| There is no doubt that flying can be an expensive | | | | friendly with the average novice pilot being able to |
| hobby. If you are looking to get into aviation on a very | | | | earn their solo certification in around 30 hours of |
| tight budget than I'm afraid you might struggle a bit. | | | | in-flight instruction. After this you will need to log a |
| But if you are looking for the cheapest method of | | | | further 80 hours by yourself in command before you |
| getting up in the air - and maybe even owning your | | | | can take a passenger up flying with you. |
| own aircraft - then you may want to consider looking | | | | The MTO Sport offers around 90% of the functionality |
| at the latest generation of gyroplanes. | | | | of small helicopter with its major limitation in comparison |
| These rotor craft are now at a point where they are | | | | to a chopper being an inability to take off vertically. But |
| one of the safest recreational aviation craft on the | | | | there are things you can do in a modern gyro that |
| market and they have the added advantage of being | | | | simply aren't possibly in a helicopter so this balances |
| cheaper to buy and cheaper to run than pretty much | | | | out. |
| all the other options. | | | | A brand new MTO Sport costs around $87,000AUD. |
| A gyroplane like the Autogyro MTO Sport will burn just | | | | So not only are the operating and maintenance costs |
| 15L an hour of unleaded petrol giving them a range of | | | | well below those of a small helicopter like an R22 - |
| around 4-500km. | | | | they are far cheaper to buy as well. |
| Just like with any other aircraft they require scheduled | | | | Flying an open cockpit gyro is an experience like no |
| maintenance every 100 hours but this will only set you | | | | other. You have all the maneuverability (and more) of |
| back about $400. | | | | a sporty light aircraft, combined with the advantages |
| All up this means your direct operational costs for this | | | | that come with a rotary wing, notably an inability to stall. |
| exciting new aircraft are around $25/hr. Add in things | | | | And the principle of autorotation combined with the |
| like insurance, hangarage and other incidentals and | | | | finest in German engineering gives you an extremely |
| your costs are still well below that of a light aircraft or | | | | safe and reliable aircraft suitable for pilots of all skill |
| a small helicopter. | | | | levels. |
| And to top it all off these aircraft are extremely user | | | | |