It is a device used to sense sudden unwanted movements of the tail. It's job is to move the tail servo to compensate for the unwanted movement. As an example, lets say you are in a hover and a sudden gust of wind blows the right side of the helicopter. Without a gyro this would cause the helicopter to turn to the right. With a gyro, it very quickly senses the sudden movement and gives a left command to the tail servo to keep the helicopter pointed where it was.

This refers to the sensitivity of the gyro. When the gyro senses an unwanted movement it commands the tail servo to move in the opposite direction to compensate. How much it tells the servo to move is the 'gain'. Ideally the amount of gain should match how much the helicopter was rotated so that it stays pointed in the same direction and does not move. If the gain is too high then the helicopter over compensates. The effect you will see is the tail will bounce back and forth.

To figure out the right gyro direction just watch for the control rod as you rotate the helicopter so the nose goes to the left. If the control rod gets pulled forward then you have it correct. This is assuming you have the tail assembly correct I have helped many with the tail backwards. Basically what you are looking for is for the control rod to go the same direction as when you move the rudder stick right.

First of all, you should know that optimal gyro performance requires pretty much everything on the helicopter to be well balanced and working smoothly. This includes the engine and drivetrain - any vibration will "confuse" the gyro sensor and degrade performance. Any fluctuations in engine performance will make more work for the gyro as well. Is the gyro gain high enough? If you can turn it up without causing the tail to wag, you should do so.

A standard gyro just dampens unwanted movements of the tail. To keep things simple lets say you are hovering and several gusts of wind hits the helicopter from the side, the gyro will keep the helicopter from suddenly swinging nose into the wind, but the helicopter will eventually drift nose into the wind. A heading hold gyro will keep the nose pointed in the same place until you tell it to move.

Frequently asked questions about this here list of frequently asked questions. Meta-FAQ, if you will. I have a frequently asked question. Who should I ask? ...or... People keep asking me this question, and I'd like to write it down for one last time where everyone can see it.

Well, it's impossible not to notice the helicopter pirouetting at 120 RPM and sounding like an off-balance washing machine... But it's better to be able to detect this condition before unleashing a five-foot flying lawnmower upon yourself and your neighbors. Fortunately, it's not too difficult. Remove the canopy, turn on your transmitter and helicopter, and wait for the gyro to 'wake up' if necessary. For this test, the gyro should be in standard (not heading hold) mode.

The Gyrobee is a legal ultralight if built to specifications of the Documentation and requires no licensing for either the plane or pilot other than a driver's license. back to top

It has become much easier to choose a gyro these days. You USED to have to choose whether you wanted a rate gyro, a heading hold gyro, a mechanical gyro, or a piezo gyro. It's much simpler now, thankfully! Nearly every gyro on the market today is a Heading hold gyro. Different companies call this different things, such as Tail Lock, Heading Lock, AVCS, etc, but it all means the same thing. Usually now you only have to purchase a gyro that is suited to the size of your helicopter.

Yes, you want a gyro on the little heli. It is very hard to fly if you aren't keeping the tail straight and without a gyro it can be pretty demanding on your feet. Using a heading hold gyro is definitely cheating as you will not learn to compensate the addition of power with pedal input. There is no reason to go to extremes as far as low or high sensitivity. Start out with a good stable setting and if you get bored, turn it off. If you're still bored try flying with a 10-15 mph direct tailwind.

A: Yes, First is the "air motorcycle" shoot in the first Star Wars, then very successfully (so much so as to win an award) in "Das Boot" where a steadicam was needed but would not fit. There have been many more- too long to list, but one of the more recent is "The Lord of the Rings". The standard Tyler mounts are equipped with 3 of our KS-8's or two KS-8's and one KS-12.

A: Any of our units can easily stabilize approximately twice their personal weight. The KS-2 at 1.5 lbs will handle most light weight binoculars. The KS-4 at 2.13 lbs will handle most 35 mm cameras not going over 400 mm lens and the heavier binoculars, those around 4 lbs. The KS-6 at 3.25 lbs is the usual gyro of choice for medium format cameras and steadicam operators ( who often use 2 KS-6 gyros). The KS-8 at 5.13 lbs is more for the movie cameras weighing up to 11-12 lbs.

A: The KS-2 and KS-4 will run for 5.5 to 6 hours off our 7.2 amp hour battery- start up and straight run time. The KS-6 and KS-8 will run for 2.5 to 3 hours of start up and straight run time. One can get a longer run time off the battery if one 'cycles' the gyro.

The pointer on most attitude gyros indicates the aircraft bank angle. This angle is determined by the markings on the dial at the top arch of the attitude indicator. Modern attitude indicators have moveable pointers that point to the indicated bank angle marking as the gyro banks as well. The bank angle dial is fixed against the gyro horizon pictorial display. This gives the best representation of the gyro movement with the aircraft movement.

One of the big problems with Bensen-type model autogyros is the pusher prop propulsion. A decent pusher prop itself (that produces maximum thrust) is hard to find, and starting the engine can be a problem, due to the position of the engine in relation to the vertical fin. The "Wallis" (produced by the now defunct MicroMold, Ltd. of England) solved this problem (?) with a swing-away tail structure. Engine cooling is also a potential problem.