Gyrocopter Crash

A

aardvark

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
39
Location
Moravian Falls, NC
Hi everyone, My son just called and said that they were going to tell about a gyrocopter crash onn our local TV station here in Winston Salem, NC ,WXII channel 12. I guess I missed it, but here is the link to the website.
http://www.wxii12.com/news/22322744/detail.html

The accident happened in Kernersville,NC. The photo on the website is very poor. The gyro has an N-number, but I can't make it out.

This is the text:
Police said a pilot crashed a small ultra-light aircraft behind his home along Graves Mill Road in Kernersville just before 2 p.m. Saturday.

The pilot was taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of broken bones.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are on the scene looking into the cause of the crash.


Thank God that he survived the crash.

Gary Pennell
 
Donald L. Hoffmeier Jr.

N132DH = AWI 1GYRO

I looked it up from the home address and found the name and aircraft registration after that.

Does anyone know him? Know of anyone that trained him etc?

It seems he has 2 gyros registered N131DH and N132DH both registered in Broward County Florida.
 
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Here is the guy and the gyro in the crash. This isn't footage OF the crash. This is in florida somewhere... looks like he likes pushing the takeoff and landing area as small as possible... just like he was doing here in NC in the yard of his house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyx2Ykj6UV8&mode=related&search=

I swear I recognize the voice in that video but can't place it.
 
Another video. Another very tight field. http://www.youtube.com/user/gyronautical#p/a/u/1/VK9g0P1RsVg

I think it is obvious this guy constantly takes off and lands behind the curve and had engine problems and put it down rough and snapped the front end off of it.

Based on previous discussion on the forums about these videos. This is the guy that built Roy Davis's machine.

I hope the guy is OK and it sounds like he got out of this with relatively minor injury but you can bet this is going to cause a stink with him flying out of his back yard and make it rougher on those of us that have done it or are doing it.
 
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There is a Don (Donnie) that builds Dominatorlike gyros in Broward.
Maybe it is the same guy that built Roy Davis and Scott The Prez´s gyros.
Heron
 
being as close to K-ville as I am, I am surprised I have not heard about him and his gyro. wonder how long he has been in the Area.
glad he lived.
 
Roy's gyro is not a Dominator. The gyro in the first video isn't a stock dominator either. The landing gear legs are the biggest difference. Roy's gyro uses fiberglass axles I think. They both look like there's flex in the axles. On a rough field it may start bouncing quite a bit.
 
getut said:
Here is the guy and the gyro in the crash. This isn't footage OF the crash. This is in florida somewhere... looks like he likes pushing the takeoff and landing area as small as possible... just like he was doing here in NC in the yard of his house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyx2Ykj6UV8&mode=related&search=

I swear I recognize the voice in that video but can't place it.
Click to expand...

That is Roy Davis flying, and that is Scott Lewis' back yard. It is short, I flew Scotts machine once out of his yard and it is about as short of a runway as you'd want to use
 
damn that is a short place to takeoff from, he got off that concrete pad pretty quick tho! I've seen shorter strips but nothing I'd fly a gyro from!
 
Dunno, looks OK-ish to me. Given a good prerotator and maybe a tad of wind helping you. There's some decent looking lawn beyond the paved part, and it looks as if you could avoid the tall trees by veering a bit to the right. Nothing to try on a hot day with full fuel and a breeze caressing your behind, though.

-- Chris.
 
Looking at the grass 90 degrees of the gyro, he nosed it pretty hard into the ground with the trench it left.
 
they showed it on the local news here again last night, of course one station reported it as an ultralight plane and the other station reported it as a small helicopter. Fail! go back to reporters school. they did report his name as Donald Hoffmeier. I wonder how long he has been in the Area.

They did report, his wife said he was ok.

who knows maybe we will hear from him on here sometime.
 
animal said:
one station reported it as an ultralight plane and the other station reported it as a small helicopter. .
Click to expand...

I feel bad for the heli folks but...

It is nice to have the media's ineptitude work in our favor for once....


.
 
LOL there is nothing the media can worsen on our self induced reputation hahahaha. :)
 
Redbaron said:
damn that is a short place to takeoff from, he got off that concrete pad pretty quick tho! I've seen shorter strips but nothing I'd fly a gyro from!
Click to expand...
That is Roy Davis, and that is my yard.. It's plenty long though 300+ feet usable runway made from Nursery ground cloth.. Just do a good pre-flight say a few hail Marys and off you go...:noidea:
 
Exterminator said:
It's plenty long though 300+ feet usable runway made from Nursery ground cloth.. Just do a good pre-flight say a few hail Marys and off you go...:noidea:
Click to expand...

Thank goodness for "sea level". Don't try that with a density altitude of 8,000 ft. :eek:
 
Who is that talking in that one video. I really do recognize the voice but can't think of it. Its driving me nuts. He is talking about the 1% failure rate.
 
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