If you just put the rudder low enough so that the blades miss it in their normal drooped-flapped-stickback position, you've eliminated tail strikes as a CAUSE of accidents. With that much clearance, the only way a blade can hit the rudder is if the rotor is in substantial negative G with the rotor somehow all the way back, or is suffering retreating-blade stall from a PPO or similar event. True negative G should make the rotor flip forward, not back (the leading edge of the disc moves away from the relative wind, which in such a case is from above). In either case, the tail strike is an after-the-fact result of a fundamental problem that is going to get ya anyway. A breakaway tail won't help in these circumstances; the rotor is already in too much trouble.

One of us Yankees by the name of Dana Junkins [Rotorcraft Oct/2000 page 22]is working on a gyro whose prop is mounted (via a redrive) at the center of a tubular tail boom. He was pretty well along when I last saw him in July. The engine is in front of the prop, however.

Taildragger gear makes some sense for a (non-jump-takeoff) gyro. It gives you the right tail-back angle to get the rotor going. It is squirrelly on the ground, though; something we don't necessarily need any more of in our tippy rotorcraft. You can reduce the squirreliness somewhat by putting the mains not too far ahead of the CG and using a fairly wide stance, as Cierva did.. Even then, you still have to steer constantly. Worse, however, is the possibility of nosing over; pretty harmless at low speed in a pusher fixed-wing (been there...), but a disaster in a rotorcraft.

No free lunch, as usual!