Gyros in towplanes

[Asher Carmichael]

Gyros were mentioned this past weekend at the Clover Creek aerotow trials. I have no experience in this area but was informed that there are tug pilots who now use them and swear by them.
So, if you use them, what brands do you use, what do you see in the way of benefits and what axis are affected and what settings are employed if applicable.
Thanks

[Xroadie]

While I was at the HH Aerotow....I brought up that very subject to a couple people. I can think of many advantages to using them. Heck...they allow them in scale contests like Top Gun. They do not fly the model...they just smooth things out. Nothing wrong with that during a tow.....especially high up! BTW.....I can think of a few people that I have towed, that I wish had 3-axis gyros on their sailplanes

The options are single axis gyros...like JR and Powerbox make....I'm sure there are others. Powerbox also makes a variety of 3-axis units as well. Obviously the best way to go if you want more than just an aileron or elevator gyro would be one of the Powerbox 3-axis Gyros.

[lenb]

Asher, like Peter said, this was the topic of discussion at dinner one night. Rick Shelby was telling us about the gyro setup in his Pawnee.
The one he was using was the Powerbox i-gyro it's a three axis system, easy to use and quite compact.
After hearing all the good reports on this unit I went ahead and ordered one. The unit came right from Germany and I saved almost $100 on it. The setup in my H9 Decathlon was pretty straight forward, although it took a little while to get everything the way I wanted it. Sometimes the geeky stuff slows me down, but in the end it took about 2 hours.
At the field , final calibration was set and double checked. Since you can have three separate flight modes, (off- ). (on - wings and elev dampening) and heading hold
You can set the amount of dampening you desire, so the options are endless. It flew great and makes the tows rock solid and perfect with no feeling of control loss
I highly recommend it if you tow a lot and especially if the wind is kicking.

Len

[Xroadie]

Len....did you get the iGyro SRS or the iGyro 3e ? I remembered Rick mentioning them, but was unsure of which unit to get. I am about to set up a H9 Pawnee as first tug for a friend and was thinking of installing one.

[AGriffith]

I've done reviews of several gyro systems and a couple of setup articles for jets.

The Demon Aero Cortex and iGyro are top of the class. The Aura shows promise and its 80 dollars or so making it cost less than the other two but they have some growing pains right now. The SRS is the high end that uses a GPS input so that the more speed the less gain (the faster the control surface is flying the more effective it is etc)

In a tow plane application I would say the 3e is probably best. The heading hold mode releases as soon as you move a stick and its only in elevator/aileron axis so that the plane doesn't drag the tail in turns.

Heading hold mode on the Cortex is for 3D and would be useless in a tow application but the normal mode is quite impressive.

Both the Cortex and the IGyro have computer interfaces, you can adjust the gain per axis, and are solid performing units. They are also the least obtrusive, as in, if you didn't know there was a gyro in there you probably wouldn't tell by just flying it.

Both the Cortex and IGyro are easy to install and take minutes to set up and can be tweaked to suit your taste within just a few flights.

My favorite gyro story: It was the last day of Joe Nall 2014, Sunday morning and pretty windy. Danny from DemonAero was flying his Big Foot just doing touch and go landings and putting around. An old guy walks up behind us and asks him if that plane has a gyro. Danny says "yes, it's a Demon Cortex". The guy says "well that's just cheating". Danny asks the guy "why aren't you flying?" and the fellow replies "Well it's too windy"

[Xroadie]

In a tow plane application I would say the 3e is probably best.

I was thinking the same thing about the 3e being more suitable for a tug....along with it being $150 cheaper than the SRS

[AGriffith]

SRS is cool but thats for jets with a wide speed envelope where you need a lot of gain when it slows down and gets the gear and flaps out, and very little when its going fast.

[ingrahal]

My 1/4 scale Decathlon yaws left at slow speeds due to prop wash so I put an old Futaba GY401 heading hold gyro in it. It works great and holds the tug straight down the runway on takeoffs.

[lenb]

Hi Asher.
I went with the SRS, it has the screen built in.
I'm certainly happy with it, but it was pricey. The 3e may be a better option. I didn't get the GPS option though. I felt no need for it.

LEN

[jfrickie]

I use the thumb gyro myself...............




sorry..couldn't resist.....

[Asher Carmichael]

Thanks for all the input guys.

[Xroadie]

I have been at Illini Jets, in Monticello for the last three days.....several jets are flying with iGyro 3e, including a huge 1/3 scale F86. There were four of them in the raffle...and I won one!! Yippee...that made my decision easy

Pete

[Swiss1]

I too was at the Horizon Jet's event to pick up a plane and was also fortunate enough to win an IGyro 3e.
It may get installed in the Porter this week before Winamac if time allowes
There will be a thread on the Porter shortly due to a little malfunction and Pete has some pictures

Jeremy and Ben
SCCAAA TT TN

[Xroadie]

There will be a thread on the Porter shortly due to a little malfunction and Pete has some pictures

Jeremy and Ben
SCCAAA TT TN

Yeah...they opened up the throttle a little too much, on a pass with the Turbo Porter on it's second test flight....Jeremy has a little glueing to do!!!

[Tom]

Can you get CA in 55gal drums??????

[AGriffith]

Oh my.......