Ok, well here's the catch. A mechanical gyroscope, is a spinning disk just like the little toys. The disk stays where it is and everything else moves around it. Providing a reference point.
An acelerometer or angular rate sensor work in a much diffrent way. They only detect forces, usually a weight and a spring.
So in my book, a gyroscope is much much diffrent than an angular rate sensor. So my question has been answered. There is no solid-state solution for getting a physical reference. I am wondering, however, if I could modify one of these toys to do what I want. My plane is quite a stable and high-lift platform so weight is not too much of problem. Just as long as i'm not stapping lead weights to it.