ThinkingManNeil
Newbie
Hello everyone, my name's Neil. I'm 57 yrs old and I've been an avid aviation enthusiast ever since I was knee-high to a J-3 Cub. My dad, Russ, had been an airframe mechanic with the RCAF during the war, serving with both BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan) units and active duty Lancaster squadrons overseas and a post-war squadron back in here Canada. He imbued a love for airplanes and aviation in me early on, and I've been besotted with a love for all things flying ever since. I was active in the Air Cadets while in my teens, and then became an active member of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum outside of Hamilton, Ontario, for several years, getting involved in the restoration of the museum's Avro Lancaster bomber as well as earning some stick time in one of their Harvard Mk.IV's and an AT-6G Texan they also had on hand at the time. This was during a time when I was pursuing my private pilot's license, but unfortunately due to some complications arising out of a rare, life-long medical disorder I couldn't obtain my medical, so I had to set my dream of earning my PPL aside. Unknown to me at the time, Transport Canada initiated a new category of license - the Pilot Permit Recreational - that relaxes some of the requirements in an attempt to attract more people to recreational aviation. Due to my health and other personal issues at the time, I would not have been able to pursue my goal even if I had been aware of the changes.
Now, I'm at a point in my life where I want to fly again and hope to fulfill my goal within the next couple of years. I've migrated away from the warbird community and have found myself increasingly interested in purely recreational flying for its own sake. One of the things I enjoy most of all flying is being able to see the land - hills, forests, pastures, ravines, rivers, creeks, ponds, and lakes - rolling out before and beneath me. I especially like seeing how the changing light of day alters the character of the terrain, with my favourite time being that "golden hour" before sunset on a clear day when the gold light of the sun sweeps over the landscape, brightly highlighting colours while casting long, deep shadows at the same time. I also love flying low over the land, following the contours and exploring.
I suppose that's what attracts me to gyroplanes. I, like probably others of my generation here, remember seeing the ads for the Bensen Gyrocopter in the back pages of Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Mechanix Illustrated in the 1960's. I never really understood what kind of machines they were or what they were capable of, so I kind of dismissed them as a fringe element of flying; and then early in the 1970's I saw a segment on the local TV news of someone in Toronto building and flying one. It's relatively short takeoff and maneuverability intrigued me, but it still didn't fully register beyond being something beyond a somewhat perilous-looking lawn chair perched on a rickety frame with an oversized ceiling fan whirling overhead.
Then, in the 1980's and 90's, I began reading about the Air Command gyro's in U.S Aviator, Air Progress, and other aviation magazines of the time and came to realize that gyroplanes looked to be serious fun machines and immensely capable in their own right. But what really cemented it for me was watching the YouTube videos of Shawn Adams and Doug S. in their Air Command and Sportcopter Vortex machines respectively. Theirs is EXACTLY the kind of flying I want to do.
So, all that being said, what I want to do in the forum is sit back, learn, ask questions, and soak in the collective knowledge, experience, and wisdom of the gyroplane community. I look forward to my time here...
N.
Now, I'm at a point in my life where I want to fly again and hope to fulfill my goal within the next couple of years. I've migrated away from the warbird community and have found myself increasingly interested in purely recreational flying for its own sake. One of the things I enjoy most of all flying is being able to see the land - hills, forests, pastures, ravines, rivers, creeks, ponds, and lakes - rolling out before and beneath me. I especially like seeing how the changing light of day alters the character of the terrain, with my favourite time being that "golden hour" before sunset on a clear day when the gold light of the sun sweeps over the landscape, brightly highlighting colours while casting long, deep shadows at the same time. I also love flying low over the land, following the contours and exploring.
I suppose that's what attracts me to gyroplanes. I, like probably others of my generation here, remember seeing the ads for the Bensen Gyrocopter in the back pages of Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Mechanix Illustrated in the 1960's. I never really understood what kind of machines they were or what they were capable of, so I kind of dismissed them as a fringe element of flying; and then early in the 1970's I saw a segment on the local TV news of someone in Toronto building and flying one. It's relatively short takeoff and maneuverability intrigued me, but it still didn't fully register beyond being something beyond a somewhat perilous-looking lawn chair perched on a rickety frame with an oversized ceiling fan whirling overhead.
Then, in the 1980's and 90's, I began reading about the Air Command gyro's in U.S Aviator, Air Progress, and other aviation magazines of the time and came to realize that gyroplanes looked to be serious fun machines and immensely capable in their own right. But what really cemented it for me was watching the YouTube videos of Shawn Adams and Doug S. in their Air Command and Sportcopter Vortex machines respectively. Theirs is EXACTLY the kind of flying I want to do.
So, all that being said, what I want to do in the forum is sit back, learn, ask questions, and soak in the collective knowledge, experience, and wisdom of the gyroplane community. I look forward to my time here...
N.
