Expanding the scope of the Mentone Convention

[GyroRon]

Don it isn't just PPC guys who think were nuts. It is most people in all forms of aviation. Advantage to a PPC? it takes little to no training whatsoever to learn to fly one.

 

[chuter]

Hi Don,

Not sure what you've seen regarding PPC rough landings and takeoffs; I used to have one and they weren't that bad at all. They can takeoff in pretty short distances, and I had landings where I couldn't tell when I actually touched down.

The wind and speed limitations are what made me sell mine, but I would still consider getting another one if I have some spare money sometime.

 

[gyroplanes]

PPCs and gyro displays

PPCs and gyro displays

Last weekend a non-pilot friend of mine went for a ride in a PPC. At the conclusion of the impromptu ride the pilot asked if "he would like to fly it?" at which point the pilot got out of the PPC and said "you saw what I did to steer , right? and go up and down, right?" My friend said "yes" and was off on his first solo. These must be easy to fly?

I was happy to see three, under construction, display gyros at the ASC KIMO fly-in last weekend.

When we see three display gyros at Oshkosh they usually have "For Sale" signs on them.

Which display better indicates a vibrant, growing sport?

Next year we show them some flying. It would have been easy to steal the show.

 

[GyroRon]

I flew my old PPC without ever seeing one fly before. I read the owners manual and went to the airport and flew. Takeoffs were easy as long as you made sure to look up at the canopy to make sure it was straight before nailing the throttle. And landings were easy as well just fly it onto the ground and chop power and stop. flying in the wind was not fun as you could end up swinging under the canopy. I too would very much like to have another one though cause for just going up on a calm late afternoon to see the sights and to truely relax, what could beat a PPC?

 

[donshoebridge]

Tom,

I must say that I'm a little disappointed that you didn't fly in. I don't think it mattered a hill of beans if your bird isn't an ultralight. Most of the day Sunday we had people coming up a asking if we had one there to fly because many of them had NEVER seen a gyro fly before and they were genuinely interested.

Ron and Chuter,

I do understand that they are easy to fly, and yes I did see some nice landings and takeoffs. But in general, the landings that I witnessed at Kimo, compared to what can be done in a gyro, I wasn't very impressed. The PPC takeoffs were nice because of the short distance, as long as the chute played along with the plan, which isn't/wasn't always the case.