Autogyro Cavalon N635BC

I guess the statute of limitations has run on this incident.

I was on base for a southbound landing at Stormville, NY, carrying a little power. But said power was waning, as it always did when my VW was burning up rod-end bearings.* I was going to land short.

Green Haven Prison adjoins the airport on the north, so "short" meant the prison grounds. I fluttered in, got my rotor stopped and tied it off with my belt. As I was pushing the gyro toward the road for a slog back to the airport, some prison guards rolled up in a pickup and shouted "You Ok?" "Yup" I said. They drove away.

Next some bikers rumbled up on their Hogs and one said of my gyro, "Jesus, that's a suicidal-lookin' thing." Under the circumstances, I didn't feel like arguing the point.

Nobody followed up, called the FAA or otherwise gave me a hard time.
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* Which it did frequently.
 
I guess the statute of limitations has run on this incident.

I was on base for a southbound landing at Stormville, NY, carrying a little power. But said power was waning, as it always did when my VW was burning up rod-end bearings.* I was going to land short.

Green Haven Prison adjoins the airport on the north, so "short" meant the prison grounds. I fluttered in, got my rotor stopped and tied it off with my belt. As I was pushing the gyro toward the road for a slog back to the airport, some prison guards rolled up in a pickup and shouted "You Ok?" "Yup" I said. They drove away.

Next some bikers rumbled up on their Hogs and one said of my gyro, "Jesus, that's a suicidal-lookin' thing." Under the circumstances, I didn't feel like arguing the point.

Nobody followed up, called the FAA or otherwise gave me a hard time.
________________________
* Which it did frequently.
Funny story. And no one even offered you a ride? :)
 
No ride offer. But then, I had my gyro to push back to the airport -- and the prison directly adjoins the airport. Not that long a push.

I did that push a few times. So much for the "reliable" 4-stroke VW.
 
No ride offer. But then, I had my gyro to push back to the airport -- and the prison directly adjoins the airport. Not that long a push.

I did that push a few times. So much for the "reliable" 4-stroke VW.
A "few times?" I'd heard the recidivism rate is pretty high but damn. Of course you get instant street cred when the inmates ask what you're in for.
 
Green Haven is (or was then) a Max. Some bad dudes. My base-to-final would take me nearly over the yard, inside The Wall. I did not care to visit in there. My deadstick was outside The Wall, on the nice golf-course-like grounds. Piece of cake.

Thankfully, my other unplanned landings were elsewhere around town.
 
Doug, what were the causes of the unplanned landings so can learn from those to prevent them?
 
Dave: This probably should be in a VW engines thread.

Briefly, in the case of my Stormville deadsticks (4 of them, IIR), the problem generally was burnout of the big-end bearings in the con rods. At the time (70's) I followed the advice of a then-reigning authority on VW engines, Ted Barker. He claimed that an oil cooler wasn't needed; just bypass it, said he. I was all for simplicity, cheapness, and lightness, so I did.

Best guess: I actually should have had the biggest damn oil cooler I could buy. Only a guess, though; I ran out of money while in college and gave up gyroing for several years.

I never figured out the cause for sure. When I got back in, it was with a Rotax 447. While not perfect, it proved more reliable than my home-brewed VW conversion. I never flew a X-C with the VW, but flew them all the time with the Rotax.
 
I guess the statute of limitations has run on this incident.

I was on base for a southbound landing at Stormville, NY, carrying a little power. But said power was waning, as it always did when my VW was burning up rod-end bearings.* I was going to land short.

Green Haven Prison adjoins the airport on the north, so "short" meant the prison grounds. I fluttered in, got my rotor stopped and tied it off with my belt. As I was pushing the gyro toward the road for a slog back to the airport, some prison guards rolled up in a pickup and shouted "You Ok?" "Yup" I said. They drove away.

________________________
* Which it did frequently.
A new gyro guy in our club, on one of his first flights, found himself near Stateville correctional facility just south of the Lewis University airport in Romeoville, IL. He flew around the prison "sightseeing" heading back to the airport, he saw a cluster of police cars also heading towards the airport. He said he was wondering if they were following him, so he turned toward the nearby Joliet airport and so did they. He got wise and started flying nap-of-the-earth. Bob got wiser and flew were there were no roads, he was out of airports and decided to high tail it back to his house. He said he flew low and swooped down on the street near his house. Taxiing to his house, a squad car rounded the corner lights on. Bob told me the cop heard the radio chatter and knew Bob (who was a well known businessman) was his first guess as he knew Bob was just starting to fly gyros. Bob said they were both Masons and a few secret handshakes later, it was all over. Bob became the second builder of a Marchetti Avenger gyro. Bob was a good friend of Frank Marchetti and a neighbor of Dick Wunderlich.
 
I assume Bob is/was the "new guy"...
Let me get this straight... he thinks cops are chasing him, by road, for flying over a prison so, instead of landing at any nearby airport, where he might have to have a chat with them, he lands on a public street near his house hoping no one is going to notice??
Hard to say if he broke any rules by flying around a prison, especially one right next to an airport, but I suspect he did by landing on a public road when there was no emergency...
 
I assume Bob is/was the "new guy"...
Let me get this straight... he thinks cops are chasing him, by road, for flying over a prison so, instead of landing at any nearby airport, where he might have to have a chat with them, he lands on a public street near his house hoping no one is going to notice??
Hard to say if he broke any rules by flying around a prison, especially one right next to an airport, but I suspect he did by landing on a public road when there was no emergency...
🤣🤣🤣.. yes well put
 
The final report on N35BC is out.

I stumbled across it and this thread while looking for something else.

Analysis: The pilot of the gyroplane reported that, while maneuvering at low altitude over a friend’s property, he looked down and backwards to the ground and inadvertently pulled back on the control stick, slowing the gyroplane to about 20 mph. He attempted to correct by applying full engine power and descending to reestablish airspeed. Concerned the gyroplane would impact trees, he flared just above a wooded area. The gyroplane fell through the trees to the ground substantially damaging the tail section. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot’s distraction and failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a low altitude maneuver, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control and collision with terrain. Page 2 of 6 WPR20CA253 Findings Personnel issues Task monitoring/vigilance - Pilot Personnel issues Aircraft control - Pilot Aircraft Airspeed - Not attained/maintained

The pilot was rated for Sport Pilot Single engine land with other aircraft ratings listed as gyroplane.

I found the experience of the pilot and recency of experience interesting in light of some of the comments on this thread.

Flight Time: (Estimated) 853.8 hours (Total, all aircraft), 71.8 hours (Total, this make and model), 803.3 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 71.3 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 24.8 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft), 1 hours (Last 24 hours, all aircraft)

My guess would be that the 71.3 hours in the last 90 days and the 24.8 hours in the last 30 days was in the Cavalon.

I suspect he was taught to lower the nose to increase airspeed by his flight instructor and demonstrating that knowledge is part of the practical test.

Lowering the nose is how you pick up speed in a fixed wing so the refrain of “flying it like a fixed wing” appears to me to not apply here.

I feel there is value in recognizing that if he did the same thing in a fixed wing it likely would have been a stall spin accident and likely fatal so it is a dangerous pilot rather than gyroplanes being a dangerous aircraft.
 
Interesting report and comments …my take on it simple …one must feel the aircraft, I am personally in tune with is yaw,
pitch and roll and am very aware of its airspeed at all times, ask anyone who has ever flown with me, I am a big fan of covering certain instruments during flight training and seeing how the student or converting pilot feels & reacts….let’s all ( all as in qualified gyro pilots) never forget “mother gyro” any and every gyro, irrespective of its make warns you when airspeed starts to get low (decay)….long before any stall warning devise or other …the f_€¥€_king stick feel is different and to remind those who have forgotten the stick gets mushy and if it was thrashed in enough during training the pilot would recognise the feel and react.

Sadly I think it’s often just a box that is ticket to demonstrate the stick feeling like it’s in porridge? …box ticket instructor moves on to the next phase of the syllabus?
Instead the instructor IMO should often bring the aircraft to a slow handling speed without letting on and see if his student identifies with the “feel”

That said where is / was the pilots airmanship? Is it just me who trains certain disciplines when having to fly low ? Obviously as a responsible pilot I discourage unnecessary low flight, Speed when low is one of the important ones? ( we can turn speed into height if needed)
Many an accident has happened when a guy gets behind the power curve while mucking about with people on the ground bad airmanship is what I’m reading

I’m aware my comments in this case will attract fierce debate
 
Is it just me who trains certain disciplines when having to fly low ? Obviously as a responsible pilot I discourage unnecessary low flight,
What is necessary low flight?
 
Interesting report and comments …my take on it simple …one must feel the aircraft, I am personally in tune with is yaw,
pitch and roll and am very aware of its airspeed at all times, ask anyone who has ever flown with me, I am a big fan of covering certain instruments during flight training and seeing how the student or converting pilot feels & reacts….let’s all ( all as in qualified gyro pilots) never forget “mother gyro” any and every gyro, irrespective of its make warns you when airspeed starts to get low (decay)….long before any stall warning devise or other …the f_€¥€_king stick feel is different and to remind those who have forgotten the stick gets mushy and if it was thrashed in enough during training the pilot would recognise the feel and react.

Sadly I think it’s often just a box that is ticket to demonstrate the stick feeling like it’s in porridge? …box ticket instructor moves on to the next phase of the syllabus?
Instead the instructor IMO should often bring the aircraft to a slow handling speed without letting on and see if his student identifies with the “feel”

That said where is / was the pilots airmanship? Is it just me who trains certain disciplines when having to fly low ? Obviously as a responsible pilot I discourage unnecessary low flight, Speed when low is one of the important ones? ( we can turn speed into height if needed)
Many an accident has happened when a guy gets behind the power curve while mucking about with people on the ground bad airmanship is what I’m reading

I’m aware my comments in this case will attract fierce debate
For the accident pilot to pass his practical test standards he would have had to demonstrate.

A. Straight-and-Level, Turns, Climbs, and Descents at Slow Airspeeds

B. High Rates of Descent and Recovery

This exact situation is why slow flight and high rate of descent are required and tested skills.

In my opinion what I imagine you mean by “clicking a box” won’t prepare him to do that.

I am certain there are some not very good flight instructors that don't understand the process.

Most I know work hard to build safe pilots and prepare them to manage the unexpected or lapse in judgement.

In my opinion flight instruction done well is progressive and iterative.

I suspect this pilot knew he should lower the nose when he didn’t.

Years of using the throttle to go faster in a car and the fear of getting closer to something he was afraid of hitting may have initiated a laps in pilot performance despite what he had been taught by his flight instructor.

I suspect most pilots have had a similar experience and were fortunate to recover from their poor performance.
 
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Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot’s distraction and failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a low altitude maneuver, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control and collision with terrain. Page 2 of 6 WPR20CA253 Findings Personnel issues Task monitoring/vigilance - Pilot Personnel issues Aircraft control - Pilot Aircraft Airspeed - Not attained/maintained

The pilot was rated for Sport Pilot Single engine land with other aircraft ratings listed as gyroplane.

I found the experience of the pilot and recency of experience interesting in light of some of the comments on this thread.

Flight Time: (Estimated) 853.8 hours (Total, all aircraft), 71.8 hours (Total, this make and model), 803.3 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 71.3 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 24.8 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft), 1 hours (Last 24 hours, all aircraft)

My guess would be that the 71.3 hours in the last 90 days and the 24.8 hours in the last 30 days was in the Cavalon.

I suspect he was taught to lower the nose to increase airspeed by his flight instructor and demonstrating that knowledge is part of the practical test.

Lowering the nose is how you pick up speed in a fixed wing so the refrain of “flying it like a fixed wing” appears to me to not apply here.
I suspect this pilot new he should lower the nose when he didn’t.

Years of using the throttle to go faster in a car and the fear of getting closer to something he was afraid of hitting may have initiated a laps in pilot performance despite what he had been taught by his flight instructor.

I suspect most pilots have had a similar experience and were fortunate to recover from their poor performance.
I think this accident is a classic case of low time gyroplane pilot and perhaps [perhaps because I don't know but I would suspect it to be true] he has arrived at gyroplanes having drunk the cool aid that is the marketing around the slow flight virtues of a gyroplane, etc, etc. and showing off his machine he neither planned the sortie properly and was poorly prepared and likely just hadn't done enough flights of a similar nature with an instructor with demonstrations of just how much height is lost / height is required to regain airspeed, which if done in a practiced way recovery of airspeed from a typical vertical decent even if you lost the motor takes c. 200ft.

Low speed, low height fun and games is best left to display pilots and to Greg's point poor airmanship is a major contributory factor.

 
What is necessary low flight?
In the pattern doing landing practice and take off’s or doing the 6 S’s as you would know from being a helicopter? pilot strange question from a very experienced contributor almost a loaded question ?
 
What is necessary low flight?
Last year I saw a massive python swimming across a swamp canal, and I had to drop down to get a good estimate on his length. The bounty is $25 a foot after all. Necessary. 🤣
 
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