AR-1 Gyroplane Rotorhead Assembly - Part 1 of 2 

It's just because I wanted to. Why the heck not :). Nah. One side roll is favored due to torque and on the other side roll is opposed by the prop torque. So you need a little help on one side versus the other

What angle exactly do you mean? The fixed pitch of the rotor blades? That is set by the clamping machined straps from hub bar to blade. The machining has to be quite close and precise on the hub bar and the clamping parts. If there is a tiny bit of difference, that is taken care of by rotor track and balancing using a multi-axis balancer but that has to be done by flying on the specific machine. We use PB4 balancer. You have to also know what to do with it not just buy the equipment.

25 to 30 years ago there were some plans that did that. I do not know much about them

Those bolts can handle over 60 G's. You should be more worried about the Aluminum structure the bolts go into. They will break before the bolts. But I understand all people who don't know always worrying about the bolts instead. The largest danger in all aircraft is always the bolt that drives the aircraft. That one breaks apart really quickly. Biggest failure point :)

@@silverlightaviation I totally believe you but an airplane wing with more than one bolt holding a wing on I would think could possibly keep flying if one worked out or failed. Those bolts in the wing are static and not spinning like on a gyro. I know they have keepers, but still. And many planes have ballistic parachutes on board, especially LSA. On the gyros it just seems to me that there are maybe 4 bolts or more in a rotor head that if one failed its goodbye. One would think that the bolt surely is strong enough to handle the G loading or any other stresses. But what if it was manufactured with a crack or void internally. I am not sure if they are magnetic particle inspected. Just saying is all. The other thing is the bearing or bearings in the rotor hub assembly. Are they monitored for heat like maybe a helicopter. What if one of the bearings got hot and scorched and it froze up. I use to farm and big combines would burn a bearing up every so often and throw a drive shaft. When u take the plastic or carbon body off of the gyros they just don't seem like much is all to me and don't seem redundant in some ways. I would love to see testing on them and strength numbers. I would love to buy and own one once properly trained. Maybe I am paranoid, but man they just seem fragile for having all of that rotor spinning and experiencing Gs under load on that little square tube going to the top with two little ears to hold a bolt and hold the assembly on. I am sure the hardware is aircraft grade stuff. Maybe you can chime back please so I can learn. Thanks

​@@user-ev2qo1hj1g There are bolts and pins in many airplane wings that if one broke, you are pretty much done. So you should never fly a Cessna 152, 172, 182, Searey, RV12 and many others. You just do not see them because they are hidden away and only checked on an annual inspection if that. At least in gyroplanes and trikes they are right there for you to inspect. Aircraft use AN hardware which follows DOD military spec. The difference is precision and quality control compared to regular hardware. Otherwise grade 5 SAE hardware is just as strong, though thread sizes are longer.

@@silverlightaviation Thanks for the reply and I have to agree, you are right. I never though about the easy inspection aspect and the grade 5 stuff is great. Never new that about the thread sizes. Thanks for responding back so I can understand. I want to get into a gyro now. I just moved to Fl so I am in a good state for that.

@@user-ev2qo1hj1g You are in one of the best states in the US for light aircraft flying including gyroplane flying. There is GFTA gyrocopter Flight Training Academy in Sebastian, FL. There is Raul Salazar in Valkaria, FL. There is me at Zephyrhills airport near Tampa. There is Greg Spicola at Tampa North Aeropark in Land O Lakes, FL. Nothing in Miami. There is also a flight school in Pensacola (well technically Alabama but just across the border). There are about 12 AR-1 gyroplanes just around the Tampa Bay region

This is for people who assemble our AR-1 kit and this is what they would do to assemble the rotor head. If you are not an owner of the AR-1 kit, you may be looking for some info here then I am sorry that you won't find it