ARGON GTL Fly to THe North 16 000 km over the Ocean

[ARGON Producer]

The first really Grand Turismo gyroplane proof of concept.
ARGON GTL 915 a serial production Gyro straight from the Poland factory flew 1500 km to France.
...and this was just the beginning of the adventure...
Then by the northern transoceanic route traveled more than 16,000 km from Europe to North America over the English Channel, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Canada to the USA Oshkosh.

Pilot Tof Gonin with this expedition went down in the annals of world aviation history because it was the first such feat accomplished with a Gyro in a two-man crew.
Could it be that the name of this Gyro - Grand Turismo Long - was the inspiration for this beautiful journey?
Surely there are other equally good Autogyro in the world, maybe even better, but only in ARGON GTL the only limitation is your imagination... 1000 liters of luggage space and 120 liters of fuel as standard make it unique.

ARGON GTL
The GTL reinvented gyroplane traveling.
Tof Gonin became the first ever pilot to fly a Gyro in a two-person crew from Europe to America trough the northern route via Greenland west direction.
More people have walked on the moon than have accomplished a similar feat. Before Tof only two pilots have accomplished this trip by a Gyro, both in the east direction and in one person crew only.
Tof Gonin, you have made history, you have also proven the validity of our concept indeed we have managed to design the Gyro for comfortable travel in two people with luggage.
ARGON GTL grand turismo long Made in Poland also goes down in history as the first machine on which this feat was achieved.
Standard ARGON GTL fuel tanks have a capacity of 120 liters, you can stay in the air for up to 5 hours of flight and get a range up to 1000 km (with external tanks)



The expedition is documented with a GPS start from the British Isles.
The track shows all the trip data like altitude, geographic position, airspeed and time of fly.
There was no shortage of dramatic moments during the trip when the tracker signal faded despite the fact that IRYDIUM technology was used.


Thanks to ABC Flight ULM and Bernard La Chapell which showed ARGON GTL's Christoph Gonin the adventure began.
After a test flight and an evaluation of ARGON GTL's capabilities, it became clear that it was the only Gyro currently available that would rise to such a challenge. Preparatory and organizational work has begun.
Initially, in the first phase of the flight, the crew member was Aurelie Suzur, a passionate woman pilot.
Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, Aurelie resigned from further travel during her stay in the Faroe Islands.



Scotland - Faroe Island
450 km over the cold Ocean and strong wind
After the first stages from Germany to France, it was time to fly over the English Channel, this was ARGON GTL's first test in an offshore flight with loss of coastal visibility.
The ARGON GTL passed this test perfectly, and the travelers, despite flying in neoprene suits, felt no discomfort.
These suits, along with personal trackers, were essential to keep the crew alive in the event of an unexpected launch. After flying over the British Isles, it was time for the real test - 5 hours in the air and nearly 500 km over the ocean in which the temperature did not exceed 5 degrees C.



Faroe Island - Iceland
500 km over the Ocean with very limited of visibility
The flight to the Faroe Islands was a foretaste of a transoceanic journey in which the daredevils had to plan every detail. The factor that determined the success of the expedition was the weather, which in these regions can be extremely capricious and unpredictable ...
Flying at a distance close to the maximum distance did not allow to make any mistakes. Pilots rely only on instruments because the flight over the surface of the water is extremely demanding for concentration and possible mistakes, the water merges with the sky and you can not see the horizon line making it extremely easy to make a mistake.



Iceland - Greenland
565 km big jump over the Ocean
The flight to the Faroe Islands was a foretaste of a transoceanic journey in which the daredevils had to plan every detail. The factor that determined the success of the expedition was the weather, which in these regions can be extremely capricious and unpredictable ...
Flying at a distance close to the maximum distance did not allow to make any mistakes. Pilots rely only on instruments because the flight over the surface of the water is extremely demanding for concentration and possible mistakes, the water merges with the sky and you can not see the horizon line making it extremely easy to make a mistake.

 

[ARGON Producer]

Greenland - Kulusuk - Narsarsuaq
670 km through the ice deserts
During the transoceanic flight, all of us tracking GPS track online experienced moments of horror. At one point the signal broke off and was not visible for nearly half an hour. Neither Flight Radar nor GARMIN tracking showed a marker showing ARGON GTL's position on the map. We expected everything, even that in a moment we would see rescue helicopters flying to look for the crashed Gyro, fortunately, after nearly half an hour without a signal, it turned out that everything is Ok and ARGON GTL flies on.
When the excitement subsides there appears a relaxation that can be risky, especially since ahead of our heroes was, seemingly impossibly, the most dangerous stage of the expedition - a flight over the ice deserts of Greenland on the longest stretch so far of nearly 700 km.



Greenland - Narsarsuaq - Nuuk
400 km with only white bears through the ice deserts
Flying the nearly 700-kilometer stretch over the ice wilderness where the only companions were seals and polar bears showed the true capabilities of ARGON GTL. The flight was full of drama as can be seen on the GPS track caused by the sudden deterioration of visibility after takeoff and the need to overfly to areas where it was possible to continue VFR flight i.e. with visibility.
Fortunately, the pilot's cool head and the reliability of all ARGON GTL components made it possible to land safely in a God-forgotten-by-God-and-Humans locale with an unpronounceable name of Narsarsuaq

Greenland - Nuuk
An unexpected hurricane
Life writes the least obvious scenarios...
No one on the Fly The North expedition team in their worst nightmares could have predicted what happened. It was not the oceans or ice deserts, not fatigue or lack of fuel that proved to be the biggest threat to this crazy adventure. It was the weather that almost made the expedition a failure.
As is usually the case, nothing foreshadowed tragedy, the forecast, as it is in Greenland, spoke of strong winds, with gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, Toff secured the ARGON GTL by tying it to huge concrete anchors on the tarmac. Unfortunately, instead of wind, a hurricane with gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour passed over Nuuk, which overturned the Gyro, significantly damaging it...



Greenland - Nuuk
Rescue operation
The hurricane unfortunately damaged the rotor, mast, propeller, tail, empanage and fuselage components. Fortunately, the damage did not extend to the cockpit monocoque structure. After an initial assessment of the damage, we began the procedure of collecting parts and arranging shipment to Greenland - the last place in the world where packages are sent.
The whole action from ordering almost 60% of the parts for ARGON repair to delivery to such an unusual place as Greenland took only 7 days. Service care and customer safety are our priority, so you can be sure that we will never leave you nomen omen in the lurch because We Manufacture Passion!

Greenland - Canada Qikiqtarjuaq
Continuing the journey
Our heroes tired but happy to have managed to bring ARGON GTL again to flying condition within a record time of two weeks after the incident. This was possible thanks to the involvement of the service chief of the Manufaktura Lotnicza- Robert in the repair operation, only he could make the ARGON GTL crew arrive on time for the exhibition in Oshkosh USA, despite the delay.
It turned out that the impossible is possible and we perform on the spot and sometimes you have to wait a few days for miracles From this stage, Lucien Angrand joined the crew and was happy to join the repair process.

 

[ARGON Producer]

Canada Qikiqtarjuaq - Roberval
Transcontinental journey trough North American Canada
After weeks of Arctic conditions and harsh landscapes, the views outside the window began to slowly change color from shades of white and gray to shy greens and blues.
The ARGON GTL crew arrived in Quebeck, Canada, to the town of Roberval where ARGON Canadian Distributor Sylvaine Gilbert is based.



Canada - USA Oshkosh
The adventure has reached its destination
16,000 kilometers, nearly 200 hours in the air in extreme conditions ARGON GTL with Toff Gonin and Lucien Angrand arrived at their destination on time. The crew proudly presented their historic achievement at the world's largest aviation event Oshkosh USA

 

[Abid]

They were just next door to my booth at Oshkosh. Unfortunately, there was not as much attention as this adventure deserved. You should have had your US importer get a booth at Oshkosh and arrange news and media beforehand.
I considered an opportunity missed to be honest. The fact that the gyroplane had been flipped over in high winds and the repair was well visible also took away from its appeal a bit but with right media and marketing that could have been easily overcome and explained.

 

[ARGON Producer]

They were just next door to my booth at Oshkosh. Unfortunately, there was not as much attention as this adventure deserved. You should have had your US importer get a booth at Oshkosh and arrange news and media beforehand.
I considered an opportunity missed to be honest. The fact that the gyroplane had been flipped over in high winds and the repair was well visible also took away from its appeal a bit but with right media and marketing that could have been easily overcome and explained.

You're right Abid, but it wasn't a marketing stunt. It was a private expedition organized by Frenchman Tof Gonin, who bought his ARGON at a normal price and flew it to Oshkosh.
They received full support from us in Greenland when the hurricane-damaged Gyro had to be rebuilt, we did it in two weeks, making it in time for the exhibition in the US.
Full coverage of this event on our website https://argo.aero/flythenorth.html