Flight review of the Gyro Technic gyroplane

[GyroRon]

Thanks for the kind words everybody!

I finally got a chance to trim down the video footage from Ron's test flight!

As I watched him head off over the horizon, and not wanting to come back.....
I knew that was a good sign and he was diggin' it!

I captioned the video with some of his very nice comments.

Enjoy!

Nice edit! I really enjoyed flying your gyro.

 

[GyroRon]

So, Bensen Days has moved to NC? (As per the title @ the beginning of video)
Very enjoyable flight video, Denis!

Ron's takeoff roll surprised me...I have seen him fly in person @ Mentone previously*, & wondered why his roll wasn't straight (as I would expect) down the runway. I also noticed he didn't try to correct his angle back into alignment w/ the runway heading as he accelerated, as a beginner might.

Then I saw the windsock a-blowin' off to the right! Ron knew the correct angle to better utilize the wind's direction & sensed the amount of power, rotorblade speed, & space on the tarmac to lift off nicely @ an angle more into the breeze, before running out of pavement into the grass.

"Stick" still has the touch even after being away from flying rotorcraft, having totally gone over to the "Dark Side Of Aviation", where the wings are stuck in one position.

*For Mentone 2012, I drove across most of the US to attend, towing my gyro so I could finally fly during the convention. Picked up Chuck S., who lives in Boise, Idaho, along the way. He used to fly a Dominator, & states it was the most enjoyable gyro to fly that he had owned!

We approached Ron Awad @ the 2012 PRA Convention, asking him to take Chuck up for a ride in his tandem Yamaha-powered Dominator, telling Ron that Chuck used to fly a Dominator in the past. Ron gladly took him up for about 20 minutes. I'm sure Ron gave him his usual Dominator routine.

Chuck came back from that ride w/ a HUGE smile on his face. Said it was the BEST TIME, having that thrill once again. He made sure to donate plenty to Ron's fuel expenses. Chuck served in the Idaho Nat'l Guard in the helicopter unit for decades, getting lots of stick time in them even though he wasn't officially a pilot. Whatever the military designation, it was the Hughes 500 that he flew in most of the time.

He started out w/ a Bensen gyroglider back in the 1960's, utilizing the great "runways" the state of Idaho provided when they closed off long stretches of US Hwy. 30 after I-80 (now I-84) was completed next to it. I-80N was to differentiate from I-80S that goes on west from Utah to Sacramento, CA.

Chuck relates that their gang had ooddles of fun towing each other for miles, becoming adapt @ controlling the engine-less gyro. They then progressed to adding the Mac engine & towing w/ that extra weight on the air frame, getting used to the difference. Then they went tow-less.

He said the saddest day of his life was when he could no longer climb up into his Dominator, due to pain from hips & knees, which have all since been replaced w/ artificial ones. He sold it figuring his time in the sun was over.

Chuck is still kicking along @ some 87 yrs. of age. Still has a gyro project in his shop behind his home, a Barnett J4B, I believe, w/ a Continental for it's power plant. He realizes he'll not get to finishing it & would like to sell it to someone who would be able to finish it & get it up into the air.

Always better to takeoff and land into the wind, if there is room to do it! My home airport only has a 30 foot wide runway, so when I go to places like Anson where the runway is 150+ feet wide, I will use that width to get a cleaner takeoff! Thanks for the kind words. Everytime I get into a gyro, its like I never stopped flying them.... I guess I never did really stop, I just didn't own one... I would usually get a chance to fly someone elses machine at the barnstormers events over the years.

AS for Chuck, I really did enjoy taking people up for rides, especially when there was special circumstances. It was totally my pleasure.

 

[Brian Jackson]

My horizon, envisged/revealed/imagined sights were set on, some time ago that I would have a Gyro Technic product...yet to be realised, would be in my future. Certainly be in dead centre of said sights.

Life/circumstance/fate has a frustrating habit of disturbing this happily imaginary route.

I look on it as the 'Stan 2 week principle.'

If your wishes can be' f**cked up.’ chances are that life/circumstance/fate, will ensure that will happen.

But then we always have so much else to be grateful for.

I'm reminded of 2 sayings:

1. If you want to make fate laugh, announce your plans.
2. Murphy was an optimist.

I can empathize with your frustration. When weeks become months or years and the goal is still just out of reach for now, it feels like the proverbial carrot on a string. You will get there and so will I. The passage of time does work on your head though, but it's a free ride to the future where you and your gyro will be finally united. Eyes on the road.

 

[Resasi]

Thanks Erik, no, just frustration. The US is not yet open to travellers from the UK, and in the UK, there are possible extensions to restrictions on travel due to the rapid spread of the new COVID variant from India. So getting back to the build from here has been an ongoing uncertainty

The pace of the LAA over here leaves a lot to be desired where gyros are concerned, was not good before and worse since lockdown.

But then that’s life, and I know it, but just occasionally, unintentionally give voice. I must do better.



Stan the feeling was mutual.

Actually you posted it so amusingly, and handled it with such good humour, that it became a ‘Stanism’ on the Forum for something that never quite makes it at the anticipated time, and nowhere else would it be so instantly recognised.

 

[Jazzenjohn]

1. If you want to make fate laugh, announce your plans.
2. Murphy was an optimist.

You Nailed it Brian!!

 

[gyroplanes]

Old home week on this thread. Stan, wasn't it the Aviomania that started the 2 weeks meme?
How are you all doing?

 

[StanFoster]

Tom.....The "in about 2 weeks" worthy of being put on a t-shirt came from my Helicycle build. Blake at Helicycle would just always answer "in about 2 weeks" everytime I asked when I could be expecting one of my major part shipments.

He meant well, but he said that phrase like a basketball player says "ya know" every other sentence out of habit.

After hearing that phrase not ever coming true, I noticed it is just a widely used answer that sounds palatable to an anxious customer receiving whatever they are buying. In a out a few days would be too optimistic...but "in about a month" would draw fire from many customers. So...,"in about 2 weeks" is a standard phrase that is the best compromise canned statement.

Tom....I am doing fine, thanks for asking. I am retired but my wife cant tell
any difference. My stairbuilding wont stop until I do. I will miss building curved stairways "when" the time comes that my walker or wheelchair cant be accommodated to affix my router to! Not one day have I ever dreaded going to my occupation....I refuse to call it work.

How are you doing Tom?

 

[Resasi]

Stan when your ‘work’ is your passion, life is sweet. Every time I was on my way to the airport for ‘work’ I would smile at the thought of being paid to do something I loved doing, and would probably have paid money to do, if I could have afforded it. I can’t think of one plane I flew that I didn’t enjoy flying.

I told both my boys that if they found jobs they loved doing it wouldn’t seem like work, and luckily it seems they have both done just that. Certainly makes for a happy life.

 

[lmangold408]

Finally had the DAR come out and I now have my AWC. Did a lot of testing and wheel balancing (7 hours) and last weekend I made three flights down the runway to about 20'. It flew nice and straight with no issues, but needs a few more hours of testing over the runway. After my trip over the next two weeks, I'll have her back doing some low level flights down our 5,200' runway. Fun times ahead!

 

[Aerofoam]

Do you know what the brand, or model # of the rear spring/shocks?

 

[lmangold408]

Do you know what the brand, or model # of the rear spring/shocks?

If you're asking about my Gyro Technic, I don't know since they came with the kit. You can contact Denis at Gyro Technic and he can let you know.

 

[Resasi]

Congratulations, a very nice job, she looks great.

 

[querist]

That is beautiful.

 

[Sv.grainne]

Tom.....The "in about 2 weeks" worthy of being put on a t-shirt came from my Helicycle build. Blake at Helicycle would just always answer "in about 2 weeks" everytime I asked when I could be expecting one of my major part shipments.

He meant well, but he said that phrase like a basketball player says "ya know" every other sentence out of habit.

After hearing that phrase not ever coming true, I noticed it is just a widely used answer that sounds palatable to an anxious customer receiving whatever they are buying. In a out a few days would be too optimistic...but "in about a month" would draw fire from many customers. So...,"in about 2 weeks" is a standard phrase that is the best compromise canned statement.

Tom....I am doing fine, thanks for asking. I am retired but my wife cant tell
any difference. My stairbuilding wont stop until I do. I will miss building curved stairways "when" the time comes that my walker or wheelchair cant be accommodated to affix my router to! Not one day have I ever dreaded going to my occupation....I refuse to call it work.

How are you doing Tom?

The first time I heard the "2weeks" was in the Aviomania "Kermit" build!