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Gyro Nation

the words every pilot should commit to memory
 . . . .Dare to dream, hope, believe, seek, find, build and fly.

 

 

She's About Ready to Fly!

Finally, after a bad month or so I got some work done. It's about ready to fly, just need to test the ignition systems and get the stabs painted. Probably have little things to clean up so I'll start a list. Then the hang test inspection and test flying. Here she is.

See more of this story's history and photos of the construction project.

We are providing a discussion group where members can post articles about fun they encounter, on trips at fly-ins and other aviation get-togethers. Flying a gyroplane is an unique adventure that should be shared.  That's why we have a seat next to us for friends.

If you have never flown in a gyro plane, you know you are missing a treat.  What are you waiting for?
 

Vredendal Air Show Trip Photos

RAF set up their display at the Vredendal air show in South Africa.  The view is always a privilege to be able to see from the perspective of the gyro pilot or passenger.  There are also two shots of the new RAF display and travel tent.  Download the video clip by clicking on the photo to your left.

View a clearer version in the members' area.

RAF 2000 Stabilator Flies Hands Free Over South Africa

First off this is not a recommendation that you try this without the proper training and have had your ship reviewed and tested by an instructor that understands how to properly tweak your ship and feels it is safe and you are properly trained to try this.  This flight was at pattern altitude with wind at 8 knots and pressure altitude at 7,000 feet.  The only time that the stick was touched was to actuate the push-to-talk button on the top of the stick in response to air traffic control.

Click the picture at the left to view the video.

Or go to the members area for a much larger video.
This video - a gift to all

As a gift to the RAF Pilots, especially to those that have contributed pictures of their ships or flights or things of gyro interests to the cause, this video is dedicated.  Not everyone that contributed to the cache of photos will find their picture in the video, but many contributors will probably recognize a frame or two. 

As you view the video, one thing comes to mind and that is the reach of this organization. There are people and ships from every continent (except Antarctica). People and ships, not only of the Rotary Air Force bloodline, but of many other bloodlines as well.

I hope that you all enjoy this tribute as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. The picture takes you to the video download. (A larger version is in the members area.)

Happy Landings,
Jim West
  Flight Simulation In RAF 2000

Dear Jim,   I do hope you don't mind, but I 'borrowed' your machine for a flight tonight. I admit that there is still a little 'tweaking' to make the paint job more realistic, and the Horizontal Stabilizers will make you cringe, but meanwhile, she flew wonderfully.

I was flying out of Baden-Baden (my home airport) and at one point, (I deny flying at that time ) I think you flew a little too near to another airspace user ???

Now let's see you try THAT in reality ???

:O)

It was fun having a go at your gyro.

Cheers,
Binks                                                               

     More on flight sim.

Gyro Guys Meet Any Way They Can
 
Scott stops to talk with the Fast Track manager in Wisconsin. Scott (driving his wife's new car for her) follows Jim's truck to the airport for a look-over and try-on of the award winning RAF. As the sun sets at the airport, Scott sets out for his 765 mile drive.

In one day Scott flew from Kansas to Wisconsin, bought a Durango, spent time in Wisconsin at the airport and drove 765 miles in 12 hours to deliver a car for his wife.  What a great guy.
Meet Scott (pictured on the left) and Jim.  Scott lives in Wichita, Kansas and Jim in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

So Scott's wife needs a new Sport Utility Vehicle. (Where is this going?)  Remember, gyro guys will do anything to get together and talk gyros.  Scott finds the perfect SUV for his wife.  And, that perfect vehicle just happens to be in Wisconsin. He plans a commercial one-way flight to pick it up.  Scott and Jim trade emails and cell phone numbers hoping to meet after Scott picks up the new car for his wife.  So Jim's phone rings as Scott has now taken command of the new  Dodge Durango.  After a quick review over the phone the two decide on a meeting place, a parking lot not far from the interstate highway Scott needed to travel on to get home, but as fate has it on the way to where Jim is located.

Across the street from the parking lot where the two met, Scott notices a Fast Track auto service establishment.  One of Scott's friends just bought into a Fast Track franchise in Wichita.  So they go across the street talk with those mechanics for a short while and take a photo for his friend back home.  What a fun time! Of course they really want to get to the airport while needing to consider Scott's long drive home.

Gyro guys meet any way they can.  Happy Landings!


Outrageous Flying & Why it Matters

Gyros may not sell in the quantities enjoyed by more conventional aircraft, but they provide edge and buzz.

By Jim West

 With the exposed hardware and rotating wings their pilots fly them down the runways to the thumping sound of the rotor and the louder-than-most song of their propeller. Few of these gyro models will ever be sold in enough units to make people wealthy or to support rigorous testing requirements to be commercially produced as the likes of the more conventional Cessna or Aerospacial fixed wing factory-produced aircraft. <<<  Click on photo to zoom in

Nobody (except for a few) really expects to make money flying their outlandish gyro into a fly-in. Instead, almost all of us count on a buzz from many of the folks that see us arrive or taxi into our parking location. The gyros we fly are a part of bigger story. A gyro, more so than the other aircraft types at the fly-in, is a showcase of individual creativity and freedom. It is a fashion statement of such. Although your gyro is unique and most probably will never translate into sizable quantities required for commercial production into the masses, it is your unique innovation onto itself. Each gyro is, in a special way, an elaborate publicity vehicle for aviation as a whole. When the aviation buffs at the fly-in see a gyro fly down the runway, it is like clothing fashion buffs seeing an original Louis Vuitton label being worn by a super model as she struts down the runway in Paris. The fly-in visitors look through a “window” to see something that they can build and something that captures their imagination as it once caught all of us. Gyros are on the edge. Edge excites, moving all aviation forward along with it.

The design, each design, is unique to its owner and the builder. The people that look it over see and innately appreciate the artistic aspects of the ship. Most of what they see is evolutionally-design changes that probably made up the uniqueness of a kit, the DNA going back to the first autogiro in Spain in 1924 designed by the revolutionary man Don Juan de la Cierva. What they see is a wonderfully unique flying machine that was brought to the fly-in by an obviously unique individual. The gyro is the manifestation of emphasis on creativity over commercialization. No wonder the little boy in all of us sees the excitement in its design. We should take credit for the gyro we fly because we worked to get to the point of flying that exciting machine down the runway. We should also take credit because we chose to do something different.

We can all take credit and enjoy the buzz for the ship we fly, but silently know that a true man of vision designed our prototype in Spain a long time ago. The excitement that people feel as the look at the gyro is good for all aviation and all of us.

Thank you, Don Juan de la Cierva, for your very special design!
 

RAF Pilot Radio

Look for the microphone next to articles in our on-line publications.  Click on the microphone and you will play the streaming digital broadcast directly through the speakers on your computer. Try It!
Be part of the first broadcast.
 

Gyro Flight Over Iran

Congratulations to the builders and the pilots!

There now are RAF 2000 machines flying along the beautiful Caspian Seacoast of Iran.  Congratulations to the new gyro pilots and their wonderful flying machines.  I've been told (on good authority) that the workmanship was fantastic and the students were diligent in their studies.

     

The first flight at the gyro's controls is always a momentous occasion.  Pictured (left to right) the first flight for a student pilot, a view of the airport from in the air and on the ground.  Proud times for everyone involved.  The picture gallery tells the story.
Nelson Recreational Fly-In - New Zealand

by Jim West

The fly-in was held on the19 and 20th of March 2005 on a private airstrip outside Murchison, south of Nelson New Zealand.  Many of the attendees camped on the airstrip while others took advantage of local motels.  Lloyd Heslop, one of the event organizers, was kind enough to share a few cuts of the event video with us on the website.  If you are interested in the video, our webmaster will be able to connect you up with Video Wings of New Zealand.  There is also a Medium Res video if you would like.

For more information about this fly-in and a higher resolution video sample, continue on.
click photo for low res video

Kalahari Bundu Bash 2005

by Eben Mocke, Jr.

June is a busy month for microlights and gyroplanes in South Africa. While their big brothers blik aeries are sitting in hangars waiting for warmer weather the little planes are out in force. This is also the time for the premier annual event that blossoms once again from Upington – the Kalahari Bundu Bash.

For those readers unfamiliar with this event here is a brief overview. The destination is Koppieskraal pan. Right in the corner of South Africa, adjacent to Botswana and Namibia. . . .  Continued with photo log and higher resolution video.
click photo for low res video
Foggy Autumn in Wisconsin This October

by Jim West

October is proving to show its many faces as fall takes over from our warm and dry summer.  (I realize that warm and dry to us is not warm and dry to many of you.)  In any case, the farmers have about 1/3 of their crops in and as atmospheric changes occur, the fog comes in along with the crops.  It has been a thing of note around here in the mornings and evenings as the temperature and dew points converge.click the picture for the 7 meg video

View the larger video

Tom Hall's New RAF   - What a beauty!

On her maiden flight May 24th, 2005

From all of us - Congratulations Tom

For more on this ship and Tom click on the photo of his ship > > > > > >

A low Altitude Flight - Serbian Style

Krsta has a few photos from Serbia, and a very short video. (The video is slightly over 3.3 meg.)

 

Another video from Serbia (6.4 meg in length) for those that are afraid of heights. by Krsta

Click on the photo to the right to fly low. > > >

 

Flat Spins over Illinois, USA

A fun time doing flat spins to the runway.  This video was taken by the pilot.  To view this video  in higher definition click here.

 

 

Click on the invite to the right to flat spin. > > >

 

Links to other sites and organizations

There is loads of RAF information on the Rotary Air Force site.

Great VFA Publishing shots taken from an RAF 2000's vantage point.

AOPA (Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association) is deeply committed to making flying safer, more affordable and accessible for you.

PRA (Popular Rotorcraft Association) is a group of people who love homebuilt rotorcraft whether autogyros or helicopters.

EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) represents all flying enthusiasts  in Washington making sure that the interests of recreational aviators are being protected.

RAF Pilots   from around the globe share their knowledge and enjoyment of the gyroplane movement with a particular slant towards the RAF gyroplanes.  The organization's Monthly publications are viewed by members via the Internet.

The British Rotorcraft Association  is a small privately funded body of  individuals, with affiliation to the PFA. Its objectives are to promote the flying & construction of gyroplanes and gyrogliders within the UK.

Australian Sports Rotorcraft Association Inc (ASRA) is a National sport and recreational association, representing people with an interest in Gyroplanes in both Government regulations and sporting matters.

ASRA is concerned with the improvement of standards of safety, of pilot training and of aircraft.  It aims to promote reasonable and responsible practices in a manner accepted as professional to other aviation bodies and the public, while retaining our own identity, reducing costs and minimizing restrictions.

 

Keuka Lake & the Jerusalem Township at Sunrise

Pictures are the first step in telling everyone about the "FUN" of Gyro flying!  Chuck Feil is here to help with that message.  These are some picks from his recent shootings for the upcoming book "Finger Lakes Region of NY - A View From Above" expect more of these birds-eye views from Chuck's RAF!  He promises that there will be more to come.

These photos are a sample of what Chuck has planned for the next book.  The larger versions are in the members section, of course.

Veteran's Day, 2000, at Monroe WI - First Rotary Air Force Team Meeting included some local flights


Pictured from left to right: Paul Biggerstaff, Jim West, Jim Helgesen at the Monroe WI airport. Kind of excites you, doesn't it? Each of these guys built their own flying gyro machine, and fly they do.  Summer or winter, the RAF guys are in the air.  Can you tell that having doors on your gyro and a heater that really works is important to these guys?

Cool Day In Georgia; Perfect for a Ride in My RAF


 

Jerry Tiahrt of Blackshear, GA hollers out, "clear prop," as he fires up the Subaru legacy.  The Legacy hollers out, "we're gonna rock!"  Jerry has 250 hours on this beauty and hopes that the RAF Pilots will share their information on events where other gyro pilots might be going.  That is certainly one of the positive things that will come out of this "digital paper": RAF pilots and other gyro guys meeting at local fly-ins and get-togethers to talk and have fun.  We welcome Jerry to the RAF Pilots Association.  If you are not a member of this group, you should join now!

Jerry has a few thoughts on is RAF and a video in the members only section.

Hawaiian Island Hopping Adventure

Look for this story in a future issue of the RAF Pilots Magazine, in our members only section.  The owner of this RAF (sorry that you can't see much of it here) has a story or two to tell.   Brian Daniel said, "It's about time somebody started an RAF pilot's group.  It should have been done about 10 years ago!  Please sign me up."

Brian has logged over 800 hours in his RAF gyro during the last seven years.  He has installed the new RAF rotor blades.

Based at Blackbushe airport in Hampshire, England, I fly the RAF2000 as much as the lousy weather over here allows. I guess I average approx 10 hours per month.

I started my flying career on hang gliders back in the 70's, then went on to powered hang gliders, then gliders.

I've always been interested in rotary flight so took my PPL (H) in 1983, trained on the fantastic Bell 47.
 		 Then I converted to Jet Rangers. This all proved to be far too expensive to maintain, so gave up all flying activity in the early 90's, mainly due to recession, which bit pretty hard here in the UK at that time.

I started my gyro training in 2003, with Marc Lhermette, down in Kent.  .  .  .  .

(Click the picture for more of this story by Martyn Love)

Martyn Enjoys flights in his RAF 2000

 

Martyn, enjoys flying this beauty over the landscape of England. And come to think of it, who wouldn't?  She is a treasure.

Here is link to a video of one of his flights.

 

The glove box
is really useful.

I have just made 2 more veneered dash panels, as mine, for a friend who is building 2 RAF's. They look the ''dog's dangly bits''   See more dash layouts.
 

Video of a flight in this ship is on Gyro Nation's website.

Over the Hampton Beach, Hampton, NH in a Modified Benson

This photo was taken by John Christopher about a hours flight from where the PRA Chapter 39 hosts its fly-in at Plymouth Municipal Airport in Plymouth, NH.  I guess this is why we all like this gyro stuff.  The rest of the world doesn't know what they are missing. Check out John's video at the bottom of our home page.

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 Last modified: 05/26/2010.