Autogyro_1

Following a recent visit to the home of Wing Commander Ken Wallis, Kenny has been obsessed with building an Autogyro, using no more than the photos taken on the day

 

 

Showing the undercarriage

 

 

 

Showing the engine mounted

 

 

Engine is an old, but trusty, Supertigre 91 set in reverse by rotating the entire front casing and carby to enable the use of standard props

 

 

 

Sprung nose wheel

 

Quite a bit of deflection

Note the rudder change - Kenny realised that
(1) the first was a little too heavy and
(2) the rotor blades would shorten it anyway!

Engineered solution to the issue of starting the motor with a starter

(1) firmly pull on rudder mount tube - it is spring loaded

(2) twist And 'Presto!' rudder leans over to allow an electric starter in

And now a teetering head. Magic'd out of lumps of aluminium

And a tricky bit of geometry with servos for head pitch and bank (if those are the correct terms)

Blades fashioned from Balsa and some tropical lightweight hardwood whose name escapes me. Rotor diameter will be approx 6ft

Here's a short video of the  rotor tilt drive mechanism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F0FW-tdf6I