www.PSFmagazine.com | May-June 2019 | 33 32 | May-June 2019 | Powered Sport Flying a FOOTHILL SPORT AVIATION Cameron Park CALIFORNIA WOODS AVIATION Watts Woodland Airport CALIFORNIA LONE STAR MAGNIGYRO Taylor Municipal Airport TEXAS MAGNI FLIGHT LLC Jack Edwards Airport (KJKA) Alabama CAPE COPTERS Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport MISSOURI MAGNI GYRO U.S.A. Perryville Municipal Airport MISSOURI MAKERS OF EXPERIENCE U.S.A. high-quality Italian products, likeMagni gyroplanes, in ITALIAN FLYING TECHNOLOGY MAGNI GYRO s.r.l. - Tel. +39 0331 274816 - Fax+39 0331 274817 - www.magnigyro.com- info@magnigyro.com Support Our Advertisers We taxied to the runway and took off with plenty of cross-wind but the gyroplane fared well. We climbed at more than 4.5 m/s (900 ft/min) with two average guys on board, which is a great performance. The noise level inside the cabin is very low. Stick vibration was noticeable, but not discomforting. After reaching our cruising height of about 2000 feet we traveled over the stunning landscape of the Bay of Plenty. The name tells it all, it is the orchard of New Zealand where all the kiwi fruit, berries and apples come from. You can recognize the plantations surrounded by high hedges to protect the plants from the wind. The Kallithea is very easy and intuitive to fly. The large horizontal stabilizer in the slipstream takes away a lot of the P-factor, the propeller-twisting torque. The rudder requires more force than usual, but I got used to it very quickly. There have been gyroplane accidents, when pilots went into a heavy slip in the direction of the propeller torque. With the clever tail design this effect is minimized; the more throttle you give, increasing torque, the more the rotating slipstream hits the stabilizers and creates a counter torque. The Kallithea shows a very clean and aerodynamic design. All the control elements are well placed and well thought out. It is made out of a steel frame with carbon cabin. The rotor is made by Tendrak, the rotor-head is Niki’s own creation. The rotor-head is operated through two teleflex cables. The instrument pod offers enough space, and at the same time it does not limit visibility. You can literally look past your feet. The 6-blade e-props propeller is said to reduce noise and provides 10% more thrust than the conventional 3-bladed ones tested before. After the preflight check we took our seats, which is easy enough, if you know how. There is a trick for how to best insert yourself behind the stick, while clearing below the door frame. Once inside, you feel like you are sitting in a glass bubble, with 360 degrees visibility. The operation is fairly standard; the only unusual feature is that you engage the prerotator with a foot, like in a Trixy.
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