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Comment by BasilPH | Hacker News Reader

> You don't really want to fly them in the rain - erodes rotor and propellor

I'm intrigued, could you elaborate on why this is different from what happens with a helicopter or a plane in the rain?

I believe it's exactly the same problem as with a helicopter. Blade speeds near the tip can be pretty high, so rain can damage some materials. It's apparently not much of an issue with alloy blades, more of a thing with composites. I suspect it's more of a price issue -- gyrocopters are trying to hit a different price point than most helicopters.

Also, plenty of gyrocopter pilots fly in the rain.

> Also, plenty of gyrocopter pilots fly in the rain.

Indeed. I think it's just a question of shortening the life of the rotor a bit.

Another problem is visibility. We had to land in a hurry at the end of my lesson on Monday due to rain arriving at the airfield. I fly a Magni M16 which is an open cockpit and it was quite hard to see with the rain on the windscreen and my visor. There are no wipers or anything to help with that (like you might have on a fixed wing). I don't have the comparable experience in the closed cockpit aircraft though (e.g. Magni M24), so that may be better anyway.

Isn't that what polyurethane helicopter tape is for?

I don't actually know. Some of it is to do with the material they're made of. Some gyros have an aluminium rotor and some composite - the aluminium ones are happier in the rain. It's possible something similar applies to the prop.

I'd imagine that at the speeds that the tips are spinning each droplet of water is almost like a little bullet hitting the rotor due to surface tension /ArmchairPhysics

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