Nice video demoeing the beauty of a float gyro. I have a story to tell..All I know at this point is i nearly died today...
Unfortunately, I couldnt make it to Bensen Days..Really wanted to...Wanted to demonstrate a great performing amphibian gyro in its full might and glory with all kinks worked out, and I truly, truly believe in its stellar performance and stability. It's yellow with blacklines and very sharp looking. A work of art..As most of u realize, my love for amphibious flying is really deep….I really wanted to be at Bensen days to share my amphibious gyro, and it's uniqueness, and also demonstrate its land abilities and air prowess…………
but nearly ended up dead getting there.
Interesting enough, whilst trying to get there,(I was not even flying the machine) I was about 3 hours from home and 5 hrs from destination when…. Crack, sparks flying, Seems like a fireball behind me… and it could have been…
I had recently, just crossed time zones(from central to eastern) and crossed onto a bridge when…. the tongue on my trailer broke, about 2 feet from the hitch on my SUV.
I ended up stopped on the bridge thinking" something is on FIRE"…I had a good reason to believe this was possible bcos i had 6gallons of gasoline about 4ft behind the hitch on the open trailer. I came out and lo and behold….My beautiful girlfriend,(my gyro) was facing downward onto the highway,At about 45degrees,and , I honestly thought, no, no no, all my work and my gyro is destroyed. Then i realized, Not tooo bad considering, the front landing gear is sheered off…..but, ….I had much more to worry about. I realized i was on a busy highway, with no emergency lanes on each side of the highway.Apart from the 2 highway lanes, there was barely a bike track on each side of this bridge. I looked around me for a way of escape in case i needed to jump over the wall seperating the eastbound highway traffic from……... the river. Actually no where to go. Over the wall?….and approximately 150 ft below was cold water…. who knows how deep? Are there crocodiles, gators?? Whats better?... getting squashed by an 18 wheeler or eaten alive????
18wheelers sped by every 30 seconds,... at at least doing 70-80mph.
Experience of a lifetime..
Thankfully for the next 30minutes, no one smashed into me. It was 5:00am and still pitch dark. I had 6gallons of alcohol-free gasoline sitting on my trailer and now, this was in my in my hand, and I was seriously wondering what should i do with this…., bcos i will soon be a big ball of fire… if i dont get rid of this. Never did get rid of it.. I called FHP and they dispatched help…. within 20-30 minutes(too long) i had support, with one of Floridas Finest… Cant imagine how releaved iwas to see florida highway patrol.. He actually asked me if i had been drinking.. I said "really, driving this amazing machine".
Soon, even he realized the precariousness of the situation….He even stated that he should have parked further back, after he realized how quickly the 18wheelers came barreling past. Thankfully………….. ALL ended well and I ended up in a town called Quincy. Got patched up with the trailer…. Crude job , but will work..
Now, very THANKFUL to be alive, My gyro…..did not fare took bad…a broken front wheel…sheered off from the dramatic ground slide… I'm sooo thankful to b alive and even more so to have my best friend and amphibious, "IRREPLACEABLE gyro", alive with me. Need to change out the front gear… Hey, what the heck.. Will live to fly another day, and Bensen days will go on without me… Love the amphibious gyro experience. Truly safer than riding these precarious highways.. LOL.