1975 PRA Flyin in Rockford, Illinois

G

GrantR

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2007
Messages
1,329
Location
Plains, GA
Aircraft
Kolb MarkIII and a "Jake" Gyroplane
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About 85 fixed wing 3 gyro
Found this :http://vimeo.com/8904748

The year was 1975.

Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell are convicted of Watergate crimes. “Wheel Of Fortune,” debuts on NBC-TV. Lynette Fromme is sentenced to life for attempt on President Ford’s life. And Igor Benson and others gather to celebrate the gyrocopter!

Oh, and high quality video cameras are a distant dream



http://machnoneflying.com
 
For you youngsters out there, the music was not period correct. This is what wafted on the airwaves in 1975:
1. Love Will Keep Us Together, The Captain and Tennille
2. Rhinestone Cowboy, Glen Campbell
3. Philadelphia Freedom, Elton John
4. Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Freddy Fender
5. My Eyes Adored You, Frankie Valli
6. Shining Star, Wind and Fire
7. Fame, David Bowie
8. Laughter In the Rain, Neil Sedaka
9. One of These Nights, Eagles
10. Thank God I'm a Country Boy, John Denver

Sadly, there exists high quality, 16mm sound films of this and most other PRA events. Sadly, because the woman that owns them is afraid someone will profit from them or that they might get damaged while being converted to DVD.
That might have been me at the 6 min mark. I had a dark blue B8-M with a white boat tank and always wore my yellow "Airy plane" T-shirt whilst flying at shows.
 
Jerry Forrest, I really appreciated that clip: Rockford 1975; 35 years ago. I’m no 2 following Ken Brock and his dead stick. EA Van Houten was No 3 and Jim Eich was No 4 or 5. Jim can be identified by the goofy body pod and the cuffs on his rotor blades. Of that group, I’m the only one still alive.

Was ‘75 the year that Roger Wood first looped his Bensen?
 
Thank you Mr. Jerry Forrest and Mr. Grant Richardson

I think this was my first convention, and while the music was not "time period " correct , for an old fart like me, "it was correct" .

What a wonderful time and place and can you believe it, that many Mac's running at one time !!!!!!
 
I loved it . Back in the good old days when B8M's and KB2's were safe .
 
:noidea:Had fun putting this super 8mm home movie into VHS and then digital format and it lost some focus. The specs of dirt on the film came in pretty clear though! I bet there are lots of home movies and VHS/Beta videos out there waiting to be digitized. Anybody have an easy/good way of doing this?

Why and Tom (gyroplanes), It was a silent film so I had to find some music to put on it and found a CD of Depression era stuff. After all we are in a depression of sorts right now some "experts" say. (My personal music preference is big bands and early(old) jazz; I still play my clarinet & tenor sax in a concert band. And then there's my wife's accordian!).:blabla:

Chuck, I didn't know Roger Wood did loops!! And I recall Van Houten had his Bensen modified as a tandem 2 seater. I have some stills from this Flyin I'll have to scan one of these days. And from the '68 PRA Flyin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lqguZ0pnxM

Scary Gary, B8M's and KB2's are still safe, right??

Grant R, thanks for posting the link.
 
I bet there are lots of home movies and VHS/Beta videos out there waiting to be digitized. Anybody have an easy/good way of doing this?
Click to expand...

I don't have an answer for movies. But for VHS and other video's I'm using this product.

http://www.meritline.com/ezgrabber-usb-video-capture---p-35686.aspx

I purchased it when it was on sale for $18. I had 16 cassettes of 8mm video tape that I just finished copying to my Hard Drive.
 
Rockford

Rockford

1975 was the year I blew my mac up one month before Rockford.

I sent it to Ken Brock. He fixed it and brought it to Rokford in that station wagon you see by the tent.

I met him there and put it on there in the grass. Flew at the flyin and then flew up to Oshkosh.

The good ol days.

Me and Ron Menzie was the only two gyros that flew from Rockford to Oshkosh every year the flyin was at Rockford.

Carl
 
I still think B8M's and KB2's are safe .
But what do I know ?
 
Anytime an analog copy is made of an analog subject, there is degradation of resolution. Copies of copies of copies end up as a bunch of fuzz.

Thank heaven for digitization; ones and zeros don’t know how many generations are in their ancestry.

There are services listed online that directly digitize films and make a CD copy. I have no idea what it costs.
 
carls said:
Me and Ron Menzie was the only two gyros that flew from Rockford to Oshkosh every year the flyin was at Rockford.Carl
Click to expand...
Yeah but one year, Ron Menzie’s Mac croaked and he borrowed my gyro to maintain his record.
 
Rockford

Rockford

Thats right Chuck.

Before he left with your gyro he took it around the airport to check it out.

Came back and said the rotor has a little shake so you pushed it up to a telephone pole and wacked it with the blades.

I guess it was alright after that.

The good ol days.

Carl
 
The right tool for the right job, Carl.

It must have been a hair out of pattern and whacking it against a telephone pole is a lot simpler than removing the rotor and restringing.
 
Retro

Retro

I like it, It took me back to my begainnins. Back then we were doing some of the same type of flying, just up here in Colorado. Not as eazy though the sink rate was a lot higher on a hot day. It's good to see some of my old buddys in there prime. CB I don't how it is we never cross paths. Most of the events I went too were in the mid west & west coast but I did go too some of the east coast flying..........Dick
 
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The picture I use for my current avatar was my first gyro B-8M (72 MAC) and was taken at Rockford in 1975. The next year I added some red here and there for a red/white & blue Bicentennial motif.
 
Tom, was the 1975 Rockford Flyin the one where you recall that I was arguing with Martin Hollomann against horizontal stabilizers?
 
I've seen literally hundreds of gyro videos but I must say that this is one of the best pieces of nostalgic gyro flying I have had the pleasure to watch. This is true history and should be preserved for all who follow here. Perhaps you could present a copy to the PRA museum archives for safe keeping. Also in gyrowiki.
The music was actually befitting. Actually makes one 'feel' a part of the legacy.
Thanks for the efforts to convert the video and for sharing it with all who can relate....
 
C. Beaty said:
Tom, was the 1975 Rockford Flyin the one where you recall that I was arguing with Martin Hollomann against horizontal stabilizers?
Click to expand...

I must have stepped on your toes for you to remember that.

I could have remembered it wrong, but I'll swear it was you and Martin. I took the non-stab side (yours?), naturally.

Coming from the fixed wing world and hearing about the Swedish v/s Bensen story, I asked Igor about the strange location for his HS and was told a gyro doesn't need an HS. He said the item I referred to was a "Stone shield".

Times and people's opinions change.
 
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