Single Place-Deluxe G2 Update!

The end of last week and the first part of this week was and has been crazy busy...meaning we did not get much done on the Single Place-Deluxe G2.  Because this is a group project, it has to find its way into the schedule as time allows.   ...and time did not allow for much.  

Well, today was the first day that Jimmie "O" had the time to get back on the project. Hopefully Don will be able to make a stab at it tomorrow too.  I know that Jeremy has been working on (at least discussing) the electrical harness. Because this frame is going to have a ROTAX 503, we don't have a harness for this chassis and engine combination. No big deal, we will just use/modify a 582 harness; there isn't that much difference between the two engines. Drop the coolant wire/sensor and we are there....

The next step is for the surrounds to go on.  Then we will put up the Rotor Head/Pre-rotator/Brake assembly.  Then it won't be long and we will be ready for the Air Worthiness Inspection.....and Bingo, we will all be flying this G2!

Can't wait to fly this one too!

K-A-S-H: Good Flying Habits Made Simple!

Learning to fly requires a person to understand new concepts that are often foreign to our prior experience.  This is even more true when flying a Gyroplane because the type has different assets and liabilities than other aircraft types. For Fixed Wing guys, the rotary wing creates an environment that is kind of like like a helicopter but kind of flies like a fixed wing. It takes time to get comfortable in every type of aircraft; that goes for the Gyroplane too. 

For me, there is one acrostic that has helped me put things  into focus for many, many years and has really helped me learn new material quickly. That acrostic is K-A-S-H: Knowledge, Attitude, Skills & Habits.  I have used it for years...it is a "Building Blocks" approach.   

Here is how it works: 

1. The deeper your Knowledge is on the topic, the more it improves your foundation on the material you are trying to learn.  What happens when you don't study and only show up for the test?  You likely fail. Why should learning to fly get a pass on this?  I have friends that started "working on" their Pilot's License years ago but would not discipline themselves enough to study for the Written Exam. You have to have the necessary Knowledge to get all the way through the process.  Knowing how to fly or why things fly will only get you so far. There is more...

2. Attitude is the next critical component.  It is this element that provides you with the spirit to learn (or not learn) the material.  If your attitude is one that believes the material is too hard and requires a rocket scientist (...and you don't happen to work for NASA) then you are probably not going to do well without an attitude check. Flying is not hard, it is a process and a good "I can do this given enough time and attention attitude" goes a long way. 

3. The next component is Skills.  Skill boils down to practice, practice and more practice or just plain doing it long enough to get good at it.  When I fly, I practice my Skills all the time so that I remain a safe and solid pilot.  I don't do this because I have nothing else to do, I do it because of the next and last element.  

4. The last and final part is Habit.  Knowledge of the problem, a good Attitude in approaching the problem, a Skill set that has been honed are all of "worth less" (not "worthless" here) if they have not become a solid Habit.  When you have to be on top of your game,  a split second can be so critical.  It is at this point that you need the best "HABIT" you can get your hands on.  I have talked to pilots that have never had an engine out....and because of that haven't practiced emergency procedures since the week they got their license years ago.  What a shame! What do you think is going to happen when the "problem" occurs.  You are right....they are going to be behind the game looking and wishing they had been more diligent about EXCELLENCE in their flying habits. 

What am I suggesting? I am suggesting that on every flight, you build on your knowledge, have a good attitude, keep mastering the necessary skills and by all means make the best  habits that come back to you...without even thinking about it! When you do this, you will be absolutely prepared (...as best as humanly possible) when you have to be EXCELLENT at flying. 

Have you practiced engine outs lately?

Begin today!

HoneyBee Single Place-Deluxe G2: End Of Week Update!

I have posted before about finding a flying buddy. Generally I mean getting involved with someone so that each can cheer the other one on in the process of getting their/your training going; often times most people have started and just need to finish the process. If you will do this you will make a friend for life.

We (at HoneyBee G2) are doing just that by "group building" the Single Place-Deluxe G2 shown here.  Fundamentally, it is our goal for  everyone who works here to fly a Gyroplane or at the very least be in the process of becoming a rated Gyroplane Pilot. Group building this G2 is proving to be  an excellent way to rally everyone around that goal. 

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, this particular G2 is getting all the options we offer for the light Single Place frames.  Namely, Surrounds, Deluxe Pod, ICOM A210 COM Radio, a GARMIN GTX 327 Transponder and a GARMIN 196.  With this kind of equipment, our staff/students/pilots can log long cross-country flights and if desired could acquire a Private Pilot Gyroplane Rating later in the craft.  The primary differences are  Night Flight requirements, a few  longer cross-country flights and the requirements for Controlled Air Space experience.  

For those staff members that want to...it will be fun to contact Grand Rapids Approach and request approach clearance to 26R... With an airspeed of 55 - 60 MPH, no doubt they will have to "fit one into the schedule".  I remember the days when I was working on my Controlled Air Space requirements for my Private Pilot License.  Around West Michigan that means Class C Airspace in Grand Rapids.  In my case, the tower was great at "fitting me in" flying a Cessna 172....when Lear and Citation Jets are inbound to the same runway at 150 knots.  There were times when I had to hold my cruise air speed (105 knots) right down to the numbers, get stopped and get off the runway as soon as possible. Getting in and working inside the system is a great and wonderful experience. 

No doubt, getting into Grand Rapids with this G2 will be equally exciting and will require flying at "max-cruise speed" (or more) right to the numbers! What a great experience that will Bee!

Have a great weekend!

Survey Comments!

Good Morning!

Thank you for the comments!  Mark was the first to point out  that "break/breaks", though spelled correctly, should have been "brake/brakes"... LOL on that one!  Thanks Mark!

If you have not contributed your "formal comment" yet I invite you to do that by clicking on this link: Submit A Formal Comment. Please make your voice heard; it is greatly appreciated!

Have a great day! 

SAFETY SURVEY: Update

Good Morning!

Back in May of this year, I posted a request for your help to be part of a "formal" Safety Survey led by Jim Stephenson of Aero Sports Connection. The project was entitled Light-Weight Gyroplane Survey and your response was excellent!  Thank you again from all of us that love and fly Ultralight Gyroplanes. 

So what else can you do? Now that a formal submission has been compiled and formally submitted to the FAA for their consideration, I am asking you to go this link and submit your "formal comments". To do that, just click this link: Submit A Formal Comment.  If you would like to read the document that was submitted to the FAA, just click here: FAA Safety Survey Document.

This is our collective opportunity to comment on matters that are important to all of us, especially those that fly Ultralight Gyroplanes.  The more comments we make, the more we can assist those that will make the final ruling on these matters. Ultralight Gyroplanes need to be properly equipped with all of the necessary safety items too that make the Gyroplane such a safe flying machine.  

Thank you for making a difference!

New Single Place-Deluxe G2 Begins!

Good afternoon!

When we sent the airframes to Brazil, there was one  Yamaha Blue G2 MicroLight in the group that was absolutely beautiful. In fact, it was a MicroLight just like I would love to have! It had a ROTAX 582, 14 gallons of fuel, 24V pre-rotator,  the big wheels/tires/brakes, etc, etc.... It will be a great machine for one of our friends in Brazil!  

"Chiming" in on that sentiment, it is not everyday that we get to "group build" an aircraft that that does more  than just get shipped out the door. In the picture above is one that is being "group built" by our guys.  Jimmie is doing some wrenching, Jeremy will build the harness for the 503 harness, I will twist some wrenches once in awhile, Don is going to supervise and make sure that the Builders Log gets filled out.  Our reason for building this aircraft  is to get our guys into a great time-builder aircraft; there is nothing like a G2 MicroLight with 14 Gallons of gas to do that.  

To make it an even better time builder, we are adding a few extras. This Single Place-Deluxe G2 (Fomally known as the MicroLight G2) will additionally have:  

1. The Surround/Arm Rest Option that also comes with the floor
2. The Deluxe Instrument Pod with the Garmin 196, ICOM A210 and the Garmin GTX 327 Transponder so that we can fly into Kent County Airport/Class "C" Airspace. Won't that be hoot! 
3. This frame is going to get a ROTAX 503/46 HP engine installed.  It was a very low-time engine that Tom Taylor redid for me. Overall, the company has about $1,100 in the engine. The 503 is a great engine; wish they were still available. 

More on this Beautiful little G2 next week!

Have a great Holiday!

Exhaust Update

Good afternoon to all of you!

I can't believe that the days are getting shorter and the nights colder. Over the last eight weeks we have so busy attending to business matters, interviewing and hiring staff and making small adaptations of the G2 Line for commercial applications that the Summer has slipped away.  

And now to the point of this post... The Exhaust Update! The game of Baseball is not usually won with home runs. More likely it is won with consistent hits that push players routinely around the diamond.  Don't get me wrong, home runs are nice, but generally the game is won or lost based on hits and RBI's.  When it comes to aircraft design, small hits will consistently produce a continuous improvement on the overall product. Sometimes this means that a working portion of the product that is okay for the time being will get you down the road far enough until you can come back to it and make another "hit" improving the effort even more. In the case of the exhaust, it has been one small hit after another that has finally won the game for the exhaust. I am pleased to tell you that the 2PT exhaust (after roughly six versions) is perfect in spite of the fact that it is almost a complete flow through...and it is QUIET!  It is so quiet that you only hear the rotor blades on the inbound leg to the airport and the exhaust noise on the outbound leg from the airport....until you pull back the power to cruise settings. At cruise, the engine noise is diffused away...it is really cool.  

We have had this exhaust on different airframes this summer and will be testing it again with a completely new ECM Map and prop set-up over the next month for an undisclosed customer. I will post more "data" on this when we have it compiled.  For those that have read this post to this point, know that we have had a major effort underway this Summer to eliminate rotor blade noise too. When the patents are filed and the blades are "perfected" we will go public with all of data on the "flying noise" of the aircraft...silence is golden and patents keep it that way!

Quiet is good! 

Summer Updates

Good afternoon to all of you! It has been a long, yet great Summer. Between the heat, the lessons and the drought, I will never forget this Summer.

To bring everybody up to speed, here is a laundry list of updates to share with you: 

1. If you are going to one of the upcoming Summer Shows, HoneyBee G2 will not be at Air Venture 2012/Oshkosh or the PRA Convention at Mentone.  If you were on the rides list, we will do what we can do to get you rescheduled for another time. 
2. Paul Rogers Update: A review of the accident occurred on July 5, 2012. We too are waiting on a formal report to be released by those that were part of this process.  Thanks for your support.
3. Based on the feedback from those that have ridden with me over the Spring and Summer, the 2PT Revision C Frames  have been given a 12" stretch to the passenger  area. 
4. The Folding Mast works like a dream; 94" folded. Option will also be available on the SP-HP and MicroLight. 

We will have more updates coming to you soon. Thanks for tracking with us.

Take care,

36 Volt Pre-rotator UPDATE

Good Morning! 

For those of you that were at Bensen Days, you saw the first iteration of the 36V Pre-rotator. It worked okay but I had to "baby" it because the motor put out so much torque that it over powered the original mount style.


Once we got home, the new, much stronger and better looking mount (shown) was installed on N421RB and I am happy to report to you that it is working marvelously.  Static performance is good and capable of 120 - 130 RPM's. The soft start is as good as any other electric pre-rotator we have designed to date.  


I will have more information on this part of the total system as get deeper into the summer!


Have a great day!

Engine Oil Pump Vs. Oil Mixing

Great Question From Bob...

Hi Bob!

The MZ 202 is a 50/1 gas to oil mix. In other words, 50 ounces of gas to 1 ounce of oil. The net of that is 13 ounces of oil for 5 gallons of gas. Simple once you have done it a few times.

Currently there aren’t any engines available on the market (that will work for us) that have an automatic oil mixing system.  When we used to purchase (back in the late 1990's) ROTAX 447 & 503 engines with oil pumps, guys would take the pumps off and go with Premixing their gas for assurance that it was being done right. 

I have had it both ways (including years of riding   dirt bikes with and without pumps) and I prefer mixing the gas and oil myself.  If I do it, I know that it has been done correctly; I have never had a problem premixing.  On the other hand, I have seized engines (on my dirt bikes/CAN-AM MX2 250cc) with oil an pump because the material in the filter broke down and clogged the oil line to the pump thus starving my  engine of the necessary oil it needed. When the happened, it didn't just seize, it welded..... When it comes to flying, my preference is to premix….

Hope that helps!