Hi!
I' m planning to build a flettner rotor autogyro. I heard that Jojo (George Chaulet) has built a Synchrogyro and that Emilio Cabezas also has flown one. Any other builders out there? What are your experiences? Is it worth to change my Tango autogyro to a flettner type gyro?

Hello Ciervapilot....

Yes you are right, JoJo built (I believe) the first Synchrogyro. A fellow in Oregon also built a synchronized three-bladed (total of six blades) interleaved configuration that flew very well. I'm not sure if Emilio has built and flown that type. He may see your posting and reply.

For us non-initiated could you let us know what is a flettner rotor autogyro???

Thanks
BillF

Hi BillF!
The Flettner FL 265 was a two rotor helicopter with intermeshing blades designed in WW II (see picture below). It was the predecessor of designs like the H-34 Husky and the K-MAX.
The FL 265 nearly looked like an autogyro and with engine failure it could easily be handled like one to glide to the ground (as with nearly every heli).
This model and the Synchrogyro gave me the idea to convert my Tango to an intermeshing rotor autogyro.

Thanks for the information and photo! I tried to build an interleaving autogyro but was slightly discouraged when I got my thumb caught in the gears during a spin-up test.

BillF

So one further rule to observe: keep your thumbs off any gear!
Any other experiences?