Flying History of Gyro/Heli Pilots [Archive]

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Steven_Kozned

11-29-2003, 08:56 AM

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StanFoster

11-29-2003, 10:26 AM

Steve: * * I got my PPL in 1983..but only wanted of fly my quicksilver ultralight. *Then in 1985..I saw "The Road Warrior" *I just had to have one of those machines. I ended up buying a Bensen with a 90 mac on it. *I studied all winter Dr. Bensens manual..and others. I had drilled into my head about not doing any zero g stuff...porpoising...p-factor...etc. * I trained myself,,,but do not condone it when in this day and age..there are several good instructors around. *However...I was extra cautious with my self training program. *I taxied three weeks before my first crow hop. *I was prepared for getting a big surprise of some sort. *The biggest surprise that I experienced was that I had no surprise at all. *It flew great...I was gradually conditioning my reflexes to apply the necessary right rudder and the other reflexes needed for safe flight.   * I then went on to doing my engine shutdowns. *When I had my first real engine out,.it was uneventful and just a nuisance to retrieve my gyro out of *a half grown soybean field. *Little did I know that I would have 17 more forced landings. * My Bensen and my Air Command never received a scratch. I am now finishing my RAF 2000...but I am most definately going to get some training so as to more quickly acquire the feel for this heavier machine. *

Brent_Brown

11-29-2003, 10:42 AM

What are you putting together for 40K? any photos? I had about 100 hours on my new fixed wing ratingand about 4 hours with gyro BFI and CFIs I was going to fly an UL so I just went out and started runway work for about 4 more hours then I got off the ground so I went around the airport one time. Atfer that I just went flying. I don't think I did it by the book but that is how it happened.

Brent_Brown

11-29-2003, 10:42 AM

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 12:39 PM

Steve 40 grand in a single place! That has to hurt! :o

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 12:55 PM

Okay here is my story since you asked. I started out in winter of 1995 with no prior flight experience other than flying model radio control airplanes. That winter I got a intro ride in a quicksilver ultralight trainer and got hooked. I came back a month later to FlightWorld in Greer S.C. to take lessons. I started my lessons on a Tuesday morning - december 27th -  and stayed all day long, flying for a hour then ground school for a hour then a hour break then back in the air again. - MAN IT WAS COLD IN THAT OPEN COCKPIT!  I came back on Wednesday and repeated the process. Came back on Thursday and did it again. On the way home Thursday I felt like I may be ready to solo but figured my instructor would tell me when I was ready. So Friday I got there and flew for about a hour that morning and while in the pattern doing touch and goes, I asked Ray my instructor "am I supposed to ask to solo or would you tell me when I was ready? " He said " Heck I thought you were ready yesterday but you looked like you were having fun so...." So we landed and he got the single place Quicksilver out to prepare for my solo flight. We went over the preflight and the fact that the single place would be much lighter in feel than the trainer and off I went! :D *One hour solo flight time was included in my training package so I used every last bit of it up. I really impressed - maybe scared Ray and the gang - by doing touch and goes on the 500 foot crosswind strip that ran 90 degrees to the main 2500+ foot runway. Either way I was just excited to be flying myself around after 3 days of lessons - about 8 hours of flight time total. Just a side note this package deal ran me a whooping $870.00 and this included everything.... flight time, plane rental, fuel, instructor, ground school, books, 1 hour solo time in the single place, and one year membership in USUA. So I could now fly and call myself a pilot - in my book if you can take off and land and walk away from it, you're a pilot! I came back once or twice in the following two months and rented the single place to get some flying time. but by Feb 1996 I had bought my own Quicksilver and had arranged for a hangar not but 15 minutes away from my house.

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 01:14 PM

So to continue the story... So I had my own plane and flew the crap out of it. I flew well over 150 hours per year and from 1996 till late 1999 I logged about 450-500 hours in several ultralight airplanes. I only kept the Quicksilver about a year and a half.  Then bought, flew, then sold to buy another, 3 more airplanes by late 1999. Late 1999 I got conned by my father into moving away from the Carolinas - where I had lived since I was in diapers - to Southwest Florida. Specifically to Cape Coral in Lee county - that was a key clue to me getting into gyros - So I had moved to Florida and this move was also my first home purchase as I had only rented up till then. Part of getting the loan for our new house, the bank wanted me to raise a pretty large chunk of change and they more or less forced me to sell my plane to fund this downpayment. So I am in beautiful Florida with no airplane! Life sucked indeed! ;) So..... several months go by and I am dieing to get to fly again, but I really couldn't afford to spend 5 or 10 or 15 or???? thousand dollars on another plane. And where would I keep it anyway, There was 3-10 year waiting lists for a hangar at every airport with in a hour or two drive from home.... So I was feeling pretty bad about things. Then one day my father asks If Shannon and I wanted to go to a Airshow that was going on that weekend at a airport about 40 minutes away. I said heck yeah! let's go!  So here we were walking around the airport, watching the Blue Angels, Watching the Waco Bi plane with a huge Jet engine under it's belly, Etc.... When I found the perfect aircraft for sale. Well not really perfect but it met my needs. It was a small Powered Parachute plane called a Paraplane and it was small enough to fit in the back of my truck and cheap at 2 grand and I could keep it at home in the garage So I took down the guys number. I went back to this airport a few days later to meet the owner and maybe purchase a new toy to play with and when he opened up that hangar I ws like a kid in a candy store! there was two neat experimental airplanes, the paraplane, but front and center was a Parsons Trainer  gyro and a Pitbull gyroplane! To be continued

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 01:47 PM

So here was a pair of gyros and I had a zillion questions, But time was short for both of us and I had to complete my deal on the paraplane and get going. Neither gyro was in airworthy shape and I didn't quite get the gyro bug at that point. I had always been interested in gyros - who wouldn't be? they just flat out look cool and fun! -  and was really interested in the fact I had heard they were much less sensitive to winds and thermals. I had kicked around the idea of gyroplane flying a few years ago, but not having internet, not having subscriptions to the right magazines, and not having any gyro pilots that I knew about in the Carolinas made it hard to get the info I needed to get serious about them. So I took my Paraplane home and set about getting it ready for flight and getting myself mentally prepared to fly it. I went out about a week later to the same airport and flew it, without ever flying a parachute plane before. It was childsplay! So simple I think a blind monkey could fly it. Of course it was TOO DAM SLOW! and the winds Really tossed it around. I flew it for a few months and got the bug to exploit my visa cards again and started looking for another fixed wing ultralight. this time It had to be cheap and simple and have folding or easily removed wings to take home for storage. I found a Team Hi max ultralight that was just built with a new Rotax 447 for 4 grand right in Florida so I jumped on it and bought it. I got it home and spent the next three weeks or so getting it ready to fly - it needed the windshield and windows still to be installed and the seat needed covering and a few other odds and ends. So once I got it all done and ready I packed everything up and headed back to Punta Gorda airport - where I bought and flew the paraplane. I got out to the airport and set the plane all up to fly. I was quite nervous as I hadn't flown fixed wing in over a year and this plane I had never seen fly before and to top it off it was a taildragger and there was no brakes! So I must have smoked about a pack of cigarettes walking around the plane and checking and triple checking stuff and waiting for the wind to die down a bit. Meanwhile a guy pulls up in a golfcart and starts chatting with me. A little later his brother comes over and a friend and we are all telling lies and BSing around when I got the courage to go ahead and at least do some taxiing and maybe a crow hop in the plane. So off towards the runway I go..... I had been advised by the guys I was talking to to use the grass beside the runway for taildraggers for takeoffs and landings. So I taxied over to the grass and got her all lined up to taxi with the tail up and MAYBE hop it if it felt right. Well you know me!!! It didn't roll 50 feet and I was in the air and climbing! ;D I flew it around and did several touch and goes - from the pavement, the grass was too bumpy for the Hi max - and flew for probably about a hour before bringing it in and shutting down. the crew were all there to offer their opinions and ask how she flew etc.... well long story slightly shorter..... I got invited to store the plane in the Two Brothers hangar! YES!!!!!! 8) Now it was a bit of a pain to do this as this was a hangar built for one plane and there was already two ultralights in there, But I am the man at packing stuff and found a way to get all three planes in there by taking off one wing from my plane and putting it in the back corner. So all is well in my life, I am living in Florida on cheap waterfront property. Weather is always great, I got a good paying job working for my old man and I have a place at the airport to keep my plane! What more could a guy ask for? To be continued

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 02:18 PM

So here I am living the Vi la loca - or something like that - and having a blast with my airplane, Although something about that plane gave me the creeps And I will tell why later - A month or two later I get wind of the big " Aviation Day " event to take place at Punta Gorda. All the ultralight and experimental guys were planning to be there with their planes on static display. So I planned to do the same. The Big day came and I had my plane in the grass next to the hangars with the rest of us and was having a great time. I was pretty happy just sitting there with the ultralights and hanging out, but I could see down the flightline we had some BIG iron out there and I knew I would feel stupid If I didn't get off my lazy butt and at least walk down and back to see the rest of the show. Well walking down and back I got to see many cool military war birds. I saw all the usual cool stuff, choppers... big jets.... Fighter jets.... Old ww2 fighters.... Aerobatic planes..... Blah blah blah ;) But there was this thing kind of glowing off by itself with like a hundred people surrounding it and I couldn't quite tell what it was. I HAD to get a closer look, It might have been the Muller Skycar for all I knew? So after I fought my way to the front of the pack I saw what all the fuss was over. It was a day glow yellow and purple gyroplane! The dam thing looked un-believeable, and had a ton of tropheys in the seat and there was this nice looking man standing there answering questions. So I waited my turn and finally got a chance to talk to him. I said " hi my name is Ron and I would like to ask a few questions about your machine" He tells me his name is CATFISH! oh no :o No seriously, Richard Catfish Oxnam was the guy out at the airport that day and he sat there and answered about 299 stupid questions I had for him - probably the same questions he had heard all day long! So now we were getting somewhere! Gyroplanes had finally caught my attention. the icing on the cake was he invited me to come down to another airport about a hour away wherehe told me he and many others - MANY OTHERS!!! - flew their gyros every saturday morning. Well he didn't have to ask me twice! I was going to see a gyro fly and I couldn't wait. :D Oh I could tell you more about the rest of that day, but to be honest after meeting Catfish I don't remember much more about that day. Meanwhile I had sold the paraplane - for a loss! who says aircraft is a good investment? I wanna shoot him! - and to wrap up on the Hi max.... Well I sold that about a month after getting into gyros but like I said I got the creeps flying that thing. The guy I sold it to decided to go over it real good and he wanted to recover it because the paint job sucked. He sent me a email a month later saying there was no way I could have flown it and been here ot talk about it. He said the plane had negative diehedral, wash in on the wings instead of wash out, and the tail was twisted and the ailerons were out of phase with each other - among other problems! I didn't know anything was out of rig with it, but knew it never felt " right" to me. I guess the builder sold it cheap for a reason! So Off to Immokolee airport! I couldn't wait all week and that saturday morning I got up extra early to drive over. the directions I got were to have me pull into a back gate to the airport where the gyro people apparently had their own private hangar and area. As soon as I turned the corner and got through the fence I was shocked at the number of gyros I saw - practically in my own backyard! There must have been 15 gyro pilots there and as many machines. To be continued

Aussie_Paul

11-29-2003, 02:31 PM

Great stuff Ron. People just love hearing about real human-interest stories. My p-problem is that I take things a little too seriously on these forums. Out in the real world I am a much more enjoyable fellow than I appear to be here. F...U....N yes, Fun, is what recreational flying is supposed to be about. Safe, yes, but not too serious. I have been to so many fatalities and seen enough blood to probably allow me a little grace. The fact that my father diedin a gyroplane accident in 1982, when I only had about 30 gyro hours, did not help. I just absolutely love the gyroplane and am passionate about making them as safe as they can be made. We have a terrible reputation, and I am doing my utmost to improve that. When I became the Raf agent and was flying all around the countryside, people would come over when I was refueling and say "Wow is that how far gyros have come, not sitting on a deck chair with a lawn mower engine out the back". I believe that here in Oz that was the beginning of increasing respectability for gyros. Trouble is, every so often one of these high thrust line machines does a tumble. The last couple was instructors with their students. PPO from high thrust lines is not the only way to kill yourself in a gyro of course, but if you can remove the tendency for a machine to PPO then we must have fewer fatalities. What amuses me is the amount of fuel that is wasted with these high thrust line machines, as well as the higher workload. I wonder how many of the mustering people in Oz have bent a set of blades because they were tired? I have heard of guys coming home from a day’s work mustering and wrecking their blades on the hanger because they misjudged at the end of the day. Maybe flying a pitch stable machine would increase the productivity and be safer from the above example. As an instructor I can train more hours in a day in a CLT machine than I ever could in the old Air Command and the stabless Raf, or even the Raf with a stab. Anyway that is a little story to relieve the boredom of Larry and I with our stabs!!!!!!!!!!! *LOL Will I do a Ron? Yes I will. To be continued. *Aussie Paul. I will add a pic of my father gyro gliding along a country road in 1961. I was driving the car!!!! I was born in 1949!!!!

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 03:00 PM

So what I didn't know was Lee county - Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, etc... - was home of Bud Oneil and Catfish Oxnam Pres and Vp of the Sunstate wing and rotor club Pra chapter 26. This is the chapter that puts on Bensen Days and a chapter that at the time had like 100 plus members. This was a gyro newbies heaven! So gyrocoptering was big time in this area.... Lucky me! So anyway, I pull up to the hangar there at Immokolee and see all these people and machines. I see two or three machines flying by at maybe 100 feet chasing each other around the sky and then landing right in front of us without rolling a inch forwards, It was just SO DAM COOL!  So here I am with gyro sensory overload when one of the guys yells out " if anyone is looking for a good cheap gyro, Herman Yates is selling his."  GOOD? CHEAP? FOR SALE???? Well you don't have to tell me twice. I went right over to Bud and gave some info on Hermans machine and got his phone number. Well first day around gyroplanes and I think I already found me one to get!  ;D  So I hung out for a little while and then everyone headed of for lunch. I had company from out of town with me so I decided to leave and try to get ahold of Herman. A few days later I had made arrangements with Herman to come see his gyro. He lived in the middle of the state so it was a several hours drive to see it. I got there late in the afternoon to look it over. It looked good to me! Heck I didn't know what I was looking at. It did have a Subaru ea-81 direct drive engine on it. That made me excited as I had never flown anything with a four stroke before, and it started so easy for Him - not for me always though!- So we beat around over price and 3500.00$ later I was rolling out with a new gyro and trailer. I got it home - just barely, a tire blew out in the middle of BFE about 45 minutes from home and I had no spare. I wasn't going to leave the gyro on the side of the road and by this time it was like 1 am in the morning so no one else was on the road. I decided to drive on the flat. ;D Man do sparks fly when your on the rim! I had it almost home when the axle fell out from under the trailer. Apparently the leaf spring shackle bolts were dragging high spots in the road now that it was a low ridder with no rubber on the rim, the bolts wore clean off and the axle just came out! Like I said I wasn't leaving it on the side of the road and my Dodge Ram 2500 with Cummins diesel didn't mind the extra load of dragging the trailer with no axle or wheels... so making the loudest noise I have ever heard I finally got home with my gyro and the remains of my new gyro trailer. My gyro also didn't come with blades. And I didn't know how to fly it either. This all took place in mid to late Febuary 2001 and I had hoped to maybe get the gyro ready to fly and get some lessons in at Bensen days that was coming up a month or so later. So about the blades..... Everyone I asked, told me to buy Dragon Wings. No other blade compared I was told. I heard it over and over and over, So I was going to get me some Dragon wings. Well I was given a old copy of rotorcraft magazine and had a number to call Ernie, but he wasn't there. He was out of town in Taiwan setting up that deal over there to do Dominators over seas, He wasn't expected back till just before Bensen Days. Well I have ordered stuff before, Especially from small companies like this, So I was convienced Ernie wouldn't have blades on hand and he would have to make me a set - which I expected could take weeks - So I didn't want to chance Bensen Days coming up and me having no blades. So I called every blade maker in the rotorcraft magazine and Finally settled on Sportcopter. They had just come out with a new blade and Jim talked me into them. I would be the first person in Florida to fly them. So I ordered me a set of 24's and I had them in about 3 weeks! How you like that! it now takes like 3 months to get a set from sportcopter! So then on to Lessons.... I asked, and was told, by EVERYONE to go see Steve McGowan for my training. Well that is fine and dandy but I wanted someone more local. I called the two florida instructors, Bill Ortmyer and Dofin Fritts. AH.... no thank you. Both guys were very nice, but neither seemed to click right with me over the phone. I just didn't get a good vib for either guy. So I figured I would call this Steve McGowan. I called and made arrangements to come to Bensen Days a few days early to meet Steve there and to start my training. He would be camping there, and even though it was only a hour and a half drive away I decided to camp too. To be continued....

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 04:02 PM

Dam it! I Typed for a hour straight to finish off my story then lost the post. Well the end will have to wait till another day.

Screw

11-29-2003, 11:59 PM

Good Topic Steven, I've been modeling Airplanes with my Dad since I was 11 years old.  Even modeled Helicopters, and Gyros.  Had a blast and still dabble with it from time to time. After a divorce and really dove into R/c heavily.  Built a 1/3 scale Cap, 1/4 scale Fokker DR-1 ect.....  In the 2000 myself and a few others flew to Sun-in-Fun.   After Sun-in-Fun, I realized I was 30, Divorced, and couldn't think of a good reason not to get into full scale. I started taking lessons with a friend of mine under the radar in a J-3 Cub.  After I leaned to fly, take-off, and land unassisted, I was then allowed to take real flying lessons. I started real lessons in April 2000, soloed in 7 hours, and met my 40 hour min enroute to SkyRanch Fl. for my check ride in Dec. 2000.   My interest in gyros came from my modeling and interest in aviation history.  I've always liked gyros and the gyro I choose to start with was the KB-2.  I've got around 14k in it all brand new. I'm currently taking lessons and have about 4 hours in gyro.  I haven't soloed, mine hasn't even flown yet.  I intend to obtain the gyro add on, so I have about 11 more hours of dual to go, and an addition 15 hours of cross country.  Hopefully, I'll be ready to checkride by then. Although mine hasn't flown yet, and I haven't soloed yet, I've already committed to my next project of a 2 place Little Wing.

Fiesty

11-30-2003, 07:15 AM

Lucky me: I went to Spartan School in 1940. *Got my A&P in August 1941. Went to work for Spartan as A&P Instructor. *Got my Private Fixed wing in 1942. *Joined U.S. Army in 1943 as Aviation Cadet. *Discharged after Japan fell in 1945. *Went back to Spartan as Chief Instructor *in Nov. 1945. *Got my CFI airplane. In 1950 went to Bell Aircraft where I got my Rotorcraft(helicopter)CFI. *In 1950 thru 1954 taught test flight procedures to Army Pilots. *In 1955 went To Fort Sill, Okla. as Training Coordinator & Test Pilot on Sikorsky H-34 program. I departed in 1946 and went into Sinclair Oil Co. Aviation Department. *They sent me to Louisana flying off-shore to oil rigs. *I returned to Tulsa, Okla *and ended up as Chief of Maintenance. *Sinclair had 28 airplanes. *They then merged with Alantic Richfield Oil Company where I was a supervisor. *In 1969 I went to Federal Aviation Agency as an Airworthiness Inspector. *In 1983 I was transferred to FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, Okla. *I worked several different *position including Helicopter Airworthiness and Helicopter Operations. *I retired in 1990. *I have my own hangar and have built four home built fixed wing aircraft and one Bannick Autogyro. *I still fly my last aircraft a Bratz CB! 150 HP Biplane. *I always have several RC helicopters, autogyros and airplanes.

StanFoster

11-30-2003, 11:13 AM

Steve:    I love flying during the fall harvest here in Illinois. You have all those nice flat bean fields for emergency landings.   One thing I am always doing is watching all the combines at work. I used to farm myself and I know all these local farmers.   One day this fall..it was very windy and I was out flying and decided to go look at a combine real close.  I was going into the wind and was able to fly at the speed of the combine which was around 5 mph.    I noticed my rotor shadow flickering over the combines cab.  So I thought it would be fun to park my spinning rotor shadow right in front of his grain head where he was intensely watching.  After about 20 seconds of this..I could see the farmer twisting around in his seat trying to see what the hell was overhead.  Well...just how the Japanese zeros always came out of the sun...so there I was discretely popping away above him with the bright glaring sun hiding me. I finally moved on and the farmer was waving at me...at least I think he was waving.   ;D

GyroRon

11-30-2003, 12:14 PM

Steve I typed for at least a hour it seamed last night and had my story all wrapped up. I was so proud of it and then I clicked Post and it came back and said my post was too long. I tried to go back to my post to maybe cut it into two posts but it was not to be. I was so upset. I will try to finish it soon, But i got to go to bed here in a few as in the morning I am headed for Virginia to drop off my Dominator to it's new owner. - kinda sad to see it go now that it is sunk in I won't have it anymore..... :-[

GyroRon

11-30-2003, 12:31 PM

Okay I will finish the story but will make it a little short. I trained with Steve through out the entire Fly-in. I was there for 10 days, but between all the chaos there I only mangaged to get in 4.5 hours of dual. I did get many many hours of " ground" instruction from listening to everything going on around me. Highlights of the training...... Well for starters the gyro flys much like a ultralight fixed wing one airborne. Landings aren't much different either except you keep the flare coming to a full stop in the gyro. The biggest thing to learn is rotor management. That was what I needed the most training in. I said highlights didn't I? Well I guess one thing that was fun was when I would get kinda in a rut and Steve could sence I was in gyro overload, he would take the controls and have me relax and go for a short ride. A ride with Steve is a RIDE! let me tell you. ;) That was fun and helped get me back on task. The other cool thing he did was to help me get the feel of the gyro He had me close my eyes while flying, We were maybe a 1000 feet up and a good ways from the airport. He told me to not peak or open my eyes no matter what and he put his hands on my shoulders So I knew I was the one controlling the gyro. He would tell me to put in a little right stick or add power, or left rudder and so on till all of a sudden he says to bring it to idle and pull the stick back. I did this and then he says open your eyes.... As soon as I did the tires were going Chirp Chirp! We had just made a picture perfect landing right on the centerline of the runway. That sure helps you get a feel for the machine! And to fly Steves machine you do it all by feel, you don't fly the instruments, Heck his instruments are as basic as they come. Not even a rotor tach. So After the fly in was over and we were packing up to go home I asked should I schedule more time with him to train. He said I had the hands for it and he thought I was ready to go home and solo. SOLO!!! Alright! So I went home and waited till the next weekend.  I was told by Steve to just wait for a calm day, and to go slow and start by taxiing on the mains till I got tired of it and then some more! Then it was off to do short crow hops leading on to Longer Crow hops, leading up to long crow hops with S turns above the runway. After all that I could fly the pattern, but only after I could do the others time after time with out trouble. So I did all that. I spent a few hours doing the runway work before I finally kept the power on pass the end of the runway and flew my first solo pattern in a gyro! Man I was having fun. ;D

Phil_Ruffin

11-30-2003, 12:45 PM

Ron my training with Steve was pretty much the same. *While you were training with him did you ever fly the river? * Man talking about a blast....it keeps those senses sharpe and in tune. It just doesn't get any better that that.

GyroRon

11-30-2003, 12:57 PM

So there I was flying my first gyro, solo and happy as a pig in $hit. I had made about two or three rounds with a touch and go on the runway each time when something weird started to happen. I was feeling something wet and real hot on the back of my neck. ??? SO I thought, Hmmmm what could this be and turned around to have a look. That was dumb. It was my coolant overflow bottle. The engine wasn't running hot but for some reason the coolant ws being forced out of the catch tank and the spray was so forceful It was going into the wind and spraying my head and neck - and my face when I turned around. So I had to bring it in and call it a day. So my first solo flight I had to deal with a situation of sorts. But was calm and cool about it and It was no big deal. So after the engine cooled down and I thought about what was happening I took the heads off to confirm. Yeap bad head gasket! The compression in one cylinder was going past the gasket and into the water jacket around the cylinder and the excess air in the system was blowing out the coolant. Funny thing.... years of two strokes with no problems and then my first four stroke and already major problems.... ::) So I got the engine fixed and flew the heck out of that machine. I got a spot in the hangar down at Immokolee with the boyz and flew every saturday and sunday all  Spring, summer and fall. That fall we moved back up to the Carolinas and I didn't get to fly much for about a month, But once I got settled in I was out flying my gyro - in 40 degree weather with no pod or enclosure! Since then I have sold that gyro and bought and now sold two more. I have only had a hour meter on the Dominator, but between all three machines I estimate I have about 250 hours in gyros since I started. Knock on wood, I haven't bent a blade yet or had any damage to any of my machines. I have had to complete engine outs - one while at altitude, but no where good to land And one right after take off and there too no good place to land as another gyro was taking off in my glide path, Yes this is the one that got me the Charmin award! - And I have flown, not including the three gyros I have owned and Steve's trainer, 7 other machines some of my rotorcraft Friends have let me fly. I love flying my gyro and love the fly ins. If your into gyros and you don't make it to one of the bigger Flyins like ROC or Bensen Days, Mentone, etc... your missing out big time!!!! But the people is what really makes this sport or hobby or call it what you want, special to me. I have made so many friends through rotorcraft. This is why I post here, to stay in touch with my Buds. Well more story later. I got to go hit the sack. And Steve, I don't know if I should share my good flying stories on a public forum. I did it before and got my butt in hot water with the safety owls! I will just say Crazy Ivan isn't the only one to have flown under a Bridge. ;) ;D

GyroRon

11-30-2003, 01:07 PM

No Phil, I didn't get to fly the river. I did all my time with Steve in Florida. I have never been to Macon. But from what I hear that river is FUN FUN FUN!!! :D

Screw

11-30-2003, 03:16 PM

Well, I've had 4 hours with Steve, and he aint said $hit to me about me soloing :-[ Maybe he just waiting for my 5th hour?   Maybe not :-/ Great stories Ron.  When you write a book, will you autograph mine! ;D  Please ;D I have flown the river with Steve and it is way fun. I always look very forward to my next lesson, and so hurt when we have to cancel. :-[ John-

Aussie_Paul

12-01-2003, 06:57 PM

My father died in a gyro accident in 1982. That sure was a low time for me. I was only getting back into flying, and only had about 30 gyro hrs. I did not fly for three months after the accident for my mothers sake, but at the end of that time I said to her that I would like to continue. My mum said that she could understand. Mum said that she would not be able to handle the sound, (we all know that gyro sound don't we?) but I was welcome to use another property 30 miles away. I was married, and my wife Eril and I had two children, a daughter Emma 6 and Mark 3. I am so thankfull for the support of Eril and my Mother. Eril could have easily said no, and that would have been the end of my flying. Eril had always liked flying, but cannot understand how I could be be so "hooked". I say I can't understand how Eril could not be "hooked". I had to on my own, as we ran a 24 hour motel,  trailer my VW Bensen 25 miles to the farm, put the machine together, preflight and then go and take it steady doing strip runs until I felt comfortable. That was pressure I can tell you. I guess at this point your are all thinking, "what was the cause of my dads accident" Post will be too long. Aussie Paul.

Aussie_Paul

12-01-2003, 07:20 PM

..........At the time, October 1982, we were flying a marginal 1675cc VW powered Bensen with 23' Rotor Hawk blades. I was one stone lighter than dad and could back the power off 100 rpm, and dad had to fly full power until it was time to land. I can hear a lot of the more mature (older) people thinking, " Ah that brings back memories". Dad was having a fly in on the property that weekend. There was a guy, we knew, from Melbourne, who had an 1835 VW Bensen with a pre-rotator and all the goodies on the dash. He was talking to dad about how hard it was to find places to fly without getting banned because of the noise. Dad told him he was welcome to bring his caravan and gyro up to the farm, plug into the shearing shed power, and fly till his hearts content. This guy had some long service leave coming up and though that this was a wonderful opportunity, and he was very grateful. So much so that he offered dad and myself a fly of his beaut gyro. Because the day was blowing a gale, both dad and I said that we would leave it until the next day, which looked like being a much better day. I finished work on the Sunday, and arrived at the farm about midday. My VW 1905cc lightweight Bensen(dad had flown it once on the Friday) was up at the farmhouse. This new machine of mine had only done 3 hrs. The fly in was a mile away, in an open area. The strip at the farmhouse had a power line across it and so it was not a marked strip. I took off and flew down to the fly in paddock. It was the ultimate gyro flying day, gentle 5 mph breeze and 4/8 ths fluffy clouds. I landed and had just tied my blades down as dad and his mate were heading his mates gyro. I asked dad if I could swap props with him as his prop was 5 mph faster and I needed a little more airflow over the new VW. He said ok, and as a joke said, “don’t hit any rocks with it,” the strip was grass and had no rocks. I thought to myself that dad was really going to enjoy this flight, and I don’t have to spin the rotors for him!!!! I started to take the prop off my engine as well as keeping an eye on dad getting strapped in and the owner giving dad the instructions about the pre rotator etc. I watched him take off and climb out over the end fence and start a very gentle turn to the right. Dad was not one for radical type flying, he reckoned just being up there was good enough. Mum called out that the bbq lunch was ready, so I turned and headed over to the food table. All of a sudden there was a commotion. I looked around and about ¾ of a mile away there was a fire and plume of black smoke. I jumped in the car and raced across, but there was nothing I could do, so I headed back to mum. I just could not believe what had just happened. The Bureau of Air Safety with some help from myself did their normal thorough investigation. There was only one witness about a ½ mile from the accident site who said that the gyro started another turn to the right, but the turn continued until the gyro was almost inverted and fell almost vertically from approx. 200', onto a mob of sheep, killing 2 of them. The power only stopped when the gyro impacted the ground. Control systems were checked and found to be either bent but intact or broken from accident overload. It did not appear as if dad was doing anything silly. The Coroner came up with an open finding which I was not really happy with. We know that the accident has to be either1) Pilot error, 2) Machine Failure, or 3) pilot incapacitation. Not being one to “just accept” things, I started to look into the health side of things. The autopsy revealed that dads heart was in better than average shape for a 57 y/o, but they could not make a judgment regarding the possibility of a stroke due to the severity of the head injuries. Over the next few years I spoke to a number of people who had been affected by a stroke. What I did learn was that strokes can cause a reversal of your motor functions to what the brain is telling the body. I.e. One guy told me he woke up in the morning and went to get out of bed on the left side but his body kept going to the right side. Whether dad had this happen to him we do not know. To me it seemed very strange that he never reduced power when things started to go wrong. He may have died as he started the second turn. Dad would not have been happy in a wheel chair, so if it was a stroke or something similar I am glad that he died and did not end up an invalid.   Dad had a GA aircraft a French aircraft called a GY-80 Sud Horizon. He built the first Bob Hovey Wing Ding in Australia, and loved his gyro flying the most. Aussie Paul