Michael Stump; Temecula CA

[Michael Stump]

Greetings everyone! Some of you old conference users may remember me and I know that there are some new Rotaryforum folks that might recognize my name. I was a gyro CFI here in southern California, and yes, I kinda did fall off the face off the Earth for a couple of years (for the most part). I was also the President of PRA Chapter 44 Bear Creek Rotorcraft Assn. for about three years (now disssolved, unfortunately), as well as owner of SkyTech.

9/11 did a fantastic job of destroying my gyro flight school and aircraft maintenance/engine overhaul facility. I left my day job (after being there for 10 years full-time) in April of 2001 to fly gyros and fix airplanes full-time, but in November of 2001, that's of course when all hell broke loose. Things all of a sudden got real tough, real quick.

Needless to say, I never really recovered from that and had to sell my two-place training machine to pay the mortgage. Once I did that, the phone stopped ringing soon thereafter. That's about the time I disappeared because the customer base dried up, essentially, in the few months following 9/11.

Background: I am an A&P and Commercial Gyro and Helo pilot, as well as a gyro CFI (oooops...forgot to renew! I guess I am not a gyro CFI after all anymore cuz I let it lapse, but I at least have a ticket in my pocket that shows that I was one at one time not too long ago).

I was trained by Jim Mayfield himself in gyros. Without a doubt, the best Instructor and Examiner in the business. Then, I went on to have tons of fun in my single-place Air Command and earn my wings (and ratings), while also running my Rotax engine overhaul facility (also suffered quite a bit due to 9/11). I then got my ticket in the helicopter and spent a few hundred very expensive hours flying the classic Bell 47...a great machine!

I needed a break from aviation after 10 years of doing it agressively (yet very safely, of course) and 15 years as an A&P (running my part-time business after work each day), so I closed-up shop and sold the gyro to pay some bills. A few measly attempts to revive it were unsuccessful, so I decided to extend my hiatus (although, I was fortunate enough to get a new job at the same employer I left in early '02...yep, they took me back!). Been back there ever since and it is a great place to be. I do miss the aviation stuff, however.

Why so quiet, you may ask? Well, after I closed shop, I needed something to do after work each day...so I went back to being a musician (which was my field before I got into aviation, interestingly enough). I played trumpet for years before and was really starting to enjoy it again until I developed Musicians Dystonia recently (a disease that can prevent you from playing your instrument that you worked so hard to master). Sucks, indeed. I did discover (again) that I can play drums quite well (I did so as a kid), so I am now doing that and will be forming a band next year. Music has consumed almost all of my time outside of my day job and the disease does not affect my drumming (good thing!).

Outside of that, it's business as usual for me. It's nice to see those familiar names on this new conference which feels so unfamiliar (only because it isn't like the old one at all yet it is so much nicer, IMHO), and it is only now that I have made the opportunity to write this post, which is my very first! (Please don't hammer me if I screw it up!). Nice to meet all of the folks hear whose names I don't yet recognize, too.

One last thing. I do have a lot of very valuable aviation "stuff" still leftover from the business. I plan to post a basic list of these items in the For Sale area of this conference sometime later this week. I have some very interesting items and I hope I can develop some interest in them, because selling them off may be the only way I can afford to get back into gyros anytime soon (I miss it a lot!). Look for the notice in a day or three titled "Selling off Gyroplane Business Assets" (or something similiar).

In the meantime, here's a teaser for the items I need to part with: Prince Prop, Warp Drive Prop, Rotax 532 Engine, Aviation Hardware, Rotax Parts, Rotax Tools, Rotor Heads, Air Command Rudders, a brand-new and complete Air Command Centerline-thrust conversion kit (for single-place), a Seat Tanks, Shock-absorbing tailwheels, rudder pedals....and maybe more!

These items will be autioned on eBay by one of my partners who is truly an eBay master and an extremely nice, church-going man who has been my friend since before college (not to mention a fellow A&P and FAA IA). Prices will be very reasonable, but I'll post the items here before auction in case there is any early interest (kind of a "head start" for you).

Take care, all, and I hope to see you on the ramp sometime in the very near future in some kind of single-place showpiece of a gyro! Warmest regards, Michael J. Stump.

[scott heger]

Mike, hope you get the bug to get back gyro flying more actively. I want to publicly thank you for all your help and contributions to the Southern Calif gyro community, and your personal sacrifice you made being a gyro CFI. Read my post under the general section regarding night flying; remember the night training you gave me? I am not sure who was happier to be on the ground that evening. Thanks for your update and hope to see you soon.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel, Ca N86SH

[gyropilot]

Hey Mike,

It's great to see you back online posting in a rotary wing circle again. We missed you.

John Landry

[Aussie_Paul]

Hi Mike, from Aussie Paul, one time vice president of Ask First.

[Michael Stump]

Hi guys, Nice to hear from you all and thanks for the welcome back. I am new to this forum format so I have no clue....I assume I am supposed to type my reply into the Quick Reply box below your postings at the bottom of the web page? I hope so because that is what I am doing! I hope it works.

Scott, John and Paul, I remember you all very well and it is indeed a good feeling to be "back in the saddle again," even though I am not really because I am minus one flying machine. I suppose this forum is as good a place to start as any, huh? We'll see how it goes. History has a way of repeating itself, does it not? (Just watch, five years from now I'll be training and overhauling Rotaxes....hmmmm....).

Finances have been a bastard but it will work out, I am sure. It took some time for the full scope of the "9/11 effect" to hammer my business, but it did and did it well enough that I had to bail out completely. Still paying those bills today, as a matter of fact. The hiatus was something I just needed so that I could build back up that feeling of a "second wind." Frankly, I was also burning out, but that's behind us now.

Anyhoo, nice to hear from you again and I am sure that we'll chat in some of the various forums from time-to-time now. Please do take care and fly safely! Hope you all are keeping those rotors turning. Warm Regards...Mike

[animal]

Originally Posted by Michael Stump

Greetings everyone! Some of you old conference users may remember me and I know that there are some new Rotaryforum folks that might recognize my name. I was a gyro CFI here in southern California, and yes, I kinda did fall off the face off the Earth for a couple of years (for the most part). I was also the President of PRA Chapter 44 Bear Creek Rotorcraft Assn. for about three years (now disssolved, unfortunately), as well as owner of SkyTech.

9/11 did a fantastic job of destroying my gyro flight school and aircraft maintenance/engine overhaul facility. I left my day job (after being there for 10 years full-time) in April of 2001 to fly gyros and fix airplanes full-time, but in November of 2001, that's of course when all hell broke loose. Things all of a sudden got real tough, real quick.

Needless to say, I never really recovered from that and had to sell my two-place training machine to pay the mortgage. Once I did that, the phone stopped ringing soon thereafter. That's about the time I disappeared because the customer base dried up, essentially, in the few months following 9/11.

Background: I am an A&P and Commercial Gyro and Helo pilot, as well as a gyro CFI (oooops...forgot to renew! I guess I am not a gyro CFI after all anymore cuz I let it lapse, but I at least have a ticket in my pocket that shows that I was one at one time not too long ago).

I was trained by Jim Mayfield himself in gyros. Without a doubt, the best Instructor and Examiner in the business. Then, I went on to have tons of fun in my single-place Air Command and earn my wings (and ratings), while also running my Rotax engine overhaul facility (also suffered quite a bit due to 9/11). I then got my ticket in the helicopter and spent a few hundred very expensive hours flying the classic Bell 47...a great machine!

I needed a break from aviation after 10 years of doing it agressively (yet very safely, of course) and 15 years as an A&P (running my part-time business after work each day), so I closed-up shop and sold the gyro to pay some bills. A few measly attempts to revive it were unsuccessful, so I decided to extend my hiatus (although, I was fortunate enough to get a new job at the same employer I left in early '02...yep, they took me back!). Been back there ever since and it is a great place to be. I do miss the aviation stuff, however.

Why so quiet, you may ask? Well, after I closed shop, I needed something to do after work each day...so I went back to being a musician (which was my field before I got into aviation, interestingly enough). I played trumpet for years before and was really starting to enjoy it again until I developed Musicians Dystonia recently (a disease that can prevent you from playing your instrument that you worked so hard to master). Sucks, indeed. I did discover (again) that I can play drums quite well (I did so as a kid), so I am now doing that and will be forming a band next year. Music has consumed almost all of my time outside of my day job and the disease does not affect my drumming (good thing!).

Outside of that, it's business as usual for me. It's nice to see those familiar names on this new conference which feels so unfamiliar (only because it isn't like the old one at all yet it is so much nicer, IMHO), and it is only now that I have made the opportunity to write this post, which is my very first! (Please don't hammer me if I screw it up!). Nice to meet all of the folks hear whose names I don't yet recognize, too.

One last thing. I do have a lot of very valuable aviation "stuff" still leftover from the business. I plan to post a basic list of these items in the For Sale area of this conference sometime later this week. I have some very interesting items and I hope I can develop some interest in them, because selling them off may be the only way I can afford to get back into gyros anytime soon (I miss it a lot!). Look for the notice in a day or three titled "Selling off Gyroplane Business Assets" (or something similiar).

In the meantime, here's a teaser for the items I need to part with: Prince Prop, Warp Drive Prop, Rotax 532 Engine, Aviation Hardware, Rotax Parts, Rotax Tools, Rotor Heads, Air Command Rudders, a brand-new and complete Air Command Centerline-thrust conversion kit (for single-place), a Seat Tanks, Shock-absorbing tailwheels, rudder pedals....and maybe more!

These items will be autioned on eBay by one of my partners who is truly an eBay master and an extremely nice, church-going man who has been my friend since before college (not to mention a fellow A&P and FAA IA). Prices will be very reasonable, but I'll post the items here before auction in case there is any early interest (kind of a "head start" for you).

Take care, all, and I hope to see you on the ramp sometime in the very near future in some kind of single-place showpiece of a gyro! Warmest regards, Michael J. Stump.

Michael, are you the same one that built the oshkosh grand champ Scorpion? if so I still have the pages of that Scorpion posted on my wall.
I am building a Scorpion with a 162 engine in it.

[Michael Stump]

Animal,

I'm not the one who built the Grand Champion Scorpion machine, but if it made GC at Osh' then I would have to guess that it is quite a nice bird. I have never actually built a helo from start to finish, but have worked on a few Certificated types from time-to-time (Bell 47's and a Robinson R22 or two). I have always been pleased with the look of the Scorpion myself and wanted to build one, but life being what it is, never had the time. Congrats on being able to do it yourself! I look forward to seeing the final result. These are sweet looking helos, indeed.

Curious, are plans for these birds still out there? I might consider the helo vs. a gyro for the next project...hmmmm...you've got me thinking now!

In the meantime, I am new to this particular forum so I have a lot to learn yet, but I'm gonna at least attempt to attach a picture of the type of custom work I like to do. If sucessful, you'll see a picture of my custom side-by-side machine that I built for training. It's unlike any other gyro in the world. Here goes nothin!'......