Went for a drive

[Canuck]

Well the BOSS said go ahead and go so you quit bothering me, so off to Scappoose Oregon I went. 886 miles one way but Oregon was very nice. Met Jim Vanek and his wife and went up with Jim in their two place trainer, it was GREAT. They were both very busy but made time for my stupid questions, I had alot of them. Also met a Vietnam vet who was shot down in the jungle in a Huey and lost his leg, we must have talked for an hour about how much fun it was to fly in the trainer. Also met another guy who was training but was thinking about having a RAF. The strange thing was RAF told him the closest CFI is in Medicine Hat ALBERTA, go figure. Seems like we should change places. Anyway the flight with Jim was just great, he even gave me the controls a couple of tmes and I loved banking that thing, he even used pilot talk once or twice while I was trying to fly level, like I HAVE CONTROL, he must have used that term 2or3 times. I think he was just trying to make me feel good. All in all it was a very good trip and I got lots of very good, honest info.

[dragonflyerthom]

Gene

It is great that you have decided to join the ranks of Gyro want to flys.. The great thing about it is you can fly the gyro that you want to fly. Now there are a lot of CFIs. Some are open gyro CFIs and some are Enclosed Gyro CFIs and there are a few that are both. Each type have different characteristics. You will need to know them for the type of Gyro you want. Now most Gyro types have their own CFIs that is why RAF have their own and they must be trained and tested by RAF before they can teach in the RAF machine. Jim I would assume would want you to learn from their recommended CFIs also. Does this make sense to you? :smokin:

I would assume you have looked in to the number of recommended CFIs on the PRA. It list the type of A/C they train in. There aren't hundreds of them as there are in F/W and Heli CFIs. So when you decide which Gyro you want to buy then decide who you want to teach you.
:confused:
Hope this has been of some help


Thom:drum:

[Bob F]

Gene,
I'm the guy you met at Sport Copter, small world. My wife and I wondered how you liked your flight and if you had figured out how to sneak one of their gyro's home with you ! I have to agree with you about the people at Sport Copter. They were very patient with all my questions about getting my gyro ticket. Trina at the front desk even has a list of motels that will give you a Sport Copter discount when you come down for your training. I also really enjoyed going to factory and seeing where they build the Sport Copter gyro. I now have my 1st hour of duel time in my log book. John my instructor was great to work with. He asked me what goals were and laid out a plan on how I could accomplish them. I can't wait to get back to build more time toward my gyro ticket. I tried to get a peak at the new SS Sport, but no luck. They said they hope to start testing sometime after the new year. Just Great People to deal with.

Regards,

Bob Foster

[Canuck]

Bob, good to hear from you again. If I could have figured a way to hide it in my truck I might have tried to get it home but the gestapo on the Canadian side would have taken it away when I tried to explain what it was. The flight was great with Jim but being a foreigner I don,t get to count any time for it. I think he said I have to have a special form filled out to train there, more darn paperwork! They didn,t let me see the SS either, probably thought I was a spy or something. It was great to see how they build them, only hope I can do half as good a job.

[Hognose]

Ah, yeah, those dreaded Canadians.

(Actually, a guy from my unit was shot by a Canadian, and another guy killed by him, in Afghanistan... but as you can imagine, the "Canadian" in question wasn't a native son of the maple leaf flag, but a recent import. And even factoring him in, we US-ians have whacked more Canadians so far without even trying -- not that we're keeping score, and we regret, etc.).

OK, seriously. The way training works is this: every student who begins training for a new rating must document his US citizenship or, if not a citizen, be cleared by the TSA. Typical bureaucrat's one-size-misfits-all solution. So if you're a guy from Alberta who wants to fly for fun, they take their time, check you out, take a bunch of your money, and say OK.

If you're a guy from Saudi Arabia who wants to fly to commit mass murder, they take their time, check you out, take a bunch of your money, and say OK. Nobody's an inch safer than before, but a lot of bureaucrats have secure and undemanding jobs.

It's not that big a deal but it does take time and cost money (the fee's a stiff $130 US), and because fingerprints are required it can't be done just anywhere (the only station in Canada that is accepted is in... drum roll... Montreal. However, any local cops in the USA can do it). The whole procedure can be begun online; you can send your passport (copy or scan) by email or fax, and your prints by Fedex or similar. FAQ here:

https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/afsp_faq.htm

A gyro training candidate is in "Category 3." You can start training with Jim as soon as all your data is submitted via email and the prints received via Fedex or next day mail.

Why the fingerprints, I have no idea. It seemed smart to some Federal flatfoot, I guess. We did not have the fingerprints of any of the 9/11 terrorists on file when those crumbs were taking flight training, so they'd have been approved anyway. Go figure.

cheers

-=K=-

[Canuck]

Kevin, thanks for that, at least I know it can be done, now. If I have to fill out more paper and get finger printed and it helps, I,m in. As far as soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, I don,t blame anyone but those f@#$%ing terrorists. They belly crawled through my country to blow things up in yours and I do wish we could have stopped them. I do think your PRESIDENT has the right idea, I just think we should find a way to finish it NO MATTER WHAT. What a guttless way to fight, sneaking up on people with concealed bombs and **** and blowing everyone up. Don,t mean to offend anyone here but my dad once told me if some one pisses in your cornflakes, eat it, if he tries to do it again take him out behind the barn and make sure he can,t do it to anyone again. Anyway I had a thought when Jim V mentioned about foreigners having to be checked. I could just see that asshole Osama flying towards a big building in a gyro and hoping for the best. Maybe we should sell more gyros to them so we can get rid of them and make some money at the same time.

[Chuck_Ellsworth]

Canuck:

I'm also a Canadian and did my Commercial Gyroplane rating with Sportcopter.

For top notch people with integrity and quality products they do not come any better than Jim and his company.

RAF on the other hand was the the very worst I have ever dealt with in my whole aviation career, both integrity wise and product wise.

Getting the paper work to train in the USA is not all that big a deal, and your training with Sportcopter will be recognized by Transport Canada.

Chuck Ellsworth