Rotorway Forums

I'm soon going to be starting on flight controls on my A600 kit and am interested in talking engine governors.  ,   and everybody else that is familiar or interested.

My only experience in piston helicopters is from 40-50 years ago in military OH-13 and TH-55.  The TH-55 had an overspeed governor and frankly i can't remember what the OH-13 had.   Of course this A600 kit comes with no governor.

Question for everybody, how distracting is the no governor. and how helpful is one.   What options are available?    I have a   engine that I will be putting in.   My understanding is (I have not yet uncrated the engine) he has an automotive style single fuel control.   No fadec, no carburetors.   So not sure how that will play in.

Thoughts??
   Thanks in advance.
Sam

Hi Sam,
I have about 25 hours on the engine Joe built for me. All the physical connections are the same so I don’t see why a governor wouldn’t work. I asked about one when I was nearing completion and a majority of people said that they added it after they had been flying a bit. Flying with the manual throttle has a learning curve but I really enjoy it now. I doubt I will get a governor due to the price in the end.

Personally, I enjoy governors! Though, I have never used one in a rotorway because I'm lazy.

Of course, I can fly perfectly fine without one and Rotorways taught me how to truly control the power input to the point where I'd be flying certified ships and manipulate the throttle by sense (overriding the governor) whenever it wasn't reacting fast enough in order to squeeze every bit of performance I needed when flying in high DA. That's a skill I was never adequately taught when training certified... Yes, we do SOME governor-off flying as part of EP proficiency but it's typically not extensive enough to develop a natural response to changing conditions like flying 50 hours in a rotorway without a governor will. I say Rotorway specifically because of the high engine rpm and lack of torque. Lycoming powerplants seem far easier to fly with the governor off, only needing tiny pinches of throttle movement whereas with Rotorways, it feels like a high-revving motorcycle requiring more throttle twist to get it to work for you—I enjoy it far more than governor off Lycoming flying.

There's give and take... Manual throttle isn't too bad in forward flight but when doing somewhat aggressive maneuvers you gotta develop a good feeling for it. Reliable governors increase safety margins significantly, there are multiple accidents which have occurred due to low rotor rpm by mismanaging the throttle—a governor could have prevented that. Most pilots train in Robinsons and they're required to have an operational governor. I wouldn't trust any Robinson pilot to fly my rotorway without some transition training first, unless it had a governor and they're aware of the CW rotation differences and cyclic authority limitations. Then, I wouldn't really sweat it.

So, it depends on you... Do you want to spend the first hours cautiously putting in the effort to develop that skill which may help you someday or do you want to feel more safe and comfortable flying from the start? Neither is a bad choice, particularly if an individual is older with a slow response time—I'd recommend a governor. Also note that if your engine is lacking power where you fly, a governor may not work too well. If you have Joe's engine then a governor should be great!

(01-13-2026, 04:26 PM)Sam Oliver Wrote: [ -> ]I'm soon going to be starting on flight controls on my A600 kit and am interested in talking engine governors.  ,   and everybody else that is familiar or interested.

My only experience in piston helicopters is from 40-50 years ago in military OH-13 and TH-55.  The TH-55 had an overspeed governor and frankly i can't remember what the OH-13 had.   Of course this A600 kit comes with no governor.

Question for everybody, how distracting is the no governor. and how helpful is one.   What options are available?    I have a   engine that I will be putting in.   My understanding is (I have not yet uncrated the engine) he has an automotive style single fuel control.   No fadec, no carburetors.   So not sure how that will play in.

Thoughts??
   Thanks in advance.
Sam

Governors aren't needed for the rotorways with a properly rigged collective to throttle correlation.   Of course you'll need to "trim" the throttle in hover and when doing various maneuvers.   However, they are really nice in cruise and also during aggressive maneuvers and even routine flying as it is one less thing to manage while flying.  But learning to fly the rotorway without a governor is crucial even if you have one.  A good analogy is driving a manual transmission car or an auto transmission.  having the skills the drive a manual is a must - and increases your competence but even if you have that skill, wouldn't you rather drive an auto in stop and go traffic?

Full disclosure, I'm the importer and exclusive distributor of the aset governor for almost 5 years.   Prior to that I studied 3 other governor implementations, all of what are compromises and have failure modes that will really mess you up.  The reason I invested in the ASET governor is because it is properly design and professionally manufactured.   It has a slip clutch that allows you to override the throttle at any time and does not change the operation from a governor-less build.   At the very most the throttle is a little heavier when you override.  Other implementations were down right dangerous.  Like direct throttle body mounted governor where you can't overrride it and another one was an r22 adaptation that would periodically overspeed the rotor.   (yeah - a story for another time - I gained some new skills flying that one).   

A few points the ASET has I'd like to share:

- proprietary software that manages the throttle within the green (+/- 80)
- the ability to bump up the rpm by +/- 1% as the mission requires
- for the talon ecu, a canbus reading enhances the governors performance, PROACTIVELY adding throttle when MAP reading drops instead of REACTIVELY reacting to rpm changes.   for 162f without a600 ecu it simply reacts to rpm changes which also works fine, it just a little slower to react
- it's build with a CNC billet annodized housing, conformal coated PCB to resist the elements
- high end coaxial planetary gearbox paired with a quick reacting stepper motor

the whole package is professionally done.   In the early to mid 90's they worked with the factory to integrate this governor as an option but at some point things fell through.  Thats why some of the cross collective tubes have weldments designed exactly for this governor.  For those who are lucky and have them it's a directly bolt on without need to drill two holes in the cross collective to mount the governor.

I have sold about 60 of these and have installed about 20 of them.  The late Mark Peterson installed about 25 of them as well.   So I offer an install service too.   All the ones I've installed have performed flawlesslessly and still do.  I've only heard of one failure and that is because the hangar was flooded with salt water and it destroyed more than the governor.

If you do install it it usually takes about a week.   for me it would take 1-2 days depending how healthy your harness is haha.   I just shipped out the last one in my inventory but I have a couple more coming in a month, so if you're interested let me know.  Usually they are paid before they arrive to me.

I have installed in both turbo and non turbo versions.  I can tell you if your helicopter has turbo or one of joe's engines it is amazing.  excess power and the govenor makes flying such a joy.  For sure you won't want to go back.  If you're training for your PPL I would still advise you to fly without.   Then you appreciate it more.  When doing aggressive maneuvers your brain is trained to roll on throttle just like your right foot will reach out when power is added, but with a governor the throttle under your hands will magically move around just enjoy, as if it's reading your mind and has a mind of it own haha.

Anyway, if you have any questions regarding the governor feel free to let me know.  I'm happy to take the time on the phone to answer all questions before and after the purchase as I have with my potential and current customers.  To me, it's not done until you are flying with a govenor.

great synopsis David, if and when i do invest in a new Governor system your ASET system will do great for me i'm sure. in the mean time i currently have a Blue Streak system installed i have not gotten to experience first hand how unnerving the direct mounted governor to throttle motor is... my plan is to use it in cruise only and be part of the landing and take off mental checklist to ensure manual throttle control.

do you have any stories of sporadic RPM failures with the blue streaks?

(01-14-2026, 03:55 AM)David Chow Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-13-2026, 04:26 PM)Sam Oliver Wrote: [ -> ]I'm soon going to be starting on flight controls on my A600 kit and am interested in talking engine governors.  ,   and everybody else that is familiar or interested.

My only experience in piston helicopters is from 40-50 years ago in military OH-13 and TH-55.  The TH-55 had an overspeed governor and frankly i can't remember what the OH-13 had.   Of course this A600 kit comes with no governor.

Question for everybody, how distracting is the no governor. and how helpful is one.   What options are available?    I have a   engine that I will be putting in.   My understanding is (I have not yet uncrated the engine) he has an automotive style single fuel control.   No fadec, no carburetors.   So not sure how that will play in.

Thoughts??
   Thanks in advance.
Sam

Governors aren't needed for the rotorways with a properly rigged collective to throttle correlation.   Of course you'll need to "trim" the throttle in hover and when doing various maneuvers.   However, they are really nice in cruise and also during aggressive maneuvers and even routine flying as it is one less thing to manage while flying.  But learning to fly the rotorway without a governor is crucial even if you have one.  A good analogy is driving a manual transmission car or an auto transmission.  having the skills the drive a manual is a must - and increases your competence but even if you have that skill, wouldn't you rather drive an auto in stop and go traffic?

Full disclosure, I'm the importer and exclusive distributor of the aset governor for almost 5 years.   Prior to that I studied 3 other governor implementations, all of what are compromises and have failure modes that will really mess you up.  The reason I invested in the ASET governor is because it is properly design and professionally manufactured.   It has a slip clutch that allows you to override the throttle at any time and does not change the operation from a governor-less build.   At the very most the throttle is a little heavier when you override.  Other implementations were down right dangerous.  Like direct throttle body mounted governor where you can't overrride it and another one was an r22 adaptation that would periodically overspeed the rotor.   (yeah - a story for another time - I gained some new skills flying that one).   

A few points the ASET has I'd like to share:

- proprietary software that manages the throttle within the green (+/- 80)
- the ability to bump up the rpm by +/- 1% as the mission requires
- for the talon ecu, a canbus reading enhances the governors performance, PROACTIVELY adding throttle when MAP reading drops instead of REACTIVELY reacting to rpm changes.   for 162f without a600 ecu it simply reacts to rpm changes which also works fine, it just a little slower to react
- it's build with a CNC billet annodized housing, conformal coated PCB to resist the elements
- high end coaxial planetary gearbox paired with a quick reacting stepper motor

the whole package is professionally done.   In the early to mid 90's they worked with the factory to integrate this governor as an option but at some point things fell through.  Thats why some of the cross collective tubes have weldments designed exactly for this governor.  For those who are lucky and have them it's a directly bolt on without need to drill two holes in the cross collective to mount the governor.

I have sold about 60 of these and have installed about 20 of them.  The late Mark Peterson installed about 25 of them as well.   So I offer an install service too.   All the ones I've installed have performed flawlesslessly and still do.  I've only heard of one failure and that is because the hangar was flooded with salt water and it destroyed more than the governor.

If you do install it it usually takes about a week.   for me it would take 1-2 days depending how healthy your harness is haha.   I just shipped out the last one in my inventory but I have a couple more coming in a month, so if you're interested let me know.  Usually they are paid before they arrive to me.

I have installed in both turbo and non turbo versions.  I can tell you if your helicopter has turbo or one of joe's engines it is amazing.  excess power and the govenor makes flying such a joy.  For sure you won't want to go back.  If you're training for your PPL I would still advise you to fly without.   Then you appreciate it more.  When doing aggressive maneuvers your brain is trained to roll on throttle just like your right foot will reach out when power is added, but with a governor the throttle under your hands will magically move around just enjoy, as if it's reading your mind and has a mind of it own haha.

Anyway, if you have any questions regarding the governor feel free to let me know.  I'm happy to take the time on the phone to answer all questions before and after the purchase as I have with my potential and current customers.  To me, it's not done until you are flying with a govenor.

The Engine I received from Joe Huff has a FuelTech ECU.  I Don't know if the pin configuration / interface will work since the governor you sell is set up for the Rotorway ECU's.   Have you installed one of these on a ship with the FuelTech ECU?