[bodmin]

It is indeed a Gyrocopter (or Autogyro, Gyroplane - same thing).

Licence requirement in UK is PPL(G). This is a variant of the normal PPL. PPL(H) is for helicopters. Mostly the same sylabus apart from one of the ground exams which relates specifically to Gyroplane technical.

I used to fly Robinson R22's, but enjoy flying Gyroplanes even more. Flying is a combination of fixed wing and helicopter characteristics. It won't land vertically, but cost is about 20% of operating an R22 - the rotors aren't engine driven (apart from pre-rotation), so no transmission to worry about.

Other advantage is this that in the event of an engine failure you don't need to worry about 1.4 seconds to enter autorotation. The machine is already in autorotation. Simply fly it to the ground.