The J-2 was never intended to do jumps. It will pre-spin ito 125% of flight rpm, and a short roll (often only 50 to 100 feet) to get a bit of translational airspeed is expected. It uses the same rotor design as the Hughes 269 / Schweizer 300 (with the twist removed from the blades) and that’s not massive enough to store a great deal of energy.

The A&S 18A was designed with jumps in mind, and it works extremely well. It has three heavy blades that turn about 240 rpm in flight. By pre-spinning them to 370 rpm on the ground in flat pitch, you store enough energy to leap up when pitch is quickly added. Pitch-cone coupling automatically reduces the collective pitch as the rpm bleeds down, and with full thrust through the prop you get flight airspeed quickly. Here’s a link to a video of me doing a take-off with a VERY short roll that will show how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5cAgWmShU

There’s really no need for an “auto” maneuver in the helicopter sense, because gyros are in autorotation all the time, and have no transition issues or need for rapid pilot action in the event of a power failure. You always climb, cruise, and land in autorotation, and if the noise quits, there’s much less drama than a helicopter; you just glide to a landing with NO configuration change at all. I tease other rotary wing pilots that I get hours of auto time whenever I fly it, while they can only accumulate auto time at a rate more like 20 seconds per approach. Gyros are not terribly efficient, but the certified ones are easy to fly, mechanically simple, very safe, and plenty of fun.

Yes, I got my Gyro CFI rating with John Potter and Don Farrington long ago. Too bad those guys and that place are gone now.

Wheels are not ALWAYS the best–I’ve flown the Bell 222 on wheels–short run-on landings are certainly easier than a landing from a hover due to the long strut travel. Just when you think your landing from a hover is going to be good, one strut, then the other collapses, resulting in a wobbling touchdown.

Skids are certainly not the cure-all–I’ve hooked skids in brush, and had them slide sideways under crusty snow–a real chance for dynamic rollover.

John Stark–the instructor wouldn’t even try a jump takeoff in the J-2–it was summertime, and both of us were over 220 pounds. How well does it work? I can only imagine popping 25′ into the air, and depending on attaining translational lift to keep you aloft before running out of rotor RPM! What are your feelings about gyroplane autos vs. helicopter? With your gyro experience, did you ever do any flying at Farrington’s in Paducah?

I also owned a 1972 McCulloch J-2, a wheeled rotorcraft as mentioned above. It had a single steerable nose wheel. The Air & Space 18A certified gyroplane that I operate now has a (stiff) castering front wheel. Although the 18A can do jump take-offs with no roll at all, rolling a few feet on landing is common, and these aircraft can’t hover taxi, so wheels are the obvious answer.

Skid gear is easy to get stuck in weeds, snow, or brush, causing a dynamic rollover.

Autorotations on skids can lead to a rollover if a skid digs into the ground.

In contrast, I flew a McColloch certified gyroplane. I didn’t like it, but I DID LIKE the wheeled gear. Every landing was like an airplane–simply flare for landing and let it settle in, with a minimum rollout. How much better was that for autorotations than the need to either find a smooth and level place to land–or to kill off all forward speed before touching down. The wheeled gear is easier and safer–one of the reasons that most corporate helicopters have gone back to wheels. I would do in in a minute on my Enstrom