- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,357
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
I love to expand my flying world and each time I land at a new airport there is a special thrill and new people to meet. I feel that head winds can be a challenge for a 65 mile per hour aircraft and when it rains I get wet. I would fly faster but it seems chaotic. I have flown for more than 5 hours in a day and I was ready for more.
I thought about flying to Mentone and Oshkosh but I feel it is a little beyond my current proficiency. I drove almost 6,000 miles on the Mentone loop.
There was a squall line across Kansas that I would have run into if I was on the southern route to miss the big altitude over the Rocky Mountains. A missed a tornado by 50 miles in Iowa. The first night I was in Rochester there were thunderstorms from Chicago all the way to Mentone with some serious winds. There were Thunderstorms and big winds in Idaho Springs, Colorado. I have run into big hail headed across Texas on my way to Bensen Days.
I don’t feel that the Predator is well suited to this sort of adventure.
I was working on the design of a tractor autogiro with a canopy. A higher cruse would help to cover the distance and headwinds would be less of a challenge. I would not have the cooling problems that I have with the Predator and I would not get as wet when it rains.
As I wandered home there were lots of motorcycles returning from a big event to the north of me. Many had their bikes on trailers. I feel that this truncates the adventure. I feel that the journey is the point. Before I found Aviation I used to ride around 20,000 miles every year. As a young person I would not ride with a windshield because I liked to feel the wind against my skin. It did not limit my range. I have a windshield now because I ride at the speed limit and I find the wind makes me tired.
Enter the Burgess conundrum! I was learning to fly the Snowbird for two hours with Chris. He is an excellent instructor. I loved seeing the ground directly beneath me in my peripheral vision. It gave me a sense of progress across the farmland with its straight roads and flat land. As we climbed out and turned crosswind at 45 miles per hour at KRCR I felt the wind slap me on both sides of my face. I recaptured some of the joy I found as a youth riding motorcycles without a windshield. I loved that! In short I love the feel of the wind and the visual perspective in an open gyroplane.
An open pusher would be slower and offer less wind protection. I feel that this would make it less suitable to fly to Mentone than the Predator.
The weather made flying to Mentone in anything a time consuming challenge.
Any autogiro is not well suited for a 6,000 mile cross country flight. The Predator is not well suited to riding on a trailer. A simple, lighter pusher would lend itself to crossing the country on a trailer.
A trailer would make it less of an adventure but more practical.
And open pusher like the Predator with a body and windshield has cross country capability but is limited in a practical sense.
A tractor with a big engine and a canopy with its higher top speed and better weather protection would be better suited for cross country. I would be more isolated from some of what I love about flying an open autogiro. Weather is still a very big challenge.
A simple pusher without a body or windshield would immerse me in the autogiro flying experience in a way that enhances the tactile experience but limits the cross country capability. I good trailer and a clever loading scheme would enhance the cross country capability because I could land and load up if we ran into weather but I couldn’t fly cross country two up because someone has to drive the tow vehicle.
When I drive to a fly in and have nothing to fly I am struck by the reality that it is not a drive in but a fly in and I have missed the adventure of flying in.
I would be grateful to hear of the ways that others have addressed their personal Burgess Conundrum.
Thank you, Vance
I thought about flying to Mentone and Oshkosh but I feel it is a little beyond my current proficiency. I drove almost 6,000 miles on the Mentone loop.
There was a squall line across Kansas that I would have run into if I was on the southern route to miss the big altitude over the Rocky Mountains. A missed a tornado by 50 miles in Iowa. The first night I was in Rochester there were thunderstorms from Chicago all the way to Mentone with some serious winds. There were Thunderstorms and big winds in Idaho Springs, Colorado. I have run into big hail headed across Texas on my way to Bensen Days.
I don’t feel that the Predator is well suited to this sort of adventure.
I was working on the design of a tractor autogiro with a canopy. A higher cruse would help to cover the distance and headwinds would be less of a challenge. I would not have the cooling problems that I have with the Predator and I would not get as wet when it rains.
As I wandered home there were lots of motorcycles returning from a big event to the north of me. Many had their bikes on trailers. I feel that this truncates the adventure. I feel that the journey is the point. Before I found Aviation I used to ride around 20,000 miles every year. As a young person I would not ride with a windshield because I liked to feel the wind against my skin. It did not limit my range. I have a windshield now because I ride at the speed limit and I find the wind makes me tired.
Enter the Burgess conundrum! I was learning to fly the Snowbird for two hours with Chris. He is an excellent instructor. I loved seeing the ground directly beneath me in my peripheral vision. It gave me a sense of progress across the farmland with its straight roads and flat land. As we climbed out and turned crosswind at 45 miles per hour at KRCR I felt the wind slap me on both sides of my face. I recaptured some of the joy I found as a youth riding motorcycles without a windshield. I loved that! In short I love the feel of the wind and the visual perspective in an open gyroplane.
An open pusher would be slower and offer less wind protection. I feel that this would make it less suitable to fly to Mentone than the Predator.
The weather made flying to Mentone in anything a time consuming challenge.
Any autogiro is not well suited for a 6,000 mile cross country flight. The Predator is not well suited to riding on a trailer. A simple, lighter pusher would lend itself to crossing the country on a trailer.
A trailer would make it less of an adventure but more practical.
And open pusher like the Predator with a body and windshield has cross country capability but is limited in a practical sense.
A tractor with a big engine and a canopy with its higher top speed and better weather protection would be better suited for cross country. I would be more isolated from some of what I love about flying an open autogiro. Weather is still a very big challenge.
A simple pusher without a body or windshield would immerse me in the autogiro flying experience in a way that enhances the tactile experience but limits the cross country capability. I good trailer and a clever loading scheme would enhance the cross country capability because I could land and load up if we ran into weather but I couldn’t fly cross country two up because someone has to drive the tow vehicle.
When I drive to a fly in and have nothing to fly I am struck by the reality that it is not a drive in but a fly in and I have missed the adventure of flying in.
I would be grateful to hear of the ways that others have addressed their personal Burgess Conundrum.
Thank you, Vance