When I started flying with a 72 HP Mac in 1973, if you could fly from one end of the runway to the other before the engine quit, you called it a successful day. Later, when engine reliabilty improved, we had to learn how to land with power. To this day, I always land with the engine idling. The thought of having to land with power, scares the hell out of me.

I don't understand a lot of new gyro pilots landing at way too fast of speed..Good golly...I taught myself to land at idle, to do a lot of what Jake said....always assuming that engine was going to quit.....and my engines have quit 18 times in my gyros and twice in my helicopter. Never a scratch to myself or my machines.

Had I been trained to land much faster than I should. ...I have often wondered how many machines I would have torn up in my 20 forced landings.

We have brought that up before about the new crop of gyros and CFI's not training for emergency situations etc.
plus all the new Eurogyros have linked steering and no tail wheels.......Just sayin'.

Greg always made me come in for landing at idle so every landing was like an engine out. I wouldn't know how to do it any other way
and only used power to adjust a botched setup just before a landing which saved my caboose more then once and Greg's dominator
from tipping over or screeching sideways. Good to hear he got that right from what I am reading here!!
He is also going to transition me to my single place cuz he said a two place is way slower on the controls then a quickie single place.

Yeah, that nudie girl pilot landed a Calidus at 45 kts in one video

I would sum it up by saying that many clones are copied from one and another, often they were copied by people who really didn't understand gyros in the first place... just did what the other company had done and are easy to make/copy.... then realised that the weight of the thing they have built flies differently to a lighter machine .... so then they copied each others manuals which were written to cover their asses when folks kill themselves in them.... Also, people these days seem to want to be seen as 'real pilots' so they have to have every instrument a 747 has... definitely more instruments and gadgets than any shit cesna or whatever.... not realising all the extra weight of the toys make it have to be flown more and more like a spam can Then everyone wonders why their machine tipped over and self destructs.... and they have to come up with the old "a gust of wind must have got me" line.... to make themselves feel better

I would not be surprised if some manufacturers couldn't actually explain HOW their machine flies, they can parrot off what they have learned from the others manuals.... but I doubt that they really know the real details of why and how

There will be exceptions of course, that do have a good grasp on the nitty gritty of how a gyro flies, but I think that would be a minority.... most manufacturers would just say "ours simply fly better than all of the others" ..... but any manual that says a gyro that lands at any more than walking pace then doesn't stop before taxying on a full stop landing (not a touch and go) and especially before turning to exit runway.... obviously doesn't know how a gyro works IMO...

I reckon, if some of them flew an open frame, agile machine.... you would never get the smile off their faces .... if they did fly a lighter, open machine, they may even realise what they are missing out on

I used that "a gust of wind must have got me" line when I wheelied Lofty's MTO.....
He believed me....or was too scared to say anything.
My first words were. "shut up....it's a payback"
Did I scare you?
He replied: "Well......I was concerned a little"
WHat a great guy?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Landing at flight idle or landing with power now that is interesting.
If you have not used or been taught both I feel for you . There is a very good reason to when needed to land with some power.
In gusty or high wind especially cross it greatly improves directional control. Unlike what some people will tell you it is not always possible to land into the wind. An example is a runway cut out of trees or a canal road and many other kinds. I have landed with 30 Kts direct cross with no problem but it had to have power to give rudder authority.
I have always taught by procedure for the conditions at hand.

Now let's talk students. There are those who listen and those who do not. There are some who want you to teach them there way? As if they know how to fly already. Then there are some that refuse to be trained and or think they can finish on there own. These kind some times think there buddy can fill the gaps the CFI did not get to.
Then still more that do not do as the CFI suggests and fly with a transitional CFI or other needed advice.

That being said I have also seen many students that have been signed off that lacked the basic skills.
Then there are CFIs that try to unlearn exceptional skills that qualified CFIs teach. Believe it or not things like ground rotor handling.

Jake- Exactly! My 20 engine outs had no power available clear to the ground.

Of course without. I never solo anyone that I do not spend many hours of time cutting to idle at all kinds of places in all conditions. I was just pointing out that the student needs every procedure taught not just flight idle landings. I have seen many signed off that do not know the diffrence between short field soft field crosswind or rapid rate of decent.
Remember just because a student has some training from several CFIs with no sign off does not mean that they were proficient to fly or teach themselves. If so they would have a solo sign off. There is more to it and unfortunately this happens because of things like this. So part responsibility has to be placed on the pilot for taking life into there own hands if they fail to get what is needed to fly safe.

I was fortunate enough to train with Rusty Nance. He would say something like "My nose is starting to bleed make your altitude at xxx feet." Less thaan half what I was comfortable with.
Then he would spring on me "Your machine.... my throttle." He would chop it back to idle and tell me to land. My emergency engine out landings were better than my normal ones. he always did that at least once every flight. I never knew when he would spring it on me.

Is there an FAA list of current real CFIs somewhere? I have looked on the FAA site but can't find one.

The only time I used power on a landing was at airports with spam cans landing and taking off as well....I would often approach at 65 kts just to fit in with them and not get in their way.... once I even snuck in a landing with a twin on a long final and I approached at about 80..... when I was nearly ready to flare I backed off and it took about 3/4 of the runway before I could actually touch down..... because if I lifted the nose it would climb... was the speed, hot day and ground effect.... but at least I didn't get in the twins way... and still landed without turning a wheel

Muz,

IIRC, Arnies' motto goes sumthin like "FIC TWINS" ??!!!!!

fj

AirScooter:
There is not an online CFI list maintained by the FAA. However, there is a license/rating lookup on a one-at-a-time basis. Note that you must divulge your identity to use it.
The National Association of Flight Instructors maintains a list of its members and their ratings, but few gyroplane CFIs are NAFI members.