The EUR65,000 Cavalon side-by-side, fully-enclosed gyrocopter

I wonder what they mean by \"unpowered main rotor\". That can\'t be right.

An explanation of the difference between one-axle and two-axle cyclic control would be interesting. I searched, and found a forum covering largely the same points as this page.

http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=417174

Gyro Copters are not like helicopters. The \"unpowered main rotor\" or, the large rotor on top of the craft, is powered by the wind moving across the blades. As described in the article, the \"push\" propeller behind the passengers provides thrust. As the aircraft is pushed forward, the main rotor begins to spin and provide lift. One of the advantages of a Gyro Copter is that, since the main lift rotor is not dependent upon the engine for power, if you were to run out of gas or encounter a catastrophic problem with the \"push\" rotor, the copter will not plummet to the ground. Rather, it will \"float\" down as the wind continues to provide lift. Without the push rotor, the craft will descend sharply, but you could land it relatively easily, providing there is hard earth underneath you! Also, much of the noise from helicopters is from the rear, smaller vertical rotor. A gyro copter does not have one of those either, making them somewhat quieter. Most push rotors can do the job with only about 90-120 horsepower making them very efficient.

To Brillig: The main rotor doesn\'t have power, but it spins and gives lift when the pusher motor pushes the gyrocopter down a short runway. It\'s not like a helicopter that can go straight up. A gyrocopter needs some runway about 75 feet. Look up gyrocopter on YouTube, and you can see them taking off and landing.

@Brillig - its true! An autogyro rotor is not powered. Its still a rotating wing that provides lift. It only needs to be \"started\", and in some older models, I understand the thing is started by giving the rotor a shove by hand. I saw one (Wallis -type as in James Bond movie version) at an air show. The rider moved it slowly, kind of sideways along the crowd front, with his hands clasped above his head. It steers by \"leaning over\", somewhat like riding a bike, though I guess this 2-seater probably has a more developed control scheme.

an un-powered rotor may not sound right, but it works well. It\'s an airfoil -- like a wing -- and it provides lift when it moves through air but while a wing moves with an airplane, at exactly the same speed as the plane, an unpowered rotor relative to the plane -- almost as though it were flying in circles around the plane -- so it goes much faster than the gyrocopter and the gyrocopter can take off, fly and land at much lower speeds than a fixed-wing plane.

I think the correct, or alternative name for this aircraft is \'Autogiro\', and Wing Commander Wallis is [or was], the holder of the world altitude record.

Some gyrocopters also have a pre-rotation system that allows almost vertical takeoff by spinning up the rotor prior to takeoff. It's usually hydraulic or pneumatic.
McCulloch built a certified model, the J2, back in the early 70s. I saw it fly a few times.
http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=176

It might help to get a feel for the physics of the rotor by thinking of a maple (?) seed falling to the ground with a single blade and the seed at the axis. The falling motion makes it spin and the spin gives it lift. If you add power to such a system the lift can exceed gravity\'s downward pull. That\'\'s how I think of them anyway.

To be honest Gyrocopters are so much safer then actual helicopters.
That said gyrocopters are super cheap and simple, i like the idea of enclosing it for aerodynamics, but it really isn\'t going to improve anything. it takes away the whole point of a gyro, they are simple, fun, wind i your face, toys.
They have many advantages over ultralights, but they are less practical in many ways..
I could be wrong, perhaps this thing has a range that elevates it above a toy, but I doubt it..
I look forward to seeing a video and hoping I am wrong.