3 ms·
I believe it's exactly the same problem as with a helicopter. Blade speeds near the tip can be pretty high, so rain can damage some materials. It's apparently
by rootusrootus 6y ago
I believe it's exactly the same problem as with a helicopter. Blade speeds near the tip can be pretty high, so rain can damage some materials. It's apparently not much of an issue with alloy blades, more of a thing with composites. I suspect it's more of a price issue -- gyrocopters are trying to hit a different price point than most helicopters.
Also, plenty of gyrocopter pilots fly in the rain.
- rkangel 6y ago> Also, plenty of gyrocopter pilots fly in the rain. Indeed. I think it's just a question of shortening the life of the rotor a bit. Another problem is visibility. We had to land in a hurry at the end of my lesson on Monday due to rain arriving at the airfield. I fly a Magni M16 which is an open cockpit and it was quite hard to see with the rain on the windscreen and my visor. There are no wipers or anything to help with that (like you might have on a fixed wing). I don't have the comparable experience in the closed cockpit aircraft though (e.g. Magni M24), so that may be better anyway.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoIsn't that what polyurethane helicopter tape is for?