Gyro-boating, A New Sport

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29390, 17 December 1960, Page 5

Gyro-boating, A New Sport

year boating enthusiasts in Canterbury should not be surprised if they see the extraordinary spectacle of a boat soaring high above the water with a helicopter-like blade whirring above the pilot's head. This new, and revolutionary pleasure craft, the gyro-boat, will be introduced by the New Brighton Power Boat Club. Simple in design, the gyroboat will be about 12ft long with a rotosail—a rotor mounted on top of an aluminium mast—clamped on to the boat. To achieve flight, it will be towed by a motor boat with a nylon rope.

The New Brighton Power Boat Club intends to build the craft entirely within its own circles and if several difficulties in connexion with the manufacture of certain components are. overcome, the club hopes to have the craft airborne at a regatta next season-

Originally made by the Bensen Aircraft - Corporation, United States, the gyro-boat is an adaption of the corporation’s wellknown helicopter-glider. The sport in the United States has become increasingly popular over the last few years and heights of more than 1000 ft have been achieved. Light Hulls The original gyro-boat was designed around a standard 12ft 48in beam Cartopper fishing boat but almost any small boat weighing up to 2001 b can be used. But the lighter the boat, the better the performance. The speed at which the gyroboat becomes airborne is approximately 20 miles per hour, airspeed. This means that if it is being towed into a 15 miles per hour wind, the towing boat would only need to travel at 5 miles per hour for the craft to take off

Visions will probably come to mind of the gyro-boat out of control. spinning to its doom, if the tow rope should happen to break Flight safety is extremely high, however.' As the lift is derived from a helicopter-type rotor, the machine will not stall, spin, or go out of control as a fixed wing plane does. Even if the tow boat's speed is suddenly reduced the rotor will continue to rotate and provide lift Rotor blades are driven automatically by force of wind whether the machine is flying forward or descending. This is called autorotation, similar to the principle used in the modem helicopter when its engine

stops. When the rotor is in motion the pilot cannot stop it. Simple controls, similar to those in the helicopter, enable the pilot to make banks and turns with ease. Climb and descent are regulated by forward and backward movements of the control stick and the pilot can land at will at a gentle seven miles an hour. Although the gyro-boat is, in fact, a flying machine, no pilot's licence is required so long as the machine remains attached to the tow boat

The rotor is made primarily ot two plywood blades shaped in airfoil form with a steel spar running between the middle of the blades. The rotor is attached to the mast by a rotor head containing ball bearings and flight controls. A control stick which hangs from the rotor head is equipped with a pair of handgrips, much the same as the handle bars on a bicycle. The mast is a two-inch tube of aluminium and it is held to the boat by three stainless steel cables.