Sport Pilot and Rotorcraft

By Ed Downs

So, here we are, already in February, with this issue of In Flight USA looking into the exciting topic of helicopters. To be sure, vertical flight has long excited those seeking to defy gravity. In fact, one of our first true aeronautical engineers, Leonardo DaVinci, designed an “air screw” that forecasted principles we use today in modern helicopters. The fact is DaVinci’s machine would have been capable of an autrotative decent, although the landing might have been just a bit bumpy!

The DaVinci design does, however, remind us that helicopters are not the only type of “rotorcraft” out there. A flying machine that is generically referred to as gyroplane by the FAA is another form of rotorcraft that has been on the aviation scene since the late 1920s. Essentially, the rotors of a gyroplane (often referred to as an autogyro) are unpowered. Their rotation is caused by airflow that results from moving the gyroplane through the air with an engine/propeller combination that is attached to the airframe, much like a pusher or tractor airplane. It is the gyroplane that gives us the Sport Pilot/rotorcraft connection.