Low-Level Turn and Uncommanded Roll
You are at 600 ft AGL in calm air, turning crosswind at 45 degrees of bank at 55 kt. As you increase bank toward 60 degrees to tighten the turn, you feel the control lighten and the nose drop; the slip/skid indicator shows a skid toward the outside of the turn. You apply aft pressure and a touch of inside rudder. The rotor rpm reads slightly low and the airframe begins a gentle buffet. You are downwind of a tree line and the field boundary is 300 m ahead.
1. Explain what is happening aerodynamically and what the correct recovery sequence is.
Read the worked answer
The gyroplane is approaching a low-G / unloaded-rotor condition. In a steep turn, adding inside rudder while reducing back pressure yaws the aircraft and unloads the disc; the rotor rpm decays because the disc is seeing less airflow at a high angle of attack. The skid indication confirms the nose is yawing away from the flight path, which is exactly the setup for a slip-roll coupling and possible torque roll in some types.
Recovery: (1) unload the turn - reduce bank toward 30 degrees; (2) centralise or apply slight outside rudder to stop the skid; (3) smoothly apply aft cyclic to reload the disc and restore rotor rpm; (4) add power to regain energy and arrest the sink; (5) do not snatch the controls, which can stall the tail or over-flare the rotor.
The buffet and low rpm are the warning. At 600 ft AGL you have limited height, so the recovery must be positive and immediate, not a gentle experiment.
2. What would you do differently if the buffet continued after the initial correction?
Read the worked answer
If buffet persists after unloading and reloading, suspect that rotor rpm has decayed further than indicated or that you are in a developing torque roll. Priorities change to: reduce power if the type is prone to torque roll in low-G (consult the POH - some require power reduction, others power increase), keep the disc loaded with aft cyclic, and roll wings level rather than chasing the turn.
With 300 m to the field boundary and 600 ft AGL, a forced landing is a real possibility. Select a landing area ahead and to the side, not under the nose, and set up for a run-on landing with the rotor loaded. Do not attempt to stretch the glide back to the strip.
The lesson is that the manoeuvre was entered too aggressively for the height available. A 60-degree bank at 55 kt close to the ground leaves no margin for a rotor-energy problem; the correct decision was to limit bank to about 45 degrees and keep the ball centred.