The fact that you’re visiting this site to get more info about gyro’s means that you’re serious about learning to fly – and I’m guessing you’d rather do it cheaply and as soon as possible?

Unfortunately learning to fly can be expensive…so if there was a way you could GUARANTEE that you’d be able to cut your training costs, I’m sure that’d be something you’d be interested in right?

Here’s the thing – there are generally two parts to learning to fly – the practical training and the theory.

But what many novices don’t realize is that having a good understanding of the theory BEFORE you start your training can actually cut down on the practical training time you’ll need to become a licensed pilot.

And this will save you money…

You see pilot training can be overwhelming when you don’t really understand the theory of flight.

But if you start your training already having a good understanding of aviation theory and how the aircraft reacts under various conditions, then there’s no doubt you’re going to pick up the actual flying much quicker, and your training costs will be slashed.

Make sense?

So how can you get this theoretical training?

Well…thanks to the internet it’s now easier than ever before to get some great training online at a fraction of the cost that you’d pay for some face-to-face training with an instructor.

This is the resource I’d recommend you check out – it’s put together by a guy who isn’t just an instructor with close to 10,000 hours of experience teaching pilots to fly…

…he’s also AN INSTRUCTOR TO OTHER INSTRUCTORS…so you can be sure this guy really knows what he’s talking about.

He’s found that many student pilots waste as much as $2,000 more on their training than they have to…and he wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!

Anyway…if you want to learn to fly AND you want to do it as quickly and cheaply as possible, you need to check this out.

Click Here To Find Out How You Can Cut Your Training Costs

Take it easy

Craig

P.S – if you knew you were going to save yourself hundreds, and potentially thousands of dollars on your training, do you think you’d get started sooner?

I’d say there’s a fair chance you would…so if you’re serious about learning to fly, you owe it to yourself to click the banner below and take a look.

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Here are some great videos that really demonstrate just how versatile an aircraft the Autogyro is.
 

The MTO Sport

The Calidus

The Cavalon

We are currently in the process of putting together a list of the most frequently asked questions in relation to autogyros/gyroplanes/gyrocopters.

Some of the questions that will be answered include:

• What is a gyrocopter?
• How does a gyrocopter fly?
• How safe are gyrocopters?
• What is the difference between a gyro and a helicopter?
• How fast/high can a gyro fly?
• What are the advantages of gyrcopters?
• What are the licensing requirements to fly gyrocopters?
• What are the costs of owning/flying a gyrocopter?

If you have any questions that you would like to ask, feel free to get in touch.If your question is relevant we’ll include it on this page…after all that’s what a FAQ page is all about.

How Do The Numbers Add Up?

Flying is expensive…that’s just something you can’t really escape. If you’re looking for a cheap hobby, I hear the bowls clubs are looking for younger members.

But if you’re looking for the cheapest possible way to fly a certified aircraft…and possibly even own one yourself…then flying the Autogyro is about the best place you could start.

One of the things that surprises many people is the fact that our Autogyros run on unleaded petrol. And best of all is the fuel economy – the Autogyro burns about 15L an hour, making it as expensive to run as it is to hire a canoe from the local leisure centre.

“But what about the maintenance…” I hear you say.

Just like any other certified aircraft, the Autogyro requires a safety inspection every 100 hours of flight time. This will set you back just $500…putting the cost at $5/hr – far from expensive in the scheme of things.

“Well, surely there must be hundreds of hours of training required?”

Not quite

The average student can achieve their solo certification in around thirty hours of pilot training, which will set you back about $5,000. So for 5 grand you have the ability to fly a certified aircraft by yourself.

After this you will need to build your experience by yourself before you are certified to fly with a passenger on board.

Buying your own gyrocopter is a big step…but if you have been looking for a way to own your own aircraft, without having to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars, then this may be exactly what you’re looking for.

When you take into account training and equipment such as flight gear and helmets, you have the ability to be flying your own fully certified aircraft for less than $100,000.

The freedom this can give you is far greater than with any automobile, so it is impossible to compare the costs with those associated with a car.

An Autogyro is more expensive than the majority of cars on the market…but the majority of cars on the market can’t give you an aerial view of the beautiful coastline of Australia. Or the stunning vistas of our vast interior.

The fact that you have found this website shows there is an interest in aviation…the next logical step is for you to take to the skies and check the Autogyro out first hand.

The easiest way to do this is by organising a Trial Instructional Flight in one of our Autogyros…find out for yourself how well they fly and how simple they are to operate.

After that the costs will seem a whole lot cheaper

Summary Of The Costs Associated With The Autogyro

Cost Of Training

For people with absolutely zero experience, the average amount of training required is 30 hours. Training starts at $180 per hour, with discounts for purchasing hours in bulk

Average Cost Of Training is around $5,000

For licensed pilots looking to convert, the average time required is around 10 hours.

Cost Of Operation

The Autogyro runs on about 15L of unleaded petrol per hour. Every 100 hours they require a service which will set you back about $500. Various pieces of the Autogyro (engine, hub bar etc) will need to be replaced after a certain number of hours…but for the vast majority of owners it takes many years of flying before you need to worry about this.

Cost Of Purchase

A new MTO Sport starts at $87,000 and the Calidus starts at $112,000. At the moment there is no real second hand market as the Autogyro has only been available for a couple of years. If looked after they hold their value extremely well.

Contact us to find out more about how you can get started with your training

We recently had a commercial airline pilot, Aarron Deliu come and do his gyroplane conversion with us. Rather than have us tell everybody how he went, Aarron thought it would be better coming straight from the horses mouth so he volunteered to write up a report on his experiences with us.

So here it is…thanks Aaron, look forward to having you back soon mate.

_________________

Commercial Pilot Aarron Deliu

First off let me give you a background of myself.

I am an Aviation enthusiast and have been all my life. However my Career in Aviation started when I was 15 years old. I started learning to fly in Gliders and then progressed onto Powered Fixed wing Cessna’s and the like.

I continued my training and obtained all my licences right through to my Commercial licence. After that I progressed onto small turbine charter aircraft then onto corporate jets, then before I knew it I was flying for an Airline.

I have been an Airline pilot for some time now and must say I have the best job in the world.

HOWEVER, Airline flying yet enjoyable lacks the exhilarating feeling that you can only get at 500 to 3000 feet above the terrain while flying a small aircraft.

So why Autogyro’s, well it all stemmed from my curiosity of how Helicopters and Gyrocopters actually manage to fly that led me to come across a company called EAST COAST AUTOGYRO.

Once at their website I decided instantly that this is something I should do. So I contacted Craig, the PR manager, and he set everything up.

I flew into Sydney and boarded a flight up to Port Macquarie; I was greeted at the airport and driven to Kempsey airport, where I met Mick Riddle and the craft that was going to take me into the skies.

Now I have never flown a rotor craft, so seeing the Gyro sitting there with no wing, I did not know what to expect, yet I was extremely ready to see how this contraption flies and master it as soon as I can.

Prior to arriving I did some research on Gyro’s on the Internet – from what I read I could not help but get the message that Gyro’s are dangerous, they always crash, insurance company’s hate them and that they have lots of problems, so with that in mind I had developed an impression that the Gyro is a vicious flying machine and that I will have to be very careful.

Mick introduced me to the red machine that would teach me about Gyro’s. He pointed out every important component explaining how it works. I then learnt that this is the one of the few Gyro’s that are certified to Europe standards.

Aarron In The Pilot's Seat

Most of the Gyro’s that are flying in Australia and the world for that fact are home-built, so maybe this is why they have a bad rap, but still I needed to get in a find out for myself.

We then got in and he had me start the engine, taxi out and do the appropriate checks. It was surprisingly simple.

So we were ready the rotor pre rotated to 200rpm, Mick gave me the go ahead to apply power.

From there the Gyro accelerated very smoothly, shortly after the nose lifted off, Mick told me to apply forward pressure on the stick to hold it there, the Gyro then lifted of smoothly and we climbed away. We went out and just flew, Mick showing me how to hover like a helicopter and how to do 180 degree turns on the spot. Things that you can’t imagine possible as a fixed wing pilot.

It was incredible to be able to stop on the spot and then turn around and fly again without losing any altitude. While all the while only burning 15 litres of Car Petrol an hour, such an economical way to surf the skies.

Mick showed me the characteristics of the gyro; many of the myths just are not true with gyrocopters, well at least the MTO Sport.

I found that the Gyro is very stable only requiring a light hold on the stick, it holds it attitude and altitude very well when in trim, yet its incredibly easy to manoeuvre in all axis. We then did some slow speed flight and I mean slow 20-30knots slow and once again right down towards a hover. We were well behind the drag curve so to speak.

In fixed wing we are taught not to fly behind the drag curve as when on this, ie slow speed, if you want to increase speed you need to lower the nose and accept an altitude loss. But in the Gyro this altitude loss in the order of 10 or so feet and it is very easy and quick to increase to normal speeds.

However that’s not the worst trait of flying behind the drag curve, the main one is stalling.

You can get to a point by where you are too slow and the wing stalls, that is it loses its smooth airflow and hence the lift component is insufficient to support the weight of the aircraft, thus the aircraft will normally descend abruptly towards the ground, with a high potential (if the pilot is not ahead of the aircraft) for it to go into a spin, if one wing stalls prior to the other.

However in a gyro this is not so, it is Impossible to stall or even spin a Gyrocopter, you can hold that still fully back and all that happens is that you slow down, followed by a temporary hover, then followed by the Gyro slowly descending vertically. To stop this all you need to do is apply power and put the stick back to a central position.

So long gone are the days where a pilot can stall while coming into land as he gets too slow close to the ground followed by the pilot losing control.

So while we were still flying I pondered on why are these aircraft given such bad rap, Ok it must be the landing, they must be brutal to land.

Time to find out, we join the circuit, hold on there’s traffic on base, so we need to allow for more spacing, so we slow to 30 knots, ok enough spacing, we accelerate and continue, now on base I reduce power and start descending, 55 knots, checks complete where coming in.

We turn finals, 100feet, 50feet, 20 feet, 10 feet, Ok its going to be a tough one, 2 feet FLARE, close the throttle, pull back on the stick, touchdown an incredibly smooth touchdown, but hang on we just touchdown and we are stationary.

Wow, This Gyrocopter is amazing, its stable, manoeuvrable, extremely smooth in turbulence, safe to fly, can hover, can fly faster than a helicopter yet can’t stall or spin and can land on a postage stamp, a 50 cent one.

We taxied in shut down the engine and got out. I had a big grin on my face and a new outlook on Gyro’s.

I went on and continued my training and am now a licensed Gyrocopter pilot and can say that Mick Riddle and East Coast Gyro is a great school and I thoroughly recommend them to anyone wanting to learn to fly.

Coming Soon