What is the “gyro” for?
The gyro is another device that makes the helicopter more stable and easier to fly. While the flybar makes the helicopter more stable on the roll and pitch axes, the gyro makes the helicopter more stable on the yaw axis. Until the mid-1990s, most gyros were actually gyros – they had small flywheels, driven by an even smaller electric motor, to sense the rotation of the helicopter. In the later 1990s, piezoelectric oscillators began to replace the mechanical sensors. Though the sensor now oscillates, and doesn’t really gyrate, the term “gyro” will probably be with us forever.
