Hi.

Yesterday I went to Sweden to check out a gyro that was for sale.
So I borrowed a wide autotrailer and brought a former F-16 mechanic with me.
He is one of our inspectors in charge of "hardware stuff"....

The owner turned out to be a great guy and the gyro was sweet…
He took a last farewell flight - and he flew it very well indeed.

MT-03 from 2007. One owner only. In 2008 (edit: somewhere between 2008-2011) upgraded to MTOSport by people from Auto-Gyro.
(bending and reinforcing the mast, changing angle of head and tail, reinforcement between mast and keel)

Engine run time 531 hours on the meter. Oh, by the way, it's a 914 Turbo running sweet and strong.
Unfortunately it still has the old rotor with a 700 hours service life (edit: Oops, that's just in the UK. Elsewhere 1500 hours).
We talked about changing the hub bar to resemble the new type. To avoid stress concentration that cracks the blade.
So I can fly all the 169 (or more) hours left without fear of cracks.

So, I'd call it my "motivating tool", as I still have no license. But now it's possible….

Cheers
Erik

Congratulations on your New/used Gyro! You should be proud, I know how you feel.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is more than awesome. Congratulations. That is a nice machine.
Wishing you long hours of happy flying in that baby.
Nice score Erik!!!!

Thanx guys.

When I saw the ad, I immediately thought: "This is my chance".

Hmm the wife is away - the next time I phone her, I just let it slip out .. "BTW, I'll buy a gyro in Sweden"...

So now I've run out of excuses - finish ground school soonest...

Cheers
Erik

Congratulations. I still miss my MTO. Learn to fly that baby properly and she will take care of you.

Congrats Erik....


Now I hate you as much as Elwood


I hope it gives you many years of great flying... how soon til you get your license?


Will you fly it to the main land one day? Or just around your island?


How did you get that past your wife?


Have you untied her and let her out of the basement yet?

Hey mate.

We usually say: "U Su*k!" That gives the recipient a warm, fuzzy feeling

Well, the 3 out of 8 tests I had already passed aren't valid anymore.

So I now have to pass all 8. Plus radio. But "The Motivator" as I like to call my gyro
has given me the urge to pass them soonest so I can get to fly.

I plan on flying through Sweden to Denmark. Although I'll have to walk on water if the engine quits.

Oh yes, I have now untied the wife - as she promised not to retaliate...

It happened all too suddenly... I never thought I'd own a Rotax 914, and not on an MTO either.

Suddenly "Poof" I had a gyro. Looking at it in Sweden, I could feel my cold feet creeping up on me - "this is it"...
Fortunately I had the opinion of my mechanic to lean on. Even he was a bit envious, as he has no gyro of his own.

Don't you have a gyro yourself, Murray?

Cheers
Erik

Don't be hatin' Muz....

I am happy for you Erik, as much as I love building and making chips, I find I have less and less free time to do so, so like you, decided to just skip the process and find something that didn't need years of fabricating to become airworthy..I will be in debt for life to my lovely wife.....but now at least I can share the fun with her too.
Oh and now I need to get another trailer..and truck....

Wellcome all to the dark side of Eurotubs.

Well, the thing is: To school in Denmark you have to be very lucky or own a two-seater….

And that has been holding me back for years. It's not that I won't build my Gyrobee, I just can't use it for schooling.

With this I can earn my license, fly more comfy on longer journeys and even bring the wife.

It has transponder and a more reliable engine. Unfortunately, to fly in Europe I have to get a new radio - the Funke ATR500 is 25 kHz. (Anyone want a cheap radio?)

So, to quote a famous cartoon dog (Droopy): "I'm happy"...

Cheers
Erik

I just know Erik that you will be a great pilot and will tremendously enjoy that machine! Guys like you who never give up can and always achieve their dreams. And let's be honest here, this has been your dream.
I know a lot of guys who keep coming to fly-ins and love to mingle with gyro guys but will NEVER fly!!!
They just like to be associated with the group but never actually took a step toward becoming one!
They are usually the ones who talk the loudest in crowds about gyros......
You quietly went out and bought that beauty.
Now you are married to it! You WILL tame that beast!
I know you will. I wish you all the best, my friend.
It is the most fun a guy can have fully clothed and with his hands between his legs and not go blind!

Well, another fine mess, as Oliver Hardy would say...

I may not be able to register the gyro at all...

The gyro has only a few issues, a 200-hour service for the engine, new fuel lines,
new blade bolts and a bushing somewhere in the control system.

But - here it comes - there was no paperwork for the large modification
changing it from an MT-03 into an MTO Sport...

I just had a talk with the swedish dealer who sold the gyro new back then.
He told me, all owners who had the mod done by Auto-Gyro people received documentation back then.

When I wrote the seller about it he wrote me back: He (the dealer) must be lying!

(but I know the seller is not much for procedure - as he has been flying illegally the last 7-8 years)

I wrote Auto-Gyro with the details and the serial number and I hope they have some paperwork about it stored somewhere.

Cheers
Erik

Hope you get it worked out. OR move to AMERICA U.S.A.

Or you could just fly illegal like the last owner??

Sorry for the hassles, hope you can get them worked out soon.

I got an email this morning: I can have it registered in Denmark...

Shortly afterwards I got another email from the guy, who now runs the dealership.
He explained all about the situation. I had even contacted the boss of Auto-Gyro....
Who wrote back and sent the ball into the hands of the swedish dealer - who now responded.
It went pretty fast - and now I can buy the stuff I need for a large service check of both gyro and engine.
Change all fluids, spark plugs (if needed) oil filter and fuel lines.

Hooraayy Now you can really hate me, Muz....

Cheers and thanx for the encouragement.
Erik

Yay! A happy ending! (no comments Muz!)

Glad it is working out for you!

Sweet! Now get that thing in order and go poke holes in the sky!
Happy for you Erik!!!!!

Good news and bad news...

Good news - the rotor is ok and it's the same (Auto-Gyro type 1) as the one used by Norman Surplus in his MT-03 travelling around the world right now.

Bad news - one propeller blade has delaminated from the foam inside. Just on the flat side, not leading or trailing edge, but still.

So right now I am looking at new propellers...

A 68" Bolly Brolga Magnum looks nice, light and not too expensive.

Any other nice propellers? Our chairman has a new set of blades for my Auto-Gyro HTC,
but I don't like the possibility of delamination.

Cheers
Erik

What brand of propeller is on there currently?
I know that Tango had issues with the Luga prop, (formerly Kievprop)
They switched to the Russian Aero prop.
Just an example, the Kool, Aerolux, Kiev, all use the same center hub, so if you can find out what kind of prop you have you may be able to just buy blades, and save money by not having to buy a new hub. Just sayin"
for instance: https://www.airtrikes.net/propellers.shtml

Hi Scott.

It's a HTC 3 blade. Standard on Auto-Gyro.

Our chairman has a set of 3 blades, he'll sell me for close to US$1000.

But I'm not quite happy to buy a product that has already let me down.

Being , the Bolly Magnum looks like a good choice.

The Warp drive propeller is very sturdy, but probably heavier (harder on the gearbox) and noisier.

Cheers
Erik