Fixed wing pilot transition to gyroplane pilot.

Vance

Gyroplane CFI
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
18,357
Location
Santa Maria, California
Aircraft
Givens Predator
Total Flight Time
2600+ in rotorcraft
I got a call from Peter from Los Angles asking about gyroplane training. He has a strong Bulgarian accent that is a cross between the Terminator and Boris Badenov and is a little hard to understand when he gets excited. He has an airplane single engine land certificate with an instrument rating. I suggested we spend a day together so I could access his skills and so he could find out if flying a gyroplane is what he wants to do for $450. He was going to borrow an airplane and fly up from Santa Monica (SMO) to Santa Maria (SMX). He is a United States Marine.

After having things not work out with the plane three times Peter called me up and said; “If I drive up and stay for three days will you sign me off for the proficiency check ride for Sport Pilot, Rotorcraft-Gyroplane?”

“It is not likely Peter; my typical minimum for a sign off is ten hours of dual flight instruction. I don’t like to have a student fly much more than two hours a day broken down into four missions but the rest of the day will be spent learning on the ground. If you are willing to work very hard; we can try. A week would be better. We will basically do a practical test for Sport Pilot, Rotorcraft-Gyroplane and correct what is not up to the practical test standards (PTS).”

Two weeks later, November 28 at 7:40 Peter was at the gate at the Santa Maria Public Airport and we were ready to start.

It took from 8:00 to 11:30 to preflight, review gyroplane aerodynamics, check the weather and brief for the first mission explaining the standards and reasons for each maneuver. We would be working through the various maneuvers in a practical test and working on them if he was not up to the PTS. I put Peter in the back seat because there was less responsibility there and it is easier to fix something that is not working out if I am in the front seat.

I would demonstrate a maneuver that we had briefed on and then Peter would take the controls and fly the maneuver. He had listened well and studied the Rotorcraft Flying Handbook. Peter had a good grasp of how to control a gyroplane because all of his maneuvers were to PTS we headed back to the airport. Peter managed the airspeed and altitude well and followed the somewhat confusing directions from the practice area to the right downwind for runway three zero well. I let him set up for landing intending to take the controls and finish the landing before round out; his approach to land looked so good I talked him through the round out and flare for a perfect landing.

We gassed up and debriefed and then briefed for the next mission, refining his landings and introducing takeoffs. We had some of the usual excitement and missteps but overall things went very well. Lunch was spent charting progress and developing our syllabus.

The winds came up in the afternoon and except for the typical over control inputs things went pretty well. We could cross crosswind takeoffs and landings off the list.

In the debrief we decided to put him to the front seat tomorrow where he has to manage the steering on the ground with differential braking, makes the frequency changes on the radio and is responsible for the engine instruments. We also realized that I sometimes didn’t understand his perspective and he laughed and said with a dismissive wave; my wife would say; “it is a cultural thing!”

We decided together it was time for Peter to start making radio calls. We worked hard from eight to five and flew three missions for a little over two hours. It was a great start. I warned Peter that progress is seldom steady and at some point he would probably back slide.

Peter did great on the preflight and getting the weather from flight services. I carefully briefed him on his responsibilities in the front seat, where everything was and how it worked. The radio call to ground went well as did the run up with some minor specific items that weren’t up to PTS; they were easy habits to correct. Peter was very good about reading the check lists aloud. Because I can’t see the switches, instruments and mixture control I insist on this from the beginning. In my opinion it is proper pilot procedure and I read the lists aloud even when flying solo.

Someone new to The Predator (My training gyroplane) tends to grip the cyclic too tight and high and it is easy to press the push to talk button accidently. This is commonly referred to as “a stuck mic”. It prioritizes the front microphone so I can’t be heard on the intercom and blocks radio communication at the airport. We had briefed on this extensively but task saturation got the better of Peter taking a while for the pounding on his back to get through and abort the takeoff despite our prearranged signals. The tower scolded us and made certain we understood the gravity of a stuck mic as we made our way back to the run-up area for runway three zero.

I asked Peter if the error required some recovery time and he said he was unaffected with a dismissive wave of his hand. I figured it was a cultural thing. This mission was not entirely successful either and at lunch I prepared Peter for our “three day to gyroplane pilot plan” failing.

After lunch Peter redeemed himself and we flew until sunset.

We both agreed to study the practical test standards that evening and make certain we had covered everything that he would be tested on.

The morning of the third day we spent some ground time trying to find holes in Peters knowledge and he did remarkably well identifying hazards on the chart, lost procedures and diverting to an alternate airport being one of my first clients to recognize a low level military operations area in the way of a diversion to Santa Ynez scenario. His airspace identification and procedures were flawless.

After a preflight with Peter’s explanations of why each item is important and a weather briefing we headed off to do steep turns (considered an advanced maneuver) with success. After a debrief we briefed on how to improve takeoffs and landings.

Every takeoff and landing was to practical test standards and we explored short field and soft field operations.

After lunch we headed out for some slow flight and the tower asked us to do a go-around, two more items checked off the list as we taxied back to the hanger to begin paperwork. I called Don Bradly who will be doing the Proficiency Check Ride and he was kind enough to look over our paperwork (8710-11). We are hoping to make it happen in a couple of weeks. Peter has a little over seven hours of dual gyroplane instruction in his logbook.

Throughout the training I taught Peter how to fly all gyroplanes and transition him into Don’s Magni.

I took a picture of Peter with The Predator and after I down loaded the picture I asked him why he wasn’t smiling after such a successful three days?

“That is my smile; it is a cultural thing.” He said with a dismissive wave.

Please understand I still expect a transition from fixed wing to Rotorcraft-Gyroplane to take ten to fifteen hours of dual with probably twice that in ground. Peter is a remarkable pilot and it was also “a cultural thing”.

It has been a couple of weeks and I just received a message from Don saying that Peter flew well and he now has a Sport Pilot, Rotorcraft-Gyroplane endorsement on his single engine land private pilot certificate.
 

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