Though they can cruise the same as a Cessna 150 (close to 90 knots) and their payload is generally better than C150/152 usually in the range of 530+ pounds for a 2 seat gyroplane. Fuel burn is 4.5 to 6 gallons per hour on usual cruise of 85 to 105 mph.
Technically speaking gyroplanes should be able to achieve faster speeds than helicopters restricted by retreating blade stall being the technical limit in either but the main market right now is light sport so spending design and research $$ on a jump takeoff, 150 knot gyroplane is not economically viable but perhaps as demand arises, it may become viable.
Gyroplanes are steadily a growing market in the US. We received 22 orders for our first year of production of AR-1. My educated guess is that there is soon going to be a market for about 100 to 120 gyroplanes a year in the US. Currently the number is about 70.
http://www.silverlightaviation.com
Lets start with safety. In theory there is no stall and hence no loss of control which is the biggest killer in airplane world. Gyroplanes also should have an advantage in emergency engine out situations because they can land with close to zero roll on the ground. There is a height-velocity curve which tells you how the safe airspeed you should have at low altitudes. Basically in most current production models you could have close to 0 IAS at 300 feet AGL and be fine. We have in our testing demonstrated 250 feet AGL but we officially write 350 feet AGL for average pilot technique.
A recent analysis by a magazine that restricted itself to what it called modern gyroplanes showed that there have been 6 fatal accidents and in terms of fatal accidents that safety record was on par with airplanes statistically in NTSB records. There have been accidents in the past with what we would not term modern gyroplanes. This article was I believe published in Powered Sport Flying magazine may be 6 months ago (?). Training is an absolute must. I can't even fathom how someone can think its ok to fly them because they fly airplanes.
There are much more efficient ways of going from A to B if that is your ultimate goal but in terms of recreational flying and fun and being able to handle windier days and thermals while flying low comfortably, they are better than airplanes their size or many times their size in fact. Though they can cruise the same as a Cessna 150 (close to 90 knots) and their payload is generally better than C150/152 usually in the range of 530+ pounds for a 2 seat gyroplane. Fuel burn is 4.5 to 6 gallons per hour on usual cruise of 85 to 105 mph.
Technically speaking gyroplanes should be able to achieve faster speeds than helicopters restricted by retreating blade stall being the technical limit in either but the main market right now is light sport so spending design and research $$ on a jump takeoff, 150 knot gyroplane is not economically viable but perhaps as demand arises, it may become viable.
Gyroplanes are steadily a growing market in the US. We received 22 orders for our first year of production of AR-1. My educated guess is that there is soon going to be a market for about 100 to 120 gyroplanes a year in the US. Currently the number is about 70.
http://www.silverlightaviation.com