Xenon Gyro

[Steve_SP]

Hi


A little news - not ZS/ZU specific but the best I can do !

The prototype Xenon XL ( originally registered as SP-XENL ) has been sold onto their dealer out in Singapore.

Another XL ( XL is the 3 seater version ) was delivered to Moscow a couple of months back.

Rare birds these "XL" versions - a few operate in small states in Africa too.


If any of can help I would love to add photos of the following Xenons to my Xenon Gyro Blog

ZU-EWY, RDY, RGA, RGE and RGH - all currently "missing" on my Xenon fleet listing - thank you.


http://xenongyroblog.blogspot.com/



Many Thanks


Cheers


Steve in UK

[whirly]

What is happening on the Xenon front? Why so quiet and two months since the last post here!!??

Any new developments at Xenon? How many now flying here in SA and any on the way?

Whirly.

Have not heard a word yet??

Is FLYNOTE still happy with his new one?? He posted a lot but nothing lately? Any other Xenon owners? Still happy?

Whirly.

[Low Level]

Have not heard a word yet??

Hey Whirly

Why don't you pop into Kitty Hawk tomorrow? MAK and his Xenon - and a lot of other gyros(weather permitting) - will definately be there at the gyro fly-inn. Dunno where Flynote is - he is a bit silent - but he made noises a while ago about buying his third Xenon. Maybe he is in Poland specifying detail - Christmas and all. Presume is happy then with it if buying no.3.

[FLYNOTE]

Im still very much here and reading all everyone has to say. Just have nothing to contribute hence nothing to add. Xenon still the best. and going strong. Spoke to Eric Torr the other day to organise next mpi and mentioned that since the last I have just fuelled up my Xenon, climbed in, fired her up, flew my hour or three, landed, tucked her away again till the next time. Not a single hiccup. Not a stutter. Just pure hassle free joy from one flight to the next. I have flown most other gyros available except Calidus and RAF and my money is still firmly on Xenon for reliability, handling, space and comfort. Love this gyro but then horses for courses hey? Still cant stand the Xenon designer, president, test pilot and his bulldust that I read and hear about every now and then but I love his gyro and the SA agents commitment and excellent support makes Xenon my gyro of choice. Why not number three? Waiting to hear how the new machine compares to mine from other Xenonites. If its only the doors at this stage then Im still hanging on to mine for a while longer.

[Gyronaut]

Down here Joep loves his Xenon, as Cilliers loves his. They are very happy with their choice of machine. Enjoying the experience is what its about. Glad you love your machine Flynote. Good for Xenon.

Flynote, we missed you at the AGM !

[FLYNOTE]

Hei Lennie, I really am spyt to have missed the meet. Am in Constantia just around the corner from Houties and wanted to call you for a dop and a chat but realised that you would be in JHB. Maybe we catch up when Im in Langebaan soon for a MONTH of sailing!!
I have a lekka challenge for you which I think would go down very well on the forum. I noticed Swannies thoughts on tandem vs side by side. You have the most experience and know The what and how of the different machines and their nukke! Wont you give us your honest and unbiased experiences. I agree that side by side expects a little bit more attention from the pilot than a tandem. Jy moet maar wakker slaap soms in situations where the tandem will be more forgiving. You are the best man around for this comparison and I know you will do a super job. We do not have to compare RAF to Xenon, M24 and Calidus anders kry jy weer " so my gyro is k$k hê ?? Lets just hear the boffins thoughts on the differences in piloting the different machines .Go Lennie !!! Looking forward to the read and know that others will find it intersting and enlightening.

[FLYNOTE]

http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/ ... yrocopter/

[Gyronaut]

You flatter me Flynote. I am humbled. Thanks none-the less for the huge compliment. I don't think I would like to get into comparisons. What I would like to do is, when the opportunity presents itself, and someone really wants to know, then I am happy to share my limited experience with other enthusiasts. So here is my [unbiased - honest] experience of the Xenon, thus far.

As Lehrjet says, I have no horse in this race.

There are two beautiful Xenon's operating out of Morningstar and all is well.

Joep has just finished his training and has his licence on his beautiful 'lemoentje' and the other, although for sale, is flying regularly - almost as if the owner won't let go till the last minute.

I had my doubts about the after-factory turbo and I was concerned about the integrity of the overall structure. (Is that mast VAS genoeg?)

My first flight was with flynote from Tedderfield and I am still convinced, to this day, that he set his MGL to Kmh's instead of Mph. The thing was just too quick.

I then did a formal conversion with Johan von Ludwig and still I had these nagging little doubts because he was 'involved' somehow and perhaps he was just a little too biased?

Having spent several hours of instruction in these machines and doing intro/demo flights on them I am pleased to say that they perform beautifully all-round. They are quiet, comfortable, spacious and the chin windows are just fantastic. The instruments and switches are intuitively where they should be. I found it tricky flying from the left seat at first but soon got the hang of it. Fixed wing pilots find this easy. Simply moving the brake lever to the other side remedies this and although I have not flown it solo from the right seat, I doubt it makes much difference to the handling - which side you sit.

Being afraid of rankings I would rate this the Taittinger of the selection.

The simulator had me excited for a moment. When is someone going to develop and perfect an affordable VTOL gyro? The Fairy Rotordyne did it in the 50's, what have we developed in the next 60 years? Not a lot. How? Tip jets I'd say. Where are the engineers among us that can make this happen?

Back to the Xenon... It is not the ideal machine for someone who is lazy on the pedals, you really have to remember that, on landing, the stick takes it to the line and the pedals keep it in the direction of travel -and you must be sharp, but so is any side-by-side.

It appears to require a little more grunt/power in the cruise than other comparable side-by-sides I have flown, but who cares, when you are parking off in your lounge watching the scenery go by?

A VP Prop will remedy this feeling easily.

It is not the most agile machine I have been in when it comes to responsiveness to the controls, but who throws a Maybach around? Give it the dignity it deserves and it responds predictably well.

The only possible concern I still have is that it tends to pitch a little nose-up on a simulated engine failure and it takes quite a while for the airspeed to build back up to the best glide rate. I suspect the CofG is quite far back so it takes a while and during this time you have lost quite a bit of altitude. If you were lower than that 'lost' altitude then you would be in the ground with too little airspeed to round out properly and land - Or you would end up at full power (if you had it), too slow, being forced to round-out - classic behind the power curve situation. Easy remedy to this though is to do a power-check at altitude. Simply pick a safe altitude and cruise setting, (do your HASSEL checks of course), then come right back on the throttle - count 1 (the time it would take - at least - if it really went quiet) then push the stick forward and level out at best glide speed. Check your altitude. The altitude you lost is the lowest you should ever be above a safe landing spot at any given time. (+150ft for wires). Easy really. Remember this will vary on the day depending on pax weight, luggage, fuel and Density Altitude. Why not do it on every flight? Just so you know? Doing it actually gives me peace of mind in any machine on the day.

But I digress. Back to the Xenon.
Why not fit gas struts to the doors in the factory? I don't like the aluminium arms velcro'd to the door. Nah, not stylish enough for the machine. Perhaps the new Xenon doors will rectify this minor issue. I also think the VP Prop will give it a second breath in the cruise.

I can honestly vouch for the fact that it is the closest you will come to a real helicopter at one-tenth of the operational cost!

Lekker machine!

Len

[Gyronaut]

PS, Flynote, I am visiting my GRAND family in Langebaan during the second half of December, hope to see you there.

[Vertical Tango]

Len, I am quite interested to know in what a VP would improve ? I personally do not have any experience in the contraption apart from the "real" aeries when I was flying the Money and Bonanza. There are so many contradictive stories about a VP on a Rotax 914. I do not like to believe outright those who sell it. The way a ground adjustable prop is set is for optimum performance on take-off. Obviously on cruise we have different parameters. By changing the pitch for cruise, yes the RPM would drop for the same IAS, but what would happen to the fuel flow ? Some say it is lower, but I have my doubts on that. Can you share you experience ?

[FLYNOTE]

Thanks Lennie. Told you you know your stuff. I would like to see a more general writeup on the different piloting techniques when comparing tandem to side by side. You were very kind to Xenon in your post. It can demand a routine on those rudder pedals similar to 'trapping' a bicycle uphill in 6th gear if you suddenly cut the power on landing. Its amazing what airflow over the rudders does to the controls of this machine and how it affects your handeling of the gyro. Tandem is very forgiving.
I aggree with ' grunt' down at the coast. Up here I find the Xenon performing better than at sealevel could it be the effect of the thicker air on the long rotor causing more drag? Just a thought. Not a good thought... But a thought. I have flown in gaggles with all sorts of gyros and have had to push to keep up with especially tandems. When they are cruising at 5200 rpm 31 " mp, I am gooing kole at 5400rpm and 38" mp and never get the opportunity to wave anyone goodbye .The bigger cabin does demand a payoff when it comes to speed. I find that even the 24 has a slight edge of a few knots but for me the space and comfort is a fair trade off.
Yes she does pitch up on taking power away suddenly. Also yaws slightly and as with any craft you need to be aware of this and prepared for it if the situation pops up. Part and parcel of the conversion to the gyro. If you suddenly one day experience a strange behaviour in the nature of the animal, you did not really know the animal that well.
Gooi some more for us Lennie. I am so looking forward to seeing you in Langebaan. Love to see the ' common' Kloppers again. Dave might be in the lagune with his trimaran and we may meet up?
O yes JP, Im not such a fan of Constant pitch props. If you fly from sealevel to 12000 ft on a regular basis , yes. But for us spending most of our time between 5000 and 6500 I don't know? My last two Magnis had VP props which I kept selected off and just tweaked if i had a reasonable change in altitude during flight. On take off , yes, there it's a joy to have that extra clout you get from a slightly finer pitch setting. otherwise I shy away at cost, extra weight and fickleness/ constant maintanance.
Its raining. Damnn. Wanted to see the sunrise over the city of gold from 6000 but no can do this morning. Wilco tomorrow. Don't we all have a fantastic hobby to enjoy, a great bunch of guys and gals to share it with and the lekka toys to match. I can never stop thinking how priviledged we are.

[mak]

they are cruising at 5200 rpm 31 " mp, I am gooing kole at 5400rpm and 38" mp

Johan, apparently they measure the MAP in a different position on the Xenon and will therefor show 3" more than on the other gyros. This time of the year your reading is about the same as what we get. Due to this hard work and a lot of speculation about the "untested" RST engine I am glad that my 200 hour oil test that Ozgyro did came back very positive.

Whirly

Which gyros have you test flown so far?

[Learjet]

they are cruising at 5200 rpm 31 " mp, I am gooing kole at 5400rpm and 38" mp

Due to this hard work and a lot of speculation about the "untested" RST engine I am glad that my 200 hour oil test that Ozgyro did came back very positive.

Mak, as one of the people that initially voiced my concern about Rotax's "non-approval" of the RST aftermarket mod I'm very pleased and relieved to hear that my concerns may well have been unfounded. I hope that the RST will continue to prove it's performance and reliability.

[FLYNOTE]

Marius yes, I take a mp reading off the airbox digitally and one off the manifold anologue. The airbox reading is normally 2 " higher than manifold.
I have never had the slightest stutter on my previous or present RST. But then lets see after 1000 hrs. Have'nt picked up anything from elsewhere apart from the gearbox problems a few years back. Braam, any reports lately on RST? Any news on the Yamaha powerplant for Xenon?

[Gyronaut]

Len, I am quite interested to know in what a VP would improve ? ...

Please go and take a read on the SAGPA site, http://www.kwikwap.co.za/sagpasa/docs/C ... llers.docx

and also see
http://www.kwikwap.co.za/sagpasa/docs/V ... ellers.pps

... if you want as much dope as I have immediately at hand on VP's.

In summary, during flight the pitch is set (either automatically or manually) to optimise the amount of thrust for the given airspeed. It follows therefore that the less energy the engine has to deliver, the less fuel it uses, for sure. This is like having a bigger tank on board when it comes to duration.

The down side is that it adds to the pilot workload, it may fail - rendering further powered flight impossible (which can spoil your day) or you mess up and set it too course (severe engine damage) or too fine (overspeed). The perfect balance is exactly midway between these two extremes during flight.

Flynote, why dont you take JP for a circuit so he can fiddle with it (the VP I mean) and see for himself before he makes up his mind.

Bonne volants

Len