Open Cockpit or Enclosed Gyrocopter?
Two different pleasures, and one of them flies in February
An open cockpit gives you the flying that people describe for years afterwards. An enclosed cabin gives you the flying you actually do, in British weather, in ordinary clothes, with somebody you can talk to. Both are gyroplanes, both fly the same way, and the licence is the same. What differs is how many days a year the aircraft is usable - and what you wear on your head.
We sell enclosed aircraft, so read this knowing that. It is also why we will say plainly where the open cockpit wins.
Side by side
| Open cockpit | Enclosed cabin | |
|---|---|---|
| Head protection | Helmet, with the intercom built into it | Headset; no helmet needed |
| Weather you can use it in | Dry, still and warm - the day decides for you | Most days the airspace allows |
| What you wear | Flying suit or layers, gloves, goggles | What you would wear to lunch |
| Noise | Wind noise on top of the engine | Cabin and headset only |
| Luggage | Little, and it must be strapped | A boot - the GTL takes 20 kg in it |
| Conversation | Intercom only | Intercom, and you can hear each other without it |
| The feeling | Wind, smell, temperature - unfiltered | A view through glass, warm, quiet |
| Typical price | The cheaper end of the market | The more expensive |
What the open cockpit is genuinely better at
Sensation, and nothing else comes close. You are in the air rather than looking at it: the temperature changes as you cross a wood, you can smell cut grass from 500 feet, and low flying over a coast on a still evening is the reason a lot of people took up flying at all. No cabin reproduces that, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a cabin.
It is also cheaper to buy, simpler to look after, and - for a first aircraft or a first few hundred hours - entirely sensible.
What the cabin changes
How often you fly. In Britain the limiting factor is not skill or money, it is a Saturday that is 8°C with a 15 knot wind and drizzle at 1,500 ft. An open aircraft turns that into a day at home; an enclosed one with heating and ventilation turns it into a flight. Owners of enclosed aircraft routinely fly more hours a year than they planned, and that is the whole argument.
Then the small things that add up. You arrive dressed for where you are going rather than for the flight. Your passenger can talk to you. The GTL's cabin is 125 cm wide with a door on each side and three-position seats, so getting in is not a gymnastic exercise, and there is a boot that takes 20 kg - which is the difference between a local flight and going somewhere for the weekend.
Helmet or headset
In an open cockpit you fly in a helmet: it carries the intercom, keeps the wind out of your ears, and protects your head. In an enclosed cabin a headset does the job, as it would in a light aeroplane. It sounds like a detail until you are doing the weight sum before a two-up flight, where every item on board counts against the same allowance - what a gyroplane can carry sets that out with the numbers from the manual.
So which one
If flying is the event - a summer hobby, an hour when the weather is kind, the wind on your face - the open cockpit is the better aircraft and the cheaper one. If flying is transport as well as pleasure, if you want to take somebody with you in January, or if you intend to go somewhere and stay the night, the cabin is worth what it costs. Our own range is enclosed: what an enclosed gyrocopter gives you goes further into that, and the range and prices are published.
The honest test is to fly both before you choose, and to do it in bad weather rather than good. The other half of the same decision is where the second person sits - side by side or tandem.
Frequently asked questions
What is an open cockpit gyrocopter like to fly?
Loud, cold and unforgettable. You sit in the airflow in a helmet with an intercom in it, in a flying suit or layers, and you feel every change in temperature and every smell coming off the ground. Nothing in an enclosed aircraft reproduces it. It also means the weather decides more of your flying days than you do.
Do you have to wear a helmet in a gyrocopter?
In an open cockpit, yes in practice - it carries the intercom, keeps the wind out of your ears and protects your head. In an enclosed cabin like the ARGON's, pilots normally fly in a headset, the way they would in a light aeroplane.
Is an enclosed gyrocopter warmer in winter?
Yes, and that is the practical argument for one in Britain. An enclosed cabin with heating and ventilation turns flying from a summer activity into a year-round one, which is also why owners of enclosed aircraft fly far more hours a year than they expected to.
Which should I learn in?
Whichever your school flies - the licence is the same and the skills transfer. Many training gyroplanes are open, which is a good way to find out whether the open-cockpit experience is the thing you want, before you spend six figures assuming it is.