Sun N Fun and gyros...

[GyroRon]

Believe it or not, been into aviation and flying since 1995 and this past weekend was my first time going to Sun n Fun.

Was a fun experience and although I was told by friends there that the turn out was lowest they had seen it, it still was the biggest Fly-in event I have ever been to.

Anyway, Chopper town might as well not even exist... Besides Roy Davis flying his Helicopter a little, it was just a bunch of campers.

But there were gyro booths right up close to the flightline, and several vendors in the paradise city ( ultralight ) area. And there were several that flew each day, with one highlighted in the Saturday airshow over the main runway. They certainly got peoples attention.

I can see that with the limited amount of time people can fly at SnF why gyro people want to have Bensen days separately. Anyways good times.

 

[Resasi]

Hope you passed by Denis and the Gyro Technic stand Ron. He had set up a great stand with quite a few gyronauts passing by, a number of whom had been at Bensen Days.

There was a good bit of interest and a lot of admiration for everything Denis had out on display. Gyro Paul had flown down from Minnasota to help out at both Bensen Days and Sun N Fun and we had a great time at both events.



The three gyros Black Blue and unfinished Silver/bare aluminium were on display together with various drives, brake units for wheels and rotors, rotor heads, Razor Blades and the various other custom parts that Denis produces. A lot of people passed by with some serious interest and orders placed.

On the whole the weather was OK at both events, with moments of interest as wind and rain passed by. I had left on Thursday see son and grandchildren before returning to the UK, just before a line of thunderstorms passed by so felt bad I hadn't been there to stow stuff away. It was quite intense down in Tampa as it passed through around midday just hoped it hadn't hit Lakeland as badly.

The airshow moment I hugely enjoyed was the Wed evening aerobatic routine by the AeroShell AT-6's with all their lights on and a beautiful evening/night sky. It was just a spectacular way to end the day.

The show ended yesterday so am sparing a thought for Denis as he heads back to Mankato Minnasota which is a long haul back. I had already been very impressed with his two day marathon drive down, where I was along for the ride down to Wauchula, then after that to Sun n Fun.

A big thank you Denis for an amazing time at both shows.

 

[GyroRon]

yeah I stopped and chatted with him. Not sure he knew who I was at first... The first thing I asked him was why wasn't he stationed down in Chopper town with the other gyros, but then Saturday morning when I went to Chopper town and saw there wasn't anything going on there I realized he made the right choice setting up in the ultralight area.

I think he and all the other gyro people missed the boat by not entering the STOL contest! The way the wind was blowing, the gyro could have probably won!

 

[BEN S]

Question guys in the above pic, the black one, is it sporting emergency flotation? I am really interested in researching something like that for my rig for obvious reasons.

edit: never mind, looked it up. Just some luggage racks. bummer.

 

[Aaron R]

No, it's storage. If I recall, there was even a humorous sign saying it's not flotation.

I second the thanks to Denis for making the long drive. It was a highlight of my visit to see his work on display at both events.

Thanks also to the Bensen Days organizers for scheduling it close to Sun 'n Fun so I could do both in one trip! I enjoyed seeing a lot of Bensen Days tee-shirts at Sun 'n Fun.

To be honest, Sun 'n Fun seemed a little "off" to me. It was my first time, but I imagined it differently. I thought there would be planes and rotorcraft flying nonstop. I imagined talking to more home builders, but the homebuilt section had no people around. The info online before the event was sparse.

I felt a bit sorry for the manufacturers who were straddling the main exhibition area and the light aircraft area. They had to split their aircraft between the two sections, but couldn't man them both. Such was the case for Pipistrel, Air-cam, and some of the gyros. Still, I thought the gyro presence was impressive. I even saw two gyro brands at Sun 'n Fun which I didn't see at Bensen Days.

 

[Abid]

No, it's storage. If I recall, there was even a humorous sign saying it's not flotation.

I second the thanks to Denis for making the long drive. It was a highlight of my visit to see his work on display at both events.

Thanks also to the Bensen Days organizers for scheduling it close to Sun 'n Fun so I could do both in one trip! I enjoyed seeing a lot of Bensen Days tee-shirts at Sun 'n Fun.

To be honest, Sun 'n Fun seemed a little "off" to me. It was my first time, but I imagined it differently. I thought there would be planes and rotorcraft flying nonstop. I imagined talking to more home builders, but the homebuilt section had no people around. The info online before the event was sparse.

I felt a bit sorry for the manufacturers who were straddling the main exhibition area and the light aircraft area. They had to split their aircraft between the two sections, but couldn't man them both. Such was the case for Pipistrel, Air-cam, and some of the gyros. Still, I thought the gyro presence was impressive. I even saw two gyro brands at Sun 'n Fun which I didn't see at Bensen Days.

No its the mini bazooka Dennis made

 

[Resasi]

I second the thanks to Denis for making the long drive. It was a highlight of my visit to see his work on display at both events.

Denis certainly makes incredible efforts to market his passion. The drive down from Mankato to Wauchula was over 1,500 miles which he drove in two days!

His dedication to gyros was evident from the time he did his first build thread on this forum. We were building the same gyro, the Hornet and he made ours look like the 'amateur' build it was.

When Stuart my youngest went up to visit Denis in 2019 to look at his GT-VX1 kit he was a Tech 2 A&P working for Delta and simply said that his standard of workmanship and detail had made our efforts look like a 'death trap'. I believe him and asked Denis is we could go to a 912 version.

The 'Blue' is the result, and to me right now, it is the epitome of a well proportioned powerful single seater that will have the ability and endurance to do a little bit more than the present two stroke Rotax powered single seaters. Denis has made that possible.

It certainly has attracted interest at both Bensen Days and Sun n Fun, and I believe orders have been made.

 

[Resasi]

edit: never mind, looked it up. Just some luggage racks. bummer.

Not a bummer at all. Look on it as a perfect place for floatation devices for a possible emergency ditching.

 

[Aaron R]

Leigh, I believe you used the 100 hp 912 in the blue GT-VX2...did you give any thought to the 80 hp version? When do you intend to do the first flight?

 

[Resasi]

Leigh, I believe you used the 100 hp 912 in the blue GT-VX2...did you give any thought to the 80 hp version? When do you intend to do the first flight?

I did, it would have been a little cheaper and a little lighter, but in neither case by very much. I preferred the excess power.

Unfortunately was unable to get it inspected/certified before the trip south, so was unable to fly it, as tempting as that was. Now back in UK for a couple of appointments but will then go back when clear about the DAR's requirements. hopefully soon. Been very frustrating

 

[shootthrees]

I noticed while watching a gyrogerald video Gyrogerald Sun n Fun 2022 of the event that Hummingbird and Lite Gyro with a 100 hp Simoni engine were both present with single place machines. It would have been nice to have seen those two venders at Bensen Days.

 

[Aaron R]

I mentioned that to Hummingbird and they said they just finished assembling the gyros Sunday (between BD and SnF).

 

[N962GT]

I noticed while watching a gyrogerald video Gyrogerald Sun n Fun 2022 of the event that Hummingbird and Lite Gyro with a 100 hp Simoni engine were both present with single place machines. It would have been nice to have seen those two venders at Bensen Days.

Simonini engine? Hm.. I've used a few Simonini PSRUs on my MAC YG4 and YG2 conversions since 2018. They were very responsive to some issues I had with the first one, and I've been cutting my own case gaskets lately. This last SimC I built used my MAC GTF flex shaft coupling, since Beaver's RK400 clutches won't fit and I ran into problems with getting reliable the clutch elements for my GT4 and quit making them. The only clutches I can make anymore use a German roller clutch element that runs about $800, plus the rest of the housing brings it to at least $1500 retail, priced out of the market. Been thinking about making stainless steel housed sprag clutches to couple PSRUs to Yamahas going fwd, something Dick DeGraw mentioned to me a while back.