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Association guides

Straight answers about an aircraft most people have never seen

Reference material for anyone working out what a gyroplane is, whether it suits them, and what owning one actually involves. Free to read, no account needed, and paid for by the membership.

Where a rule is quoted, the FAA document it comes from is named in the text so you can check it yourself. Regulations change, so treat anything here as a starting point and confirm the current document before you rely on it.

A white gyroplane in flight over open water.

Start here

What a gyroplane actually is, and why the rotor is not powered

The one mechanical idea that separates a gyroplane from every other rotorcraft, and what it means for how the aircraft behaves.

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A red two-seat gyroplane in flight above forest at sunset, photographed from another aircraft whose wing edge is visible at the top of the frame.
A white gyrocopter parked at the edge of a woodland trail, rotor and tail in full view.

Comparison

Gyroplane against helicopter: what each one buys you

Both have a rotor overhead and almost nothing else in common. A direct comparison of hover, autorotation, cost and what each aircraft is actually for.

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Training

How you get rated to fly a gyroplane in the United States

The certificate paths, who can teach you, what the checkride involves, and the practical order to do things in.

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A yellow gyroplane climbing against a clear blue sky.
A red open-cockpit tandem two-seat gyroplane parked on mown grass at an airfield, with a row of white hangars and a treeline behind it.

Technical

Rotor systems, prerotators and the parts that decide how one flies

Teetering heads, blade construction, prerotator types and centre of thrust. The mechanical choices that separate two aircraft that look alike.

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Buying

Buying a used gyroplane without inheriting a hidden problem

What to read in the logbooks, what to look at on the airframe, and the questions that separate a maintained aircraft from a tidy one.

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A white tandem two-seat gyroplane parked on grass at an airfield, seen from the side, with its open cockpit, pusher propeller and twin tail fins visible and a light aircraft in the background.
A red enclosed-cabin gyroplane parked on a grass field with a treeline behind it, rotor blades extended and twin red tail fins.

Ownership

Who is allowed to work on a gyroplane, and who actually can

Certificated, experimental and light-sport aircraft are maintained under different rules. What that means for finding somebody competent.

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These stay free because members pay for them

The guides, the directories and the ground school cost nothing to read and never will. Membership is what funds them.