Hi Chaps, i have here an old Kalt autogyro, can anyone give me any info on it? i'm placing a OS 48surpass in it and yes i know it needs a new rotor, i'm in the process of making one today

Thanks

ohh, and any info on setting up and flying would be great too.
i've flown everything from turbines to rudder only, had a dabble with helis and got into the hover ok but found that one bad landing and it cost money so gave up on helis....too noisey too.....says he that plays with jets

would that be the 'Robin' autogyro that pre-rotates by a drive from the right hand u/c wheel ??

If it is then I have yet to see one fly successfuly ! I know of one in Scotland that got airborne for about 2 seconds . Apparently its a nightmare to steer on the ground during pre-rotation and if you disconnect it the thing never spins up to full autorotation.

I would love to see you be successful with it though !

Best of luck

Sean

Sean, yes it does have the drive from the right U/c wheel but it does say kalt on it...........thanks a bloody bunch! there i was getting it already for next week think 'ohh what fun it'll be' and you go place that in spanner in the works!
ohh well i've balanced the blades, set it all up with the fly bar and have a nice long grass runway at the club, i'll give it ago and if what ever the out come i'll let it known on here.

thanks for getting intouch though, great to know that there are a few out there even if they are hanging up in the garage collecting dust.

Hi Paul

I expect there are a few folks on here who have actually owned and flown the thing successfully so never fear !

Maybe you remember the 'Hobbit' autogyro ? Same kind of setup but pre-rotated by a pulley fixed to the mast which you wound a length of chord around and when you powered away you trapped the other end of the chord under your foot, thereby rapidly spinning up the rotor as it unwound.......might work ?

had a gander at your site, maybe you could strap a turbine to each rotor tip

Sean

Sean, great idea about the turbines but they weigh 2lbs or more so might be a little heavy, i'll try it this week and see how it goes

thanks

Tried to fly it today, it trundled along the grass spinnig the blades but the ground at our local playing field is too bumpy and it fell over, tried again and it was always close to falling over, i couldn't be bothered to drive 12miles to my club but it looks like i'll have to see if the club field is flatter than the playing field, if it is then i think it'll fly, if it is too bumpy then i'll have to find some quiet road somewhere to try it out.

i will let this thread know soon

im not real up on model gyro my father had a real one and it wasnt that easy to fly as well but the one thing i have been told about gyro's . is when the nose lifts don't keep pulling back on the stick or the rotors will stall gotta keep them as level as possible

IT FLIES.................. and then the ground came up and got it.

took it down to the club field at 8:30 this morning, no one there, fill tank, start engine, stop engine check failsafe is set, start engine walk out to the field, point it into wind and bring throttle to half, it starts to move, i leave it taxiiing and see how it's going, fine, nice and straight, open the throttle a little more and now she moving, full throttle, shes really moving and suddenly she lifts nice and straight, banks left looses height and bang!

i'll build a new set of blades and try again next sunday.

i'll update here next week

Paul: don't give up as here is an image from a fellow UKer who flies a similar gyro design, the Wallis. His name is Phil Wyld. His E-mail is<[email protected]> Good luck!

Hi Paul,
Only just found this site today. Many years ago a couple of friends and I had 2 x Kalt Robins and a Micro mold Wallis and I sent Jim Baxter the spare bits I had but...the main problem with the Kalt was you needed a good 40 size motor due to the drag of the blades. On take-off as the model lifts you must throttle back a bit ........YES throttle back. If you do then you stop the pitch up with the increase drag , if not then expect to roll to the right followed very quickly by a crash. Does not do much damage though. Once you have controlled the initial pitch up at low speed you can gently re-apply power and you should be flying. Keep it very close as it is VERY difficult to keep your orientation if it gets too far away. The spin up wheel mechanism works ok on flattish grass but much better on concrete..however the damage on impact is greater!!
I have the original RM articles on the kit review if you are interested and could scan and e-mail them or photocopy and post them . Happy gyroing. Bill

Bill, it actually rolled to the left and crashed! i still haven't fixed the blade (read made 2 new ones) once i do then i'll give it another go, i've got a OS 48 surpass installed, it took off ok on nice flat grass but after 5 ft turned left and...........

Paul

Yes you are correct it was the wallis that rolled right. Bill