Racers Mentone experience

Racer

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
1,594
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Aircraft
Air Command CLT N7512X
I will not get into the drama of what I had to go through leading up to the trip but I will only say that when I arrived at Mentone I still had work to do on my gyro before it was ready to fly.

Mentone was scheduled on the same weekend as my favorite race of the year, The Lands End Auto Hill Climb so I had a huge decision to make. If I chose Mentone it would mean missing the race and basically throwing my racing season away as far as the year end points go and this is a huge deal for me because I was in a position to win the championship again this year.
Final decision.... I chose to miss my first race in over 10 years to go to Mentone.

The trip was really long (22 hours of driving) and I was so relieved to finally arrive late Tuesday afternoon. I saw more gyro's there than I have ever seen in my whole life all in one place, I was in true gyro heaven.

Early Wednesday morning I went to the pilots meeting and after the meeting adjourned I went to get my "pass to fly" with my log book, student license in hand and a note from my CFI saying that he felt I was competent to fly at Mentone.

As I soon found out even though I thought I had everything I needed to fly I was not given my pass. They had to verify that my CFI was current first to make sure that everything was on the up and up. They talked to my CFI on the telephone to verify he did in fact write the letter of endorsement and it was not something that I just whipped up on my own.

OK so now I can fly now rite? I mean after all everybody on here kinda knows me and knows I can fly, I have posted many flying photo's here on the forum and even have you tube video's of me flying. My hanger mate was with me and verified my abilities and told them that we have flown together often so after all that I should be good rite?
Nope, They wanted to make sure my gyro was in good order and safe to fly before I could fly it.
Ron Awad took my gyro up and proved it safe and air worthy.

Now that my letter has been verified and my machine has been proven safe, I have witnesses that have flown with me before I should get the green light rite? Nope, now they required that I fly with a CFI that was in attendance and get his endorsement that I would be competent and safe so I took two hours of training with a CFI that was actually at the event and got his endorsement as well.

Finally I have jumped through every hoop thrown my way and am excited to get my pass. Not yet, now they required me to fly by myself with no other gyro's around to make sure I could fly MY gyro since my training with the CFI was in a Sparrow hawk so I flew the pattern and demonstrated that I was in fact competent to fly my machine and finally on Friday evening I finally got my pass to fly at the event.

I have seen on other threads people who were sitting at home and not even at the event bashing the PRA for being lax on who they let fly and let me tell you from personal experience that is absolutely positively not the case at all, not even close. They went to the extreme to make sure that I would be safe for the other pilots, the spectators and myself as well.
Even though I was so frustrated that after driving there from Colorado I was not allowed to fly for two days that I was seeing red I take my hat off to them for standing their ground and making triple sure that I would be a safe participant before they would give me the OK to fly.
In the end I appreciate the way the PRA went about it.

I must say that I have never been in such a large group where everybody was so friendly. I did not meet a single sole there that I did not enjoy meeting and talking to, this is the greatest bunch of people that I have ever met in my life.

The highlight at the event was at the awards banquet when I was presented the "Best Innovation" award for making the Yamaha Snowmobile engine a viable and practical engine package option for our sport. I am very honored to have received this award and it means more to me than words can say. This award will hang on my wall with very much pride for the rest of my life.

BestInnovation.jpg


And to Top off the event Sunday morning before we packed up to go home I was invited to fly cross country with Joe and Mark in there Carlinators for breakfast and enjoyed every moment of it.

I would like to thank everyone that I met and I enjoyed talking to each and everyone of you. I was happy to put faces to names and I have made many more life long friends and gained memories that I will never forget.

Excellent event in every way,

Todd AKA "Racer"
 
Racer,

I only got to talk to you briefly but I was aware of what you were going through in an effort to fly. You were and are a true gentelmen. Congrat's on your award!

David Morris
Blue Xenon
 
Todd, you certainly deserved that "Best Innovation" award! My hat's off to you, and thank you for all your work, thought and dedication.

I'm sorry for all the hassle but as you said, the PRA people were just trying their best to make it safe for everyone at the meet.
 
Congradulations Todd across the board: the trip, your patience, your innovation and inspiration. Truely you're an asset to the community, and I sure enjoyed meeting you. You definitely had competition in gaining that award, but most definitely deserved it.

The PRA is definitely a most excellant group of people. Nothing seems too remove us from our daily routines as the gyro does, and nothing is more exciting then looking forward to flying that Yamaha on my gyro. You and Ron have made a very impressive team living a thousand + miles apart. You both lead with BIG footprints.
 
Early Wednesday morning I went to the pilots meeting and after the meeting adjourned I went to get my "pass to fly" with my log book, student license in hand and a note from my CFI saying that he felt I was competent to fly at Mentone...

Todd, having personally witnessed your flying and decision-making skills, I'd trust you anywhere if it was up to me. But a CFI signing a student off to fly solo at any airport is legally required in FAR 61.83(b)(1)(ii) to have first administered you a test on the airspace and procedures for that airport, and reviewed any wrong answers with you.

Some gyro pilots and their CFIs in the past have abused the intent of the system, using repeated renewals of student solo privileges forever in lieu of actually pursuing certificates. It's part of the baggage from the "bad old days." You'll now have a pass card good indefinitely at Mentone, but finish up your certificate. You'll never have to look over your shoulder.
 
Todd- I was most impressed with you as a person. You handled yourself so maturely and patiently while the officials were verifying you were ok to fly. I was happy for you winning The Most Innovative award......you deserved it! And Dawn........can she drop eggs or what? Congratulations to her for winning the egg drop contest and missing me by 2.5 feet. You two just added so much to the convention, and I hope to see you both back. Stan
 
Tod

I was the first to congratulate you when you finely got your dot to fly. I too was very impressed with your altitude.

Keep up the good work on the Yamaha.

.
 
Yaw Mon! What Stan said!!!!
It was great to finally get to meet you. Part of the reason I went to Rotors over the Rockies was to meet you! But you weren't there.:Cry:

You and Dawn Rock, way fun!!!

Can't wait to get training and my gyro and you guys can expect many visits in the future as you're almost in my backyard by air!:eek: (You'll have to hide from now on to avoid me.) :twitch:
 
Congratulations my friend.

Congratulations my friend.

Todd
You deserve that award you earned it. Besides that I seen you flying in the rain, now I know, THE REST OF THE STORY.
I got to say, I love your rotor blade tie downs, pretty cool.
I know it's a long drive but I hope to see you at Mentone next year.
Doug
 
Todd
You deserve that award you earned it. Besides that I seen you flying in the rain, now I know, THE REST OF THE STORY.

I was just washing the road bugs off, I learned this trick from birdy ;)

I got to say, I love your rotor blade tie downs, pretty cool.

Yeah, It got as much attention as my gyro and all the girls wanted to touch it :D

I know it's a long drive but I hope to see you at Mentone next year.

I plan on it, I had a blast.

Doug
 
I wish you had come to me and really got me involved with the hassles you were having getting your pass card. I feel sure I could have gotten you in the air much quicker than the route you ended up using. Problem was we were both so busy we never got the chance to talk about it till it was too late.

I am glad you came, it takes alot of money, time and headache to make it to these events, but it is almost always worth it. Now you need to start pooling vacation time for a trip to Bensen Days next April. Probably a even longer trip, but you will like chasing gators and wild hogs with us :)
 
Todd I did not know you had a hard time with your Pass card but I can assure you that it was not to hassle you but to make sure you could handle your machine in a safe manner. Safety is the upmost concern with the guys doing these fly`ins. I look forward to seeing you at some more events & support your trend with your new Power Plant!
 
Todd...
Congrats to you on your Award...you really have put in your "dues" for that Engine conversion to be as successful as it is.
You must be one heck of a "3 ring circus" busy type of guy with all on your plate.
Are you gonna still convert part time...or devote more as you get more demand for those Yammies?

Still...everyone wants you to do those engine mounts and/or conversion kits...can you blame us...you've let the Genie out of the bottle with the best Engine seen in many years.
Tell Ya' what...We'll keep you busy and in cash flow while you perfect these...I have a feeling this is the first of more awards for your hard work.
:)

So...I tip my Hat to you (literally) for a Job very well done!
CONGRATS TO YOU!!

Mike
 
Todd, congratulations on your award, it is well deserved. I wish I could see you gyro/engine fly in person.

Two hours of additional required CFI training at Mentone seems a little absurd considering you already have a verifiable CFI sign-off.

A gyro with proven flight time should not subject you to someone else flying your machine as a requirement. Ron is a good stick, but liability issues could be messy.

Did I miss something here?

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH
 
Todd, congratulations on your award, it is well deserved. I wish I could see you gyro/engine fly in person.

Thank you Scott, That award means a lot to me because there were many very impressive innovations their that were deserving as well, I feel very honored that I won that category.

I hope to meet you someday and hopefully I will have my gyro with me as well so you can see and hear it up close

Two hours of additional required CFI training at Mentone seems a little absurd considering you already have a verifiable CFI sign-off.

My CFI was not present to sign my pass card, I had to get a attending CFI to sign my pass card. I needed the training hours anyway and enjoyed the instructor very much.

A gyro with proven flight time should not subject you to someone else flying your machine as a requirement. Ron is a good stick, but liability issues could be messy.

In all fairness I did just remake all my engine re drive cage parts and motor mounts just before I came to Mentone.
At the beginning of this year I sold my originals to someone else to get them in the air sooner and I planned on rebuilding mine later, which is what I did.
I did not change the basic design but I was honest and told them that everything was new. One other thing in the mix is I now have a centrifugal clutch which was a new thing for me.

Did I miss something here?

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH

I will admit that I did think I had everything needed when I arrived but I soon found out that I did not. Putting myself in their shoes I understand why they did what they did, they just wanted to do their best to make sure everyone including me would be safe during the event and I agree with that 100%
In the end I did get to fly the last day of the event and I enjoyed every second of it.

I am not mad in any way and I hold no hard feelings at all, I believe that the PRA did a very good job.

Because of this I believe next year it will be laid out better for first timers who attend and they will know exactly what is expected and required of them before they even show up, that should help everything run much more smoothly when everything is up front in black and white.

Todd aka Racer
 
Scott, you'll get to see Todd's machine fly, along with several Sport Copters, even a Sport Copter with a Yamaha, at Rotors Over The Rockies next June. You know you wanna!
 
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