My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
10-26-2004, 02:02 AM
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My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
I managed to get one flight on it today before the rain came. The kit was an easy build but the hardware package left a little to be desired.
10-26-2004, 10:46 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Ditto: any unusual problems or head scratchers? I believe that the Kirara is supposed to be an ARF but that word "Almost" can cover a lot of territory.
10-26-2004, 07:49 PM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Let me preface all of this with the fact that I have never owned or flown an auto gyro before. I've been in this hobby for a long time and when I saw this kit I figured "aww what the hell I've never flown one of these before". I thought it might be neat. I fly fixed wing but primarily Helis. You can check out my gallery here: http://www.runryder.com/gallery/14264/
The build is pretty simple. It is an all wood and monokote box frame normal type fuse. It's pretty much your standard ARF. All covered you just install the tail feathers, pylon, hinges, landing gear, motor, radios, and rotor head. It took me two days to build, about 12 hrs maybe. The rotor head is fiberglass plate and a CNC bearing cup put onto a metal spindle with aluminum aileron levers which are pull/pull.
The hardware package was cheap. Clevises were weak plastic, screws still had flashings on them, canopy looked like something I could make in the oven with a windex bottle (lol! not really that bad), motor mounts were definitely made by someone in a hurry, and the tailwheel is cheap standard arf material.
The instruction manual was obviously written in Japanese and translated to English with a computer translator. Japanese sentence meaning "tighten the rotor blades until they are fairly tight" put through a computer comes out reading like "force condition far through rotor blade". So, basically useless! However, I think anyone who has built any rc helicopter, airplane or auto gyro before could probably handle it. There was a template in the instructions for cutting holes in the fuse for an OS 32. I was foolish enough to use said template which proved to be for a much older OS 32 so the holes in the fuse were subsequently enlarged for my newer engine.
I read everything on the net about auto gyros before I went out and tried to fly this thing. Things that I expected:
Takeoff: I set it at about 1/4 throttle and just let roll until the blades eventually spun up fast enough and it lifted off the ground. I followed through with power for the climb out. I tried increasing the amount of power on the takeoff roll but ended up spinning out. Wide gear stance on the Kirara makes ground handling pretty safe.
Turns: Aileron/tilt control is weak. Use elevator and rudder to start a turn then follow up with aileron. (as a side note if you never touch your left stick don't even try to fly one of these)
Slow flight: The day that I flew it there was no wind at all but I could still slow it down to a walking pace. It's a very nose high affair almost like hovering a 3d plane.
Landing: Once I figured out how to make it decend it was very simple. I just flew it down the runway and once I got close to where I wanted to be I reduced power until it almost came to a stop. At this point it started to sink and I let it sink with a little forward speed until the flare where I just added a touch of throttle and up elevator.
That was all that I was prepared for. Here's what I didn't expect:
In flight: Now that I think about it it makes sense but when I was flying it initially it made me crazy. When you accelerate the auto gyro wants to roll in the direction of the downwind blade. I kept trying to trim it out but every time I would change the trottle the trim would change. Once I slowed it down enough and kept it at a pretty constant speed it flew just like a plane. That's the other thing, it doesn't like going fast. It's happiest just tooling along at about 1/4 - 1/2 throttle.
I'll let you all know more once I get a few more flights on it. Sorry for the long winded answer.[:-]
The build is pretty simple. It is an all wood and monokote box frame normal type fuse. It's pretty much your standard ARF. All covered you just install the tail feathers, pylon, hinges, landing gear, motor, radios, and rotor head. It took me two days to build, about 12 hrs maybe. The rotor head is fiberglass plate and a CNC bearing cup put onto a metal spindle with aluminum aileron levers which are pull/pull.
The hardware package was cheap. Clevises were weak plastic, screws still had flashings on them, canopy looked like something I could make in the oven with a windex bottle (lol! not really that bad), motor mounts were definitely made by someone in a hurry, and the tailwheel is cheap standard arf material.
The instruction manual was obviously written in Japanese and translated to English with a computer translator. Japanese sentence meaning "tighten the rotor blades until they are fairly tight" put through a computer comes out reading like "force condition far through rotor blade". So, basically useless! However, I think anyone who has built any rc helicopter, airplane or auto gyro before could probably handle it. There was a template in the instructions for cutting holes in the fuse for an OS 32. I was foolish enough to use said template which proved to be for a much older OS 32 so the holes in the fuse were subsequently enlarged for my newer engine.
I read everything on the net about auto gyros before I went out and tried to fly this thing. Things that I expected:
Takeoff: I set it at about 1/4 throttle and just let roll until the blades eventually spun up fast enough and it lifted off the ground. I followed through with power for the climb out. I tried increasing the amount of power on the takeoff roll but ended up spinning out. Wide gear stance on the Kirara makes ground handling pretty safe.
Turns: Aileron/tilt control is weak. Use elevator and rudder to start a turn then follow up with aileron. (as a side note if you never touch your left stick don't even try to fly one of these)
Slow flight: The day that I flew it there was no wind at all but I could still slow it down to a walking pace. It's a very nose high affair almost like hovering a 3d plane.
Landing: Once I figured out how to make it decend it was very simple. I just flew it down the runway and once I got close to where I wanted to be I reduced power until it almost came to a stop. At this point it started to sink and I let it sink with a little forward speed until the flare where I just added a touch of throttle and up elevator.
That was all that I was prepared for. Here's what I didn't expect:
In flight: Now that I think about it it makes sense but when I was flying it initially it made me crazy. When you accelerate the auto gyro wants to roll in the direction of the downwind blade. I kept trying to trim it out but every time I would change the trottle the trim would change. Once I slowed it down enough and kept it at a pretty constant speed it flew just like a plane. That's the other thing, it doesn't like going fast. It's happiest just tooling along at about 1/4 - 1/2 throttle.
I'll let you all know more once I get a few more flights on it. Sorry for the long winded answer.[:-]
10-28-2004, 05:41 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Ok, day 2 went well that is until one of the wheels came apart which resulted it some amazing ground loops and the like 
. Very minor scratches and dings. A little monokote, couple of aileron clevises and a prop is all it needed. None of this damage was necessary but I decided to keep trying even though I knew the wheel was jacked. I got some good pics of it in flight and even managed to do some loops and a few stall turns. Hopefully, I can get to the hobby store early enough to buy some wheels so I can try again tomorrow. The wheel just rolled off the hub and rounded the plastic over so it wouldn't stay on for very long. Again, this reflects the poor quality of the hardware in the kit.
. Very minor scratches and dings. A little monokote, couple of aileron clevises and a prop is all it needed. None of this damage was necessary but I decided to keep trying even though I knew the wheel was jacked. I got some good pics of it in flight and even managed to do some loops and a few stall turns. Hopefully, I can get to the hobby store early enough to buy some wheels so I can try again tomorrow. The wheel just rolled off the hub and rounded the plastic over so it wouldn't stay on for very long. Again, this reflects the poor quality of the hardware in the kit.
10-28-2004, 09:41 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Thank you for the excellent reporting! Too bad about losing the wheel but your thorough review of the plane will make it certain that the rest of us will replace the cheesy hardware bits as a part of the assembly process.
10-28-2004, 10:49 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Opposite to what is normally believed this is a two bladed gyrocoper that flies well.
Interesting as two blades are easier to build, easier to transport and easier to balance.
So what is the seceret.
/PO
Interesting as two blades are easier to build, easier to transport and easier to balance.
So what is the seceret.
/PO
10-28-2004, 10:57 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
IMO and based on what I see in other autogyros is that the blades are exceptionally long for the size of aircraft. 1500mm rotor disc on a 4lb airframe. The blades stick out well past the rudder. I'll leave the rest up to you autogyro gurus. I just know that it has longer blades than my 90 size X-spec Heli.
10-29-2004, 08:26 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
10-29-2004, 08:35 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
When I click on your link I'm getting:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /gallery/14264/Kirara_Day_3.zip on this server.
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /gallery/14264/Kirara_Day_3.zip on this server.
10-29-2004, 08:42 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
Ok, then go here: http://www.runryder.com/gallery/14264/ then scroll down to the bottom and access the file there.
10-29-2004, 12:08 PM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
OK, that works. I've never seen a gyro do a touch and go before. This gyro seems to be a great flier! How about some more pictures of the rotor head, are the blades hinged, they don't look it?
10-29-2004, 12:28 PM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
No hinge by definition. The fiberglass plate that they attach to is super stiff. The only "flap" in the blade comes from the blade itself. The blades are all balsa with a thin steel rod imbedded in the leading edge. There is a little play in the bearing block. As a heli pilot I am tempted to insert some green locktite to eliminate this. I think this would tighten up the rotor response in all aspects. However, I also think this mod would result in some stripped aileron servo gears and I'm not in the mind to invest in some 9252s or better for this autogyro.
If you need a better pic than this let me now.
If you need a better pic than this let me now.
12-11-2005, 12:45 PM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
The link to this thread was deleted by RCUNIVERSE. It is still available at (RunRyder,com/helicopter/gallery/14264/) minus the commas(insert periods) then look at the bottom of the link for Kirara Day 3. I have seen a few Japanese Gyros since I built the Kirara. Some were scale copies of Bensons and others were new designs but none flew better than the Kirara.
12-16-2005, 10:16 PM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
I only have expirience with fixed wing planes but but i have wanted to get an autogyro. Would this be a good model for someone with no helicopter expirience? If so could you let me know where you got it and how much it would cost? Thank you.
12-17-2005, 01:16 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
TYE 89
Look into these, I have the small one, they're great fliers.
http://www.flyingbalsa.com/
Rich
Look into these, I have the small one, they're great fliers.
http://www.flyingbalsa.com/
Rich
12-17-2005, 07:45 AM
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RE: My Shiney New Kirara Gyrocopter
The PT 25 is probably the best flying gyro from a kit. The PT Gyro is also good but the PT 25, being larger, is more stable and less problems with orientation.
Also, the Scamp which is a converted Sig Rascal, from Arizona Autogyro would be a good gyro for a beginner.
Phil
Also, the Scamp which is a converted Sig Rascal, from Arizona Autogyro would be a good gyro for a beginner.
Phil
