Hi from Vaca Moo Airport in East Texas !

Piot135pd

Here to Learn and Help
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
82
Location
Ben Wheeler, Texas
Aircraft
2013 MTO Sport is my "starter gyro". I trained in one so I might keep it or buy another make & model
Total Flight Time
4600
I'm going to skip a few things that would be boring to most here and just say I retired from the US Air Force after 21 years serving and was happy flying my little R-22 Mariner on "always open floats" around the islands of the Caribbean when someone took me out of retirement to fly EMS (now called HAA ) air ambulance helicopters in Emporia, Kansas. From there I flew EMS helicopters here in the States and also the Middle East ( Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in that forsaken area of the world). I met a lot of good people during those years, for that I'm happy.

I again retired after doing that for 10 years when a company ( which thanks to a hefty settlement check will remain anonymous ) fired me for bringing up that a mechanic was pencil-whipping our aircraft's inspections. BTW I tried for over almost a year to get the company to do the right thing before I finally went to the FAA. So the FAA found I was right and the company a few weeks later fired me. Big mistake, LOL !

So for the last few years I've been developing a private grass runway airpark. I'm currently finishing up the "FBO/Maintenance Shop/Hangars" phase but should be on the "selling lots" phase by next summer.

I've been researching which brand of gyros to buy for myself and to teach in. I also want to sell them and each one has it's pros and cons. I've been looking at the machines, their support, parts availability, prices, after sales maintenance support, among other things. When I think I have it pegged I run into a hickup. It's not easy to even buy the machines because there is so little information. If you ask for a price you get a price but then you have to later find out there's a few hidden expenses they don't mention up front.

ANYWAY.... I decided to buy myself a "starter gyro" which is the same model I trained in, a 2013 MTO Sport. It only had 65 hours and seemed to be well maintained, of course one of the biggest issues is finding a qualified mechanic to inspect it. So with that in mind I fell back on my experience during the years buying other types of aircraft that I've owned and did my best during the pre-purchase. Still had some surprises when I got back home but nothing major that throwing more money at it won't correct. My biggest issue is finding Annual Condition Reports signed off without having done the entire checklist, I find that so irresponsible,.

In a few months I'll know if I want to keep the MTO but I already definitely know that I want to buy a new gyro and build it myself so I can then fix little things myself instead of having to rely on others for their time. Will it be another Auto-Gyro or will it be another brand, that I still don't know. I thought I had it figured out but the issues I find in the ones I really like are still there today so time will tell.

Thanks for letting me into your forum, I've already started reading through years of threads here and have learned a lot. I hope to be able to help others too as I get more involved in this type of flying.

Carlos
 
Congratulations Carlos.

Nice slow motion.

Thank you for sharing the fun.
 
Thanks Vance ! I know doing the condition inspection is a regular necessary evil in every owner's lives so it's not a big deal for some here but this is the first one I do one to a gyro and I'm very glad I did it myself in order to get to know more about my machine.
 
Hello Carlos:
Welcome to the other side?
You mentioned the possibility of another gyro, in the future. Figure out the type of flying you enjoy the most; and build or buy a machine for the mission. 99% of my flying is low, slow, crankin and bankin, and playing; so an open or podded machine fits me the best. That is one of the reasons I chose a Dominator. If I wanted more of a cross country machine, I would have chosen a MTO or Magni or AR1 or Tango or any semi enclosed machine.
Either way, just have fun and enjoy the experience of the Gyro world. Hope to see you around some of the fly-ins.
 
Thanks for the advice. Yes I went to Mentone this year to see the various models all together. For now the MTO is filling the ticket but as soon as I start going to the fly-ins around Texas I'll figure out if I need something different.
 
Carlos, there is an A&P experienced with gyros at Fair Weather Field near Houston. Several gyro folks near Anahuac, Houston, Taylor, etc. Ray
 
Rainman;n1140325 said:
Carlos, there is an A&P experienced with gyros at Fair Weather Field near Houston. Several gyro folks near Anahuac, Houston, Taylor, etc. Ray

Yes, I finally got Desmon to come take a look at my gyro and he found a few things that weren't unsafe but were installed incorrectly. Thanks !
 
Top