Well... They Introduced It, Uh, Like Last Month

by Aero-News Senior Procrastinator Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien

Nothing like getting caught napping, and I got caught napping by the Magni M-22 announcement back in June. I noticed it, said, "I oughta write this up," and... there things sat.

And would still have been sitting, if I hadn't taken a more or less random look at the Magni USA website before going to Oshkosh, and been reminded of the new Magni Gyro M-22. Magni doesn't introduce new gyro models frequently, so it pays to take notice when they do.

The new M-22 Voyager gyro is optimized for cross-country flight; it's a two-seat tandem, open gyro with decent windshields, and no controls in the passenger seat. That's one difference from Magni's flagship M-16 Trainer. The M-22 also has more space for baggage, in sponsons or "strakes" along the composite fuselage, and only comes with the turbocharged Rotax 914 engine.

The cargo space extends under the seats of the aircraft. Because the passenger (back) seat is elevated, there is quite a bit of luggage space in the M-22 -- more than five cubic feet, according to Magni.

The M-22 is clearly related to Magni's well-established trainer, the M-16, familiar to fly-in attendees from importer Greg Gremminger's much-traveled red, white and blue example, which Greg routinely flies to the major fly-ins from his Missouri home base. The machine also was seen by lots of people who don't follow the gyroplane community, when Greg's sanitary (in California hot rod jargon of the sixties) example was on the cover of

The -16 and -22 do look very similar, but they aren't interchangeable -- Magni Gyro warns that you can't add the M-22 baggage pods to the -16, and you definitely can't add dual controls to the M-22 -- the space the rear seat control mechanisms would use is now dedicated to baggage.

The longtime gyro aficionado may see something familiar about the Magni design. Vittorio Magni is a longtime friend and associate of Finnish gyro pioneer Jukka Tervamaki, and so some of Tervamaki's design and construction practice filters into Magni's ships.

Magnis are made in Italy, which for Americans is a good news/bad news thing. The good news is that they have the attention to design detail and build quality of an Armani suit or a Lamborghini. And this quality is even affordable -- if you are in Europe; the bad news is for Americans, whose dollar has taken a beating against the Euro in the last few years.

This makes the M-22 very expensive compared to comparable 2-seat gyro kits. The kit is currently (at the exchange rate of early July, 2005) about $62,000, including the Rotax 914 engine. The M-16 with the Rotax 914 engine is the same price as the M-22. The M-16 can be had for a little less with the Rotax 912ULS engine.

For those that do not want to build a kit, the M-22 is available fully assembled for about $6,000 more. At this time, the FAA has not approved gyroplanes as Light Sport Aircraft, so the factory-assembled Magni must be registered in the USA as Experimental-Exhibition. Magni USA can provide more information on the regulatory pros and cons of this approach.

In Europe, where foreign exchange is not an issue, and ultralight regulations encompass machines this size, Magni designs are very popular, and Magni's Italian styling has spawned a bevy of imitators from one end of the continent to the other. Last year's Global Eagle attempted world circumnavigation by British pilot Barry Jones used an older model Magni M-16. And Magnis are one of the most popular makes of gyroplane in Australia and South Africa.

The M-22 offers gyroplane buyers a new idea in the market, an open-cockpit, cross-country version of a popular gyroplane. For people that like to take long trips in their gyros, those baggage compartments have to look awfully tempting.

FMI: www.magnigyro.com