I'm busy reading Winds of Destruction, the autobiography of Rhodesian pilot Group Captain (Retd) Peter Petter-Bowyer who played a major role in the development of visual air reconnaissance as a highly effective way of tracking and locating hidden enemy camps during the Rhodesian War.
The following comment is interesting:
"For a long time I had been interested in building a tandem-seat aircraft designed for visual reconnaissance. I considered that an ideal recce aircraft had to be very quiet and almost impossible to see when flying at 5000 feet against a clear-sky background.
... Of greatest importance was the need for all round visual freedom of the ground...
I was sent to South Africa's CSIR to explore possibilities... I was shown a gyrocopter that had been built with the express intention of testing CSIR's developmental work in carbon fibre rotor blades. The gyrocopter had an ideal cabin with good visual freedom and if fitted with a paddle bladed propellor and muffled exhausts, it seemed to be the answer to my dreams."
Unfortunately the CSIR's gyrocopter was still in development and months away from completion and the Rhodesian Air Force were left to test the Patchen Explorer instead.
How the history and use of gyrocopters may have been reshaped had the CSIR gyro design been ready for bush war deployment in Rhodesia!
Wat se Wagtail?
Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
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Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
Dave Lehr
Magni Gyro M22 ZU-EPZ
“You're flying Buzz! No Woody we're falling in style!”
Magni Gyro M22 ZU-EPZ
“You're flying Buzz! No Woody we're falling in style!”
- THI
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Re: Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
Was it a Wagtail project with CSIR?
- Tinkerbell
- Nothing beats flying
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Re: Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
Something that I always notice is that the early gyro's were enclosed. Wonder why the movement to open cockpits and now back to enclosed?
The person who says it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
ZU-RKU Zen
ZU-RTM Calidus
http://www.altairaviation.co.za
ZU-RKU Zen
ZU-RTM Calidus
http://www.altairaviation.co.za
- THI
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Re: Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
Maybe a weight problem? With the introduction of carbon fiber the weight could be better manage.Tinkerbell wrote:Something that I always notice is that the early gyro's were enclosed. Wonder why the movement to open cockpits and now back to enclosed?
Thinus Enslin
Potchefstroom (FAPS)
ZU-CML
Sycamore MK1 - Hilux of the gyros
Would love a RV10 though...
Potchefstroom (FAPS)
ZU-CML
Sycamore MK1 - Hilux of the gyros
Would love a RV10 though...
- Tinkerbell
- Nothing beats flying
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Re: Gyro ultimate bush war reconnaissance aircraft?
Maak sin, Thinus.
The person who says it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
ZU-RKU Zen
ZU-RTM Calidus
http://www.altairaviation.co.za
ZU-RKU Zen
ZU-RTM Calidus
http://www.altairaviation.co.za
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