Flying Stories [Archive] - Rotary Wing Forum

ToddP

11-27-2003, 03:49 AM

I'm getting kinda down with the nonstop talk about theory, accidents, accident prevention, physics etc. etc. etc.   Here's the bottom line, flying a gyro is a blast, the most fun I've had flying. So lets hear some stories.  Lets hear about a cross country, if you haven't flown much, lets hear about your first lesson, your first power off landing, lets hear about your mishaps or near mishaps, lets hear about buzzing the fields at Wauchula, Mentone, or Aiken.   Lets Hear about FLYING!

Phil_Ruffin

11-27-2003, 05:20 AM

Todd, Here's a small story for you. Not very exciting but will show you how excellent training will prepare you for the unexpected. I was in my second hour of solo flight and was about to leave the air field area. I was at 500 ft. and was about to cross over an area of trees to get to another open field that I was going to fly around for a while and then return to the air strip. As I started over the trees something didn't feel right, *not with the gyro but in my spirit so to speak. My instructor always told me if it don't feel right don't do it. So I decided to turn around and circle the air field to get more altitude before crossing the trees. Not that I needed more altitude but that's what came to mind. As I was in my turn the engine went down to an idle. It was running but would bogg every time I gave it throttle. Because I was in a turn I was loosing altitude fast. No doubt about it I was going down. Without even having time to think about it I went into my training proceedure so well taught to me by Steven McGowan. I am PIC, stay calm, gain control of the craft, and put it down in a previously picked landing place should something go wrong. I stabilized the machine, made my turn with less bank to save altitude and landed on the runway without any problems. Actually one of my better solo landings at that time in my solo flying. Taxied back to the hanger, got out, drained the gas, replace the plugs, and waited a day (as advised by Steve to reflex on the incident) and then returned to the airport to fly another day...... Although this doesn't sound like much to some, It was really an experience to a low time pilot. In my training every landing was an engine out simulation, Thank's Steve, Your the Man!

DougKspokane

11-27-2003, 07:45 AM

WOW! I don't know how others feel about the Almighty Spirit, but I believe that He's that little voice inside that makes the right suggestions... we have the choice to follow them or not.  Who knows?  Maybe you would have been able to put it down safely anyway, but the "suggestion" you followed made it that much better in a less-than-ideal situation. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!!

StanFoster

11-27-2003, 08:06 AM

Doug:  Back in the 80's I was flying a Bensen with a 90 horse mac.   I had had several forced landings due to a mac attack of some sort or another.  One of these was because of the fuel pump quitting.  So..I am always thinking redundancy...so I just hooked a squeeze bulb in the fuel system.   One day I was flying and my fuel pump quit again.  As the engine swas sputtering its last sips of gas...I immediately started pumping that squeeze bulb with my left hand and the engine came to life.  Ah ha...I was pretty proud of myself for having this sytem that was working.  However..I was about 12 miles out and when I quit squeezing that bulb...a few seconds later the engine would go   waaa.....splut;;splut...until I started squeezing that bulb again.  After about 5 miles of this,,my forearm was getting to look like Popeyes.  I was not able to switch hands as I had this designed  down on the left side of the seat.   Anyway...I made it back to the airport,,,with  just a nice logbook entry to make.     I have more stories should you want to hear them.

ToddP

11-27-2003, 09:09 AM

Stan, Keep them coming, thats what this thread is for!

StanFoster

11-28-2003, 08:26 PM

Todd:  I will post another story..but I wish others would post some of their adventures. I am sure  they are more exciting than the ones I can recall. I was flying back to the airport one day and was about a half  mile away on a long final.  I was in my Bensen and I felt a strong vibration.  I looked back and the left front jug had sheared its mounting studs. I immediately hit the kill switch and saw that I would not make the airport,,but instead had to land in a 20 acre pasture that had a bunch of cows grazing.   I never will forget the whop whop of the rotor blades...the cows white faces looking up and they parted like the Red sea.  They left plenty of room for my touch down...then as a cow has a short attention span...all were soon back to grazing while I was looking at how close I was to having the whole jug  go through the prop.  Ended up just replacing the four crankcase studs and a gasket, and oh yea...had to clean my tires.

StanFoster

11-28-2003, 08:59 PM

Todd: * Not all my stories have to deal with engine outs..but the emergency landings just come to the front of my brain. *Heres just a little story of a nice cross country trip to Mentone this summer. *I was flying my Air Command that I bought in 2002. I had all kinds of engine outs with the 532 I had in it,,so I installed a new 582 last May. *My confidence quickly rose as I finally had a dependable power sourse..dual ignition..I couldnt wait to fly to Mentone. It was a 121 mile flight. *If conditions were good..like no headwinds...my plan was to make it non-stop and still have my 1/2 hour reserve. *I had a 7.5 gallon seat tank and 7 gallon side tanks. * I have a GPS in my dash and had alternate airports entered should my ground speed not be sufficient. *As soon as I was airborn..I swithed to my side tanks and began timing the burnoff. I can always fly one hour before switching. *My GPS showed that I was not going to make it non-stop comfortably as I had some quartering headwinds..so I punched in my Monticello,In. waypoint and changed course by 6 degrees and proceeded on..fueling up..and then on to Mentone. Mentone is 175 miles by car and takes 3 hours to drive. I ended up taking about 2.5 hours by gyro and that was with a headwind. Coming back two days later was different. I left at 6 a.m. as I heard the headwinds were going to be steadily increasing throughout the day. *I never will forget an earlybird gyro pilot just landing and saying how strong the winds were up there..."Must be 30 mph. " * I got airborn...and sure enough..my GPS was only showing 36 ground speed. *I had an alternate headwind plan for my return flight to Paxton, Il. which was nothing but flying back to Monticello, In..fuel up and then fly the last 78 miles to home. ..I also had a severe headwind plan which I could see right away I would have to follow. This plan had me break up the last 78 mile leg into another fuel stop. *I was only making 36 mph ground speed and the winds were going to get stronger. * So...just a nice LONG scenic trip home with *two midcourse heading changes for fuel stops. *4 hours later..I was home. * I guess what I liked most about this whole trip was that with just simple planning and a fantastic tool like a GPS..it made my go or no go decision real quick. *

Kevin_Richey

11-28-2003, 10:01 PM

Having an absolute BLAST flying the Vancraft Rotor Lightning gyroplane, one summer day I was flying around the south end of Cornelius, Oregon. I was near the large ponds called the Fernhill Wetlands along the north end of Fern Hill Road and the Tualatin River. * Suddenly, up at around 400', a duck POPS up right in front of me! I hadn't seen it come up toward me, so I guess it had come from below my line of vision. It's wings were pumping away to beat the band! *It was similiar to the view you get in that movie about "helping" the geese find their migratory route back along the east coast by using an fixed wing ultralight (I think it was called "Fly Away Home") This duck was looking over it's shoulders back at me (do ducks have shoulders?) first from one side, then the other, as it flew in front of me in the same direction I was going. * This looked REALLY FUNNY, as it's wings were flapping up and down so fast, and it's head was alternately back and forth looking back at me. I wondered if a gyro could catch a duck. *I gave it full throttle and sped up, gaining quickly on it. *This duck was no slouch in the flying department. *It saw me closing on it, and suddenly did a 180 degree maneuver that really caught my breath. * That same thing happens to me when I see Jim Vanek do a turn away from the camera in Sportcopter's video of his loops. * Once he shot some air-to-air photos of me flying the gyro near Scappoose, and when he was done, he turned away and down in his gyro, dissappearing from view in scant seconds. * I remember thinking..."what a cool flight scene that is!" *You can see that on the video. Not only does he turn away, but he goes from flying along being nearly stationary with the filming aircraft to swooping away at about 120 MPH, or better, when you combine the two airspeeds together as they go in opposite directions. Back to the tale: This duck had some spunk! It outflew me in that 180 degree turn, but I quickly caught up with it. *It was watching me still, looking left, then right, then left, it's wings going so fast. Then it would do another reverse! *I to this day wonder if it was having fun doing this, instead of flying away from some hungry hawk looking for a plump, juicy meal. After I caught up again with this little fellow, it turned again on the proverbial dime, but added a fantastic dive that I could hardly follow with my eyes. I gave up, after having been shown who was the master of the skies.

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 01:33 AM

cool story K

GyroRon

11-29-2003, 01:34 AM

I got lot's of stories too, Most though could get me in trouble. At least the interesting ones!

PW_Plack

11-29-2003, 05:11 AM

Ron will post in 2011, when the statue of limitations has run out.