Gyro Flying New Zealand

Updated web site www.gyrate.co.nz

2008-10-01T20:07:00.002+13:00

Hi Faithful Readers, thank you for following this blog which has been a learning experience for me if not for you. The world moves on and I am still attempting to keep up so my blog is now moving to be included in the updated gyrate web site. Please join me at www.gyrate .co.nz for ongoing news. I would just like to thank Hamish for getting this underway, Google for hosting it and you for reading it. See you on another page soon, its just a mouse click away.

Tony Unwin.

Quiet Success

2008-09-28T22:59:00.005+13:00

Well the week has been fairly low key, people are getting back into the gyrating habit but there is room for more flying now that the weather is generally improving. I received this photograph from John Rochfort who is enjoying flying his gleaming red Xenon at Dannevirke. John is flying solo under remote supervision which requires some judgement from afar to provide the right level of encouragement mixed with words of caution. I am impressed with the level of discipline shown by both John and Paul Scherrer in handling the remote consolidation stage of their progress successfully.

Closer to home more success has been achieved by Bruce Watson who did his first solo circuits on Saturday in RGG, the ex Gyrate school Eagle that he now owns. The plan is to have him ready to fly to the NZSAA Raglan fly-in at the beginning of November. By then we should have the new shipment from Germany and aim to display the latest upgrades to the marque including an in- flight variable pitch propeller.

The news of Paul Newman's death gives me the excuse to include a picture of his namesake who flew his first gyroplane experience with us earlier in the year whilst on holiday from the UK. I understand that the addictive gyro bug has caused Paul to continue back home with 'The Gyroplane Experience' a school operating in Yorkshire and spreading to other parts.

September Sunshine

2008-09-21T20:41:00.004+12:00

Tauranga is bustling with activity, the new harbour bridge is coming on well, political signs are sprouting like Spring flowers and the Airport continues to produce new aircraft to fill the new hangars. The Gyro scene could be described as a swan, paddling hard beneath the surface to achieve a smooth image on the surface.

Today I enjoyed introducing the editor of two small circulation magazines to the world of gyros, this should produce positive editorial coverage in 'Cargo' and 'Rush Hour' which are primarily Auckland based and so hopefully will spread interest beyond the Bay of Plenty. We tried some air 2 air photos using Barry Winslade in Phil Chalmers Eagle as a camera ship but the results were less than stunning! The portfolio of 'Gyro Grins' was expanded and it was a great day for flying, sunny with a fresh Southwest breeze. Phil was kind enough to fly up from Whakatane just for the occasion which was much appreciated and the loose formation flying was a first for him. Note slowing down to 40mph, with RGG ahead, to let a commercial Beech 1900 cross the grass runway.

Tomorrow sees a workshop for me to learn how to manage a new 'Wordpress' based web site that Gyrate will release very shortly. Among its features will be links to Tauranga actual weather and forecasts, links to other sites of interest and videos of gyro flying around the world.

Of course there will also be a direct link to this blog for ongoing news. Already the fly-in and airshow displays are filling up the calender so with three new Eagles arriving mid October there will be plenty of frantic paddling, lets hope we can avoid making waves!

Return to a New Summer Season

2008-09-14T17:09:00.011+12:00

When your flight ticket is unchangeable and you have arranged to have a minimal connection time, being off-loaded from a Coach and then having a train cancelled can cause the pulse to accelerate! Arriving at check-in as the flight is about to close does have advantages however as the prudent passengers have disappeared in fact almost everyone had disappeared! No worries looking back its hard to understand why rushing around Heathrow with two large wheelie cases weighing in at 'max allowable' should be an issue. Twelve hours later formalities and the quiet efficiency of Hong Kong's new airport can be handled even by the jet lagged. There is just a touch of intimidation in the eyes of the Chinees imigration officer and then the smooth airconditioned bus ride takes me direct to the Hotel door located amongst the hectic bustle of Kowloon. It is over 20years since I opperated DC8 and 747 aircraft into the old Kia Tak runway but the memory of heading straight at a large checker board painted on a hillside is still very very vived. The break-off into a steeply banked right turn is also indelibly planted into the mental databank and I can see the washing hanging from the balconies as the wing tip passes over, surely the soap-powder struggles to overcome the vapour of burnt jet fuel that must fall from the sky. Maybe that was a factor in reclaiming the land and building an engineering marvel, an International Airport out where there was sea. I am able to keep awake to take in a small amount of the City by night; I treat myself to the bar at the Intercontinental which looks across the water to Hong Kong Island where a Lazer light show takes place each evening. At 8.00pm sharp the show begins and beams of colour dart across the sky while the sides of the sky scrapers explode with brilliant light displays. It is hard to enjoy the full specticle as it is spread over some miles of waterway and no one vantage point can capture all the action. The spread of the City is further emphasised next day when I take the tourist tour which includes spectacular views from the Peak as well as touching on the povity of the traditional fishermen who still ply their trade from Junks around the harbour.

With jet lag still very present I board the Air NZ 747 for a ten hour sector to Auckland leaviong 30 degree heat for thick fog disrupting morning commuter flights. With some effort I am through the scrum of humanity seeking information and guidance and heading to the clearer skies of the Bay of Plenty. How nice it is to walk to the hangar and collect my car, how nice it is to head for a bed!

It takes me a week to return to normal and so I do short days and play catch up with the post and all the airfield gossip. I hear of Waihi Beach closing the airstrip due to a rising water table, I hear of a strip developing at Katikati, I note all the airshows and flyins and the calender suddenly fills up. I see all the work that Colin and Saul Alexander have done to bring the two-seat Dominator up to scratch, a zero hour, rebuilt 912s complete with carb deicing is now available for purchase by a discerning aviator. The Dominator is also available for instructional purposes although I can still use Eagle RGG until the new machines arrive in October.

Time flies and so must I, back to the trial flights and training. Three Eagles are now to be seen throughout the Western Bay and indeed further afield; I hear that Phil Chalmers flew to South Island last week. Great to see the Eagles spreading their wings. Not to mention my prodigies at Dannevirke, Paul Scherrer in his single seat Kermitcopter and John Rochfort in the red Xenon, both are accumulating time in their log books and experience to match.

Flying with a French Connection

2008-08-31T22:21:00.011+12:00

I am privileged to have access to fly some private aircraft based at the Royal Navy Airfield Yeovilton and had arranged to use one for a trip to the Chanel Islands. These are somewhat closer to the French coast than the English and appear to operate under 'a flag of convenience' to suit all parties. The Islands are not part of the European Union, they establish their own tax regimes and attract the seriously wealthy to take residence. The mixture of a predominantly English language with a French cultural influence creates a unique lifestyle and attitude to the outside world. The two larger Islands are modern sophisticated centers of Banking; both have airports. The smaller inhabited Islands aim to preserve an almost medieval culture with unmade roads, no cars and no aviation. Last Thursday dawned grey and misty, however my brother in law had booked a Hotel and ferry so four of us headed to Yeovilton to asses the forecast and landing conditions at Guernsey, the nearest airport to the small destination Island of Sark. Conditions were not good with a cloudbase struggling between 500 and 1000feet and drizzle lurking in the air. The best opportunity for flight would be just after mid-day when the temperature would be highest which would dry the air for an hour or two. We boarded the French designed Tabago TB10 touring aircraft and set off to look at the prospect of success and found it was possible to maintain over 1000ft till South of the UK coast where the cool sea brought the cloud lower. With Guernsey offering suitable landing conditions we pressed on clear of cloud and in sight of the surface until the GPS led us to a grey silhouette of land and a climb to join the circuit for an approach. Having secured the aircraft within its protective covers we headed for the taxi and ferry that would take us to Sark. Only 40 minutes on a ferry through some treacherous rock strewn waters and the clock of civilisation turns back through a time warp; there are no cars on the Island and the lack of personal motor transport changes a couple of miles from an insignificant distance to a major obstacle particularly in wet or windy conditions. We traveled to our hotel by horse and carriage on rough unmade tracks and at one point had to dismount to traverse an excessivly exposed col. Having booked a rather expensive cottage in the hotel grounds we were rather shocked to find that our accommodation was in fact a batch some 500 yards up a flint strewn track were we were sent to dress for dinner, ties and jackets gentlemen please! Some heated discussion followed and a transfer was agreed for the following night to quaint if not luxurious rooms across a pretty garden from the main building. By dawn the skies had cleared and a brisk walk along a cliff path led to the small village where we hired bicycles to explore the 5 mile x 2 mile extent of this small rock. Armed with wheels one can cover most vantage points in half a day even at the 19th century pace of the locals. The hotel food is exceptional and so is the bill, its time to return to the modern world where the commercial pressure of competition offers some escape from the sole provider mentality that enables rip-off economics to prevail.

Permitted to Fly

2008-08-20T01:42:00.013+12:00

Well against the odds and thanks to my engineering friends I now have a new permit to fly for my VPM16 Gyroplane. The picture shows an engineer of the old school, Gordon Smith who has still got the skill to take a sheet of metal and with no more than simple hand tools create items as diverse as a kettle drum or a cowling for an antique aircraft. Fortunately he also understands gyroplanes and has acted as an inspector for many years before recently retiring to concentrate on model building. For me Gordon has now been replaced by Tony Melody who has vast experience but also a 300mile round trip to service my machine. The CAA office tasked with surveying my aircraft for the issue of a permit is only 15 miles away and was able to provide a prompt service. The inspector arrived in smart suit and shiny shoes only to be faced with Somerset fields awash with weeks of torrential rain. The access to the flying field is a farm track much neglected by the farmers and now only passable with a 4x4 and some determination. Fortunately my hangar, a converted removal lorry, is a perfectly dry oasis (that can't be the right word) amongst all this damp and the machine was seen to be in good order. As is often the case with CAA there was just one thing that stopped permit issue then and there; I was unable to show the weight and balance document that was sent to CAA when the last permit was issued. 'No problem' says I, 'nothing has changed and you have the document or you wouldn't have issued a permit'. Ah, 'well archives can't find it and so we will need you to produce a copy'. So a quick trip to see my engineer of the time and Gordon was able to satisfy their needs; paperwork in order, permit issued, aircraft flying! With only a week or so before I head back to New Zealand I have decided to let a fellow instructor take the machine away and market it on my behalf. He has agreed to address some minor issues and ensure the aircraft is in perfect condition following a 200 mile trailer ride back to his base. Although this will be a sad day for me I have been spoilt by flying modern factory made aircraft and have decided to move on and leave G-YFLY to receive the TLC she needs from an enthusiast. And so it was that today flew the aircraft out of my field and landed where it could be de-rigged and loaded onto a smart trailer for a long journey North and the Tardis stands empty awaiting a new arrival but who knows when! By co-incidence, today a similar container holding three new machines left Germany on route Tauranga, I will be there to welcome it eagerly as these are even better aircraft than the Eagles we know.

Rain Drops are Falling on my Head!

2008-08-11T09:41:00.005+12:00

Well I wanted to show some shots of the Microlight fly-in at Popham last weekend but due to the wonders of modern science they were lost in the exchange from camera to computer. So I have been delaying further blogging until I had some more interesting pics. Today I received a couple of pics that got my attention and so I was inspired enough to start typing. Formation flying takes a lot of practice and can have unforeseen consequences. Those air intakes are meant to accept air being forced back to mix with fuel in the correct ratio to drive the jet turbine engines. Shielded by the back of the C130 the intakes may well be starved of air causing the mixture to become too rich and without a clever engine management system the EGTs on those turbines would go over limits - expensive and engine trouble is not called for in flight critical situations! Following my return from Germany the UK weather has been foul, just the sort of summer I used to hate when I was hanging around airfields skydiving, totally unreliable with heavy rain showers interspersed with spells of drying wind and sunshine. You just think its coming good and another trough of low pressure drags half the Atlantic ocean into the heavens and drops it over Somerset. I had booked a PA28 Piper Cherokee for Saturday afternoon to fly into the show at Popham, this event is one of the significant marks on the UK microlight calender and I would have normally taken the VPM gyro if the paperwork had been in order. Typical of the rare occasion that I get round to forward planning I found my aircraft booking canceled by the club due to lack of hours available before scheduled maintenance. As it turned out the tropical storm over Southwest England last Saturday made surface transport a sensible option for travel and I was much happier to accept a two hour drive rather than staring through a steamed up canopy in a ground groping cloud dodging attempt to aviate 'visually'. Popham was blessed with an afternoon spell of sunshine following a downpour in the morning, the turnout of modern gyros was suficiently significant to establish this as the fastest growing sector of light aviation in the UK. Watch this mushroom in the years ahead, economy and versatility are attracting serious flyers to factory made gyroplanes and established microlight schools are adding this type of rotorcraft to their fleets. Great to see and a real reward for those of us who have been banging this drum for years. The stalls were rewarding and I came away withsome of those things that you don't see anywhere else, not big things but some plastic map holders so useful in an open cockpit. The rest of the week has centered around organising my VPM permit renewal, critical to this was a visit from my engineer to sign off an annual inspection prior to a CAA visit scheduled for this Monday. Well that's all done although I now realise I am still short of a scribble in a couple of crucial places. The airfield looks tidy due to some hurried mowing between showers and the Hangar/container is swept and respectable. Watch this space!

Business and Pleasure

2008-08-02T07:40:00.009+12:00

To visit the manufacturers of the MTO3 Eagle in Hildersheim is a pilgrimage from my home town in Somerset. The best compromise on paper was to fly from Bristol to Amsterdam with KLM and then on to Hanover and hire a car. This worked well on the outward journey but turned to disaster on the return when we were stuck in Amsterdam overnight when a Focker 50 aircraft went sick. Besides a very short night in a very basic Airport hotel and some lost luggage all was well for us but for those on demanding business schedules KLM was a complete failure. Visiting the Auto-gyro factory always impresses me, the warm welcome was matched with warm weather, some 32C by day and 20C by night. It was pleasing to see the new aircraft for New Zealand were under construction with painted body shells drying courtesy of solar power. Production is approaching one machine per day with 46 staff running two shifts that start at 5.00am and run until 11.00 at night. The teamwork is impressive and the cleanliness and organisation of the factory is a stepping stone on the path to higher approvals within European Aviation Legislation. I was introduced to the slightly modified MT-Sport which is configured to produce less drag and can be fitted with a variable pitch propeller to provide a total performance improvement of twenty percent above the original design. The changes are subtle and when I first flew the aircraft it appeared that it just wanted to operate faster for given power settings. With adjustment of the electrically controlled Ivo-Prop the cruising revs reduced to 4500 while the machine settled at 100mph with less air disturbance around the cockpit. I have recently written about the history of London and the UK and it would be amiss of me to not to mention the glories of Hildesheim and the civilisations that populated this war torn land. The restoration of medieval buildings that were heavily bombed in the Forties is particularly impressive. The town has created an area of cobbled streets which is largly devoid of traffic and allows tourists and locals alike to enjoy peaceful surroundings overshadowed by incredible buildings, some a thousand years old and some only just restored to match.

400 years of the Black and White Minstrals

2008-07-28T09:06:00.007+12:00

I started the week talking to the CAA about renewing the permit for my VPM16 gyroplane, the application from my engineer was not specific enough so would I please ask him to reapply with different wording. No point in arguing just accept a weeks delay, stay cool in the rising temperatures and aim to achieve other goals. Thursday was an insignificant day for this hall, just another in its four hundred year history. Built next to the church of the Knights Templer, Middle Temple Hall has served the oldest of the London Inns of Court since receiving the Royal Charter in 1608, it has seen Barristers called to the Utter Bar in the thousands but on Thursday it was my daughter's turn which makes it a very significant day for me. The walls are decorated with shields brandishing the coats of arms of history, the portraits depict Kings and noblemen, judges and gentry. The minstrel gallery suffered badly when bombs blew in the end wall in 1940 but today the scars have healed and everything is pristine and fitting for a formal ceremony. The odds are that only one in six of those who start training will practice as Barristers and the call to the Bar is but a step on the way. Still just signing your name in the register atop a table presented by Sir Frances Drake is worthy of celebration and commendation. Middle Temple Inn is situated down a narrow cobbled walkway that leads from Fleet Street towards the Thames Embankment it has a sense of the medieval; the effigies of Knights laid out in the nearby church now attract visitors from around the world thanks to Dan Brown and the Devinchi Code. Cross the river and you leave ancient London and enter the modern culture of the South Bank, the National Theatre the London Eye and just a reminder of the past in a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. To celebrate we spent a couple of days renewing our acquaintance with the Capital in which I spent my formative years and rejoicing in warm summer weather and reduced traffic volumes; thanks in part to the congestion charges that apply to the city centre and the rising price of fuel. By day visitors are flocking to the Parks to sunbathe and to the galleries for the enjoyment of art, by night the bars are spilling over with jovial drinkers basking in the warm summer air. Life is good despite the global gloom and the CAA.

Summer Skies and Stretched Legs

2008-07-21T19:54:00.003+12:00

The runway is now in good shape and the cattle issue has been resolved, the VPM gyroplane has been fired up and works well so now there is just the small matter of getting a permit issued. First step involves requesting approval for an engineer to carry out maintenance on the aircraft, this should be straightforward but could not be progressed for a week as the CAA person responsible was on a course. Its easy to see how 8 weeks leave will disappear before a permit to fly can be achieved! Given that no flying is likely I am trying to relax and enjoy the warm sunshine and beauty of summer.

Exmoor is a National Park in North Devon and it is only 1.5 hours to drive to this haven of tranquility so Sunday was spent tramping over heathland with fabulous views over a patchwork of fields and coastal villages. The heather on this moor is brilliant purple in September but already it is turning and the colour is vibrant. These moors are only 1500ft above sea level but with both North and South Devon coastlines almost visible the air is clean and fresh. Its hard to believe that there is a nuclear power station just over the hill that will produce so much radioactive waste that no one can even estimate how much decommissioning will cost. The good news is that the estuary in the picture has the second highest tidal rise and fall in the world and plans are afoot to build a barrage across, between England and Wales, that will use this natural power to generate pollution free electricity for the foreseeable future.

Culture and Cow Pats

2008-07-15T08:21:00.008+12:00

Before anyone lived in New Zealand the smallest City in England built a Cathedral. It took 300 years and a few generations of stone masons to position the massive blocks that graciously form the intricate structure, all without much lifting gear or health and safety regulations. The Western face is famous for a golden glow as the setting sun illuminates intricate figures in yellow sandstone. I was privileged this week to attend a concert by the talented youths who make up Wells Cathedral School of Music. Awesome! The building was packed and the acoustics made every note from every instrument reverberate to evry nook and cranny. By coincidence the Choir of Christchurch Cathedral NZ performed at this venue last night! My cultural outings moved up a 1000 feet to the top of the Mendip Hills where a small village has existed since Roman times, they still show visitors around the Lead and Tin mines from that period. Every July it plays host to the Priddy Folk Fayre and for three days the village green is taken over by musicians playing virtually every instrument know to man. As a local I volunteered to be a steward and save myself the entry fee, standing and directing traffic in the pouring rain for 4 hours made this seem a questionable decision. However the next day became sunny and warm and with time to relax and enjoy brilliant music and smooth English Ale and the world was turning so slowly you could almost see the ghost of Morris dancers who had performed here for a thousand years. Well you may have gathered that the English countryside is lush this year and the paddock where I keep my VPM gyroplane is no exception. So lush that the local lad who rents the grass keep decided to let his dairy cows feed there. This caused me a major headache as with the ground so soft the imprints of 2 dozen cattle turned my airfield into something resembling the Somme battleground. Heated discussion about liability was to no avail and so I had to put an emergency plan into action. I bought 500 metres of electric fencing wire and 50 stakes, frantic phone calls found a contractor with suitable tractor and trailer prepared to come at short notice to flatten the damage. Meanwhile I set to and used the rotary ride on mower to remove the grass down as much as possible on my runway strip. All this was achieved in forty-eight hours with the soil drying into concrete as we worked. To finish the surface I needed to start up my triple gang mower which had been standing idle all winter and half a summer. This venerable machine is a single cylinder diesel of around 1960 vintage, it has electric start but also responds well to a cord wrapped around a pulley and yanked with much force to turn the engine over. As I had used the battery to power the electric fence I had to use the ancient rope trick! It came to life just as I was about to give up and so I spent some 3 hours running up and down the strip gradually removing grass and cow droppings and rolling footprints back into a smooth finish. All this deserved a celebratory refreshment which was interrupted by a phone call from an ex student wanting to use the field, no problem I say come on in its looking fine!

Fettling Folk

2008-07-11T07:44:00.006+12:00

I have been very impressed by the engineering skills and ingenuity which is found in such abundance in New Zealand. In England these skills exist but sometimes they are somewhat hidden and hard to find. For over ten years I have been intrigued with the different skills of two brothers from a small village in Gloucestershire, one is an aviation artist of such renown that he is commissioned to create paintings to adorn the walls of the Officers Mess at many Royal Air Force stations. I bumped into Roy at the supermarket checkout this week whilst on route to meet his brother Gary, who creates aircraft. I use the word 'creates' because of his back to basics attitude, if it isn't available to a satisfactory standard Gary will go about sourcing the raw materials and creating it. This turned out to be the case when he decided to offer kit-set gyroplanes and the Rotordyne blades he wanted to use were not available. A trip to California and an agreement to produce copies in the UK led to his small garage becoming the source of excellent 10 and 11 foot rotor blades which now lift several single seat aircraft into the air. On arrival I found Gary finishing off a Mark 4 Cricket but he was able to show me components for the Mark 6 kits which he markets as Layzell Gyroplanes. I flew one of these as an open frame machine and then trained the owner to fly it a couple of years ago. It performed extremely well with a Rotax 582 engine fitted but now that there is a pod available it will be a delight to operate. As well as gyroplanes Gary has an interest in military vehicles and small armored cars and large 3 ton trucks can be found where most folk would park the family saloon. Both Gary and Roy have done some gyro flying with me and I did throw in an invitation to join us for some more training in Tauranga, watch this space.

Mixed Emotions or maybe Ups and Downs.

2008-07-06T22:11:00.007+12:00

This week has been mixed in many ways, the weather for a start has tried to remind me of Tauranga with poring rain and wind mixed with bright beautiful sunshine. Friends have been in touch and I have started to deal with the airstrip and gyroplane that have been awaiting my return. The picture shows Steve Hart in a Montgomerie Benson of which he is very proud. I was privileged to teach Steve gyro flying about 13 years ago and he initially owned an immaculate Everett Cricket and upgraded to this Rotax 912 powered aircraft which is said to have cost some £30,000 to build! Steve is anxious to fly into my little airstrip as soon as it is presentable as he has relations in the village. Although the field that I use was cut for hay in June the grass is in need of a good trim to bring it in line with the normal standard at 'Allerton International'. To this end I started to use a small ride on mower which will bring things to the point where my historic triple gang mower can provide the final trim. This may well be the last year of operation, if I sell my aircraft, which is a shame as there are few fields available and having operated for over ten years it could become officially recognised. To operate my aircraft this year will require an inspection by the local CAA surveyor which will cost £410 as the permit is more than a year out of date! This is double the normal fee and seems a rip off as it is the same look- around and paper work as the annual check. To renew my UK instructors rating will involve a similar expense so I may forgo that pleasure as well. There is growing interest in my aircraft which has an almost new modified Subaru engine with sub4 heads and a recent paint job makes it quite smart.

Back in the UK OK

2008-07-02T22:26:00.005+12:00

Well you can ignore the photo because arrival into Heathrow was actually in brilliant sunshine and the journey down the M4 to Bristol showed England looking her best. I had enjoyed a relaxing break in Los Angeles and so the flight of about 10 hours and another two on a comfortable coach went very well. I was met in Bristol and driven back to my Somerset base at normal UK speeds which of course are well above the legal limit for New Zealand and it seemed quite refreshing not to be limited to 100kph.

I have been in touch with Auto-gyro Germany and have specified the exact requirements for the new aircraft to be shipped to New Zealand for September. These will be offered in the same package as before: Finished in UV reflecting Mercedes silver metallic and equipped with sports seats, radio, intercom, nose, strobe and navigation lights, extra fuel tank. In addition there will be an improved compass installation, a larger battery and a panel mounted fuel gauge.

I have already been approached for gyro flight training in the UK but this will necessitate renewing my British instructors rating, at vast expense, and also re-permitting my VPM16 training aircraft which is not cheap either. The aircraft is in very good condition and because of the solar trickle-charge panel, starts without any grief even after a year in storage.

Attitude is everything - OZZY EDUCATIONAL!

2008-06-29T08:59:00.003+12:00

Hi Mate, I am writing to you because I need your help to get me bloody pilot's license back. You keep telling me you got all the right contacts. Well now's your chance to make something happen for me because, mate, I'm bloody desperate! But first, I'd better tell you what happened during my last flight review with the CAA Examiner. On the phone, Ron (that's the CASA d*#"head) seemed a reasonable sort of a bloke. He politely reminded me of the need to do a flight review every two years. He even offered to drive out, have a look over my property and let me operate from my own strip. Naturally I agreed to that. Anyway, Ron turned up last Wednesday. First up, he said he was a bit surprised to see the plane on a small strip outside my homestead, because the ALA (Authorized Landing Area) is about a mile away. I explained that because this strip was so close to the homestead, it was more convenient than the ALA, and despite the power lines crossing about midway down the strip, it's really not a problem to land and take-off, because at the halfway point down the strip you're usually still on the ground. For some reason Ron seemed nervous. So, although I had done the pre-flight inspection only four days earlier, I decided to do it all over again. Because the prick was watching me carefully, I walked around the plane three times instead of my usual two. My effort was rewarded because the colour finally returned to Ron's cheeks. In fact, they went a bright red. In view of Ron's obviously better mood, I told him I was going to combine the test flight with some farm work, as I had to deliver three poddy calves from the home paddock to the main herd.After a bit of a chase I finally caught the calves and threw them into the back of the ol' 172. We climbed aboard, but Ron started getting onto me about weight and balance calculations and all that crap. Of course I knew that sort of thing was a waste of time because, calves like to move around a bit particularly when they see themselves 500 feet off the ground! So, it's bloody pointless trying to secure them as you know. However, I did tell Ron that he shouldn't worry as I always keep the trim wheel set on neutral to ensure we remain pretty stable at all stages throughout the flight. Anyway, I started the engine and cleverly minimized the warm-up time by tramping hard on the brakes and gunning her at 2,500 rpm. I then discovered that Ron has very acute hearing, even though he was wearing a bloody headset. Through all that noise he detected a metallic rattle and demanded I account for it. Actually it began about a month ago and was caused by a screwdriver that fell down a hole in the floor and lodged in the fuel selector mechanism. The selector can't be moved now, but it doesn't matter because it's jammed on `All tanks', so I suppose that's okay. However, as Ron was obviously a nit-picker, I blamed the noise on vibration from a stainless steel thermos flask which I keep in a beaut little possie between the windshield and the magnetic compass. My explanation seemed to relax Ron, because he slumped back in the seat and kept looking up at the cockpit roof. I released the brakes to taxi out, but unfortunately the plane gave a leap and spun to the right. "Hell" I thought, "not the starboard wheel chock again". The bump jolted Ron back to full alertness. He looked around just in time to see a rock thrown by the prop-wash disappear completely through the windscreen of his brand new Commodore. "Now I'm really in trouble", I thought! While Ron was busy ranting about his car, I ignored his requirement that we taxi to the ALA, and instead took off under the power lines. Ron didn't say a word, at least not until the engine started coughing right at the lift off point, and then he bloody screamed his head off. "Oh Shit Oh shit! Oh shit!" "Now take it easy, Ron" I told him firmly. "That often happens on take-off and there is a good reason for it". I explained patiently that I usually run the plane on standard MOGAS, but one day I accidentally put in a gallon or two of kerosene. To compensate for the low octane of the kerosene, I siphoned in a few gallons of super MOGAS and shook the wings up and down a few times to mix it up. Since then, the engine has been coughing a bit but in general it works just fine, if you know how to coax it properly. Anyway, at this stage Ron seemed to lose all interest in my test flight. He pulled out some rosary beads, closed his eyes and became lost in prayer. (I didn't think anyone was a Catholic these days). I selected some nice music on the HF radio to help him relax. Meanwhile, I climbed to my normal cruising altitude of 10,500 feet. I don't normally put in a flight plan or get the weather because, as you know getting a FAX access out here is a friggin' joke and the weather is usually 8/8 blue anyway. (But since I had that near miss with a Saab 340, I might have to change me thinking on that.) Anyhow, on leveling out, I noticed some wild camels heading into my improved pasture. I hate bloody camels, and always carry a loaded 303 clipped inside the door of the Cessna just in case I see any of the bastards. We were too high to hit them, but as a matter of principle, I decided to have a go through the open window. Mate, when I pulled the bloody rifle out, the effect on Ron was friggin' electric. As I fired the first shot his neck lengthened by about six inches and his eyes bulged like a rabbit with myxo. He really looked as if he had been jabbed with an electric cattle prod on full power. In fact, Ron's reaction was so distracting that I lost concentration for a second and the next shot went straight through the port tyre. Ron was a bit upset about the shooting (probably one of those pinko animal lovers I guess) so I decided not to tell him about our little problem with the tyre. Shortly afterwards I located the main herd and decided to do my fighter pilot trick. Ron had gone back to praying when, in one smooth sequence, I pulled on full flaps, cut the power and started a sideslip from 10,500 feet down to 500 feet at 130 knots indicated (the last time I looked anyway) and the little needle rushed up to the red area on me ASI. What a buzz, mate! About half way through the descent I looked back in the cabin to see the calves gracefully suspended in mid air and mooing like crazy. I was going to comment on this unusual sight, but Ron looked a bit green and had rolled himself into the fetal position and was screamin' his freakin' head off. Mate, talk about being in a bloody zoo. You should've been there, it was so bloody funny! At about 500 feet I leveled out, but for some reason we kept sinking. When we reached 50 feet I applied full power but nothin' happened. No noise no nothin'. Then, luckily, I heard me instructor's voice in me head saying "carb heat, carb heat". So I pulled carb heat on and that helped quite a lot, with the engine finally regaining full power. Whew, that was really close, let me tell you! Then mate, you'll never guess what happened next! As luck would have it, at that height we flew into a massive dust cloud caused by the cattle and suddenly went I.F. bloody R, mate. You would have been really proud of me as I didn't panic once, not once, but I did make a mental note to consider an instrument rating as soon as me gyro is repaired (something I've been meaning to do for a while now). Suddenly Ron's elongated neck and bulging eyes reappeared. His Mouth opened wide, very wide, but no sound emerged. "Take it easy," I told him, "we'll be out of this in a minute". Sure enough, about a minute later we emerged, still straight and level and still at 50 feet. Admittedly I was surprised to notice that we were upside down, and I kept thinking to myself, "I hope Ron didn't notice that I had forgotten to set the QNH when we were taxiing". This minor tribulation forced me to fly to a nearby valley in which I had to do a half roll to get upright again. By now the main herd had divided into two groups leaving a narrow strip between them. "Ah!" I thought, "there's an omen. We'll land right there." Knowing that the tyre problem demanded a slow approach, I flew a couple of steep turns with full flap. Soon the stall warning horn was blaring so loud in me ear that I cut it's circuit breaker to shut it up, but by then I knew we were slow enough anyway. I turned seeply onto a 75 foot final and put her down with a real thud. Strangely enough, I had always thought you could only ground loop in a tail dragger but, as usual, I was proved wrong again! Halfway through our third loop, Ron at last recovered his sense of humor. Talk about laugh. I've never seen the likes of it. He couldn't stop. We finally rolled to a halt and I released the calves, who bolted out of the aircraft like there was no tomorrow. I then began picking clumps of dry grass. Between gut wrenching fits of laughter, Ron asked what I was doing. I explained that we had to stuff the port tyre with grass so we could fly back to the homestead. It was then that Ron really lost the plot and started running away from the aircraft. Can you believe it? The last time I saw him he was off into the distance, arms flailing in the air and still shrieking with laughter. I later heard that he had been confined to a psychiatric institution - poor bugger! Anyhow mate, that's enough about Ron. The problem is I got this letter from CASA withdrawing, as they put it, my privileges to fly; until I have undergone a complete pilot training course again and undertaken another flight proficiency test. Now I admit that I made a mistake in taxiing over the wheel chock and not setting the QNH using strip elevation, but I can't see what else I did that was a so bloody bad that they have to withdraw me flamin' license. Can you?

Gyro Traveller in Transit

2008-06-28T07:38:00.002+12:00

Well no white gloves on Air New Zealand but the turn out was better, smarter appearance and the guys had ties and jackets, much improved on the sloppy crew that flew me down from LA last September. I had a long phone call with Steve who looks after the NZAA web site just before leaving NZ and we discussed a link to the Gyrate web site and this blog, thanks Steve that would be great. We also spoke of the need to improve communication with NZAA members and it was my view that we need a membership card and a standard welcome/renewal letter to acknowledge receiept of funds. What do you think! how about some comment on the blog!

White Gloves - a must have for flying

2008-06-25T23:49:00.003+12:00

Hamish, this one is for you! Thanks for your help with IT marketing it has been a stimulating course which started this Blog and I hope will refresh the Gyrate website and marketing material. Now that I have your attention ladies and gentlemen I would like you to be aware that GYRATE is taking a Winter Break and will be back to normal service around the 5th September. I will be available on email and Skype and will maintain a blog throughout. I intend to visit the factory in Germany and arrange for three more machines to arrive in Tauranga as soon as possible. The plan is to be seamless from the consumer point of view and to offer new machines to be configured with engines to suit customer requirements. I will be travelling Air New Zealand to Los Angeles Thursday night and will again be disappointed with the uniform and dress standard of this proud National Airline, come on guys and girls you can do better, maybe some white gloves and even a tie!

More Eagles Soaring Soon

2008-06-24T21:59:00.012+12:00

Well it has been a close run thing but finally I have confirmationn that my original MTO3 Eagle has been sold which opens the door to import a further three machines in a 20ft container from Germany. The aircraft will arrive as before without engines as these are available at Tauranga through Colin Alexander of Solowings, the local Rotax agent. I am hopeful that we can expedite production and shipping so that we can have delivery early in September. Meanwhile I have asked Colin to provide a zero hours Rotax 100 hp 912ULS for the twoseat Dominator which will fill any gap. Bruce Watson has said that I can also continue to train on ZK-RGG should this be required. This will give us a full spectrum of machines on offer at the start of the season, right through to top of the range glass cockpit Xenons. A fine single seat Dominator remains available for a discerning buyer with a limited budget, the aircraft flies very well and could provide some excellent experience for someone not wanting the hassle and expense of building from scratch.

Who is doing What

2008-06-23T19:51:00.005+12:00

Following use of Philipp's picture in the last post an exchange of emails brought me this picture of the Sportcopter, built by Philip and his brother, being flown in Hungary where the regulations appear to favour gyro flyers, I am told there are 15 MT03 aircraft flying! Philipp has been suffering from ill health and spent a time in hospital while they sought to find the correct drugs to combat internal infections. The two turbo charged MT03 Eagles in New Zealand are busy, Phil Chalmers has done some 50 hours in the last few weeks, cracking them in before he heads back to Iraq for another six weeks of mortar dodging. Sid Lane has some twenty hours on his aircraft but is about to be slowed down by a course of radiotherapy. He assures me he will be over all that by the start of the new summer season. I will be taking eight weeks away from Tauranga and Phil Hooker is being reintroduced to Kahu to continue the flight test program. A couple of incidents in recent days have reinforced my belief that in most cases remote training is not an economical option and raised the question is aptitude or attitude the most important factor in flight safety; it has to be attitude! I was always told that great pilots use great judgement to avoid the use of great skills.

Soggey Sunday and Solar Cells

2008-06-22T15:10:00.006+12:00

Well there are floods all around the world and today Tauranga is suffering torrential rains although nothing like the tropics. The gyro hangar is pretty waterproof although we do suffer when, like today the rain is blown on strong winds and it comes underneath the doors. The photo taken by a student from Austria last year shows the Eagles nest with excellent lighting both natural and artificial. I have just installed solar panels strapped onto the upper side of rotor blades of aircraft that are going to be idle for a while. This is to maintain the charge in the batteries. The blades are positioned so that the light streaming in through the clear roof panels is directed on to the solar cells. This system is well proven in the gliding world and indeed has been keeping my VPM in the UK charged for nearly a year.

Insurance for Hull and Third Party

2008-06-20T21:05:00.000+12:00

Well at last I have an insurance quotation for a potential Eagle owner even though he is flying on a novice certificate. Not cheap and a heavy excess but at least cover is offered. A second Company is close to quoting so maybe at last the improving accident record is beginning to be recognised. This cover will facilitate financing any future sales and so opens the door to those who wish to fly modern gyros today and pay later. The morning was taken up with outlining changes to the Gyrate web site which will expand capability in terms of links to useful information and provide more detail on both training and aircraft for sale. I would be interested to hear from anyone in NZ who would like to advertise their gyros through this site. Remember we are happy to train anyone on their own machine, providing it is suitable, instructional charge is currently only 75$ per flying hour and includes all that time taken in preparation and debrief.

What a difference some wind makes

2008-06-18T21:12:00.000+12:00

Another bright Autumn day but the flags advertising Tauranga City Airport are fluttering furiously from the lampposts on Jean Batten Drive. My first student has the school Eagle refueled and ready to go and the temperature in the hangar has dropped with a significant wind chill factor. No worries with suitable flight gear I am soon quite snug in the rear seat as we check the weather being broadcast from the Tower. A stiff Southeast breeze suggests a good day to leave the circuit and head away for some engine out field landing practice. After take off our angle of climb is impressive as the ground speed is somewhat reduced by 25knots at a 1000ft, we press on and travel East along the Pacific Coast until well clear of suburban sprawl and out over flat farming paddocks. When the day arrives for an engine failure may it please be over flat farm land with a stiff breeze blowing and of course I would also like sufficient height to select my spot and turn into wind. The exercise proved worthwhile and emphasised the need to stay close to your field as a gyro has little penetration into a wind when at best glide speed. Height can be lost but not regained and extending the distance travelled just doesn't happen when you raise the nose. We returned to the field to do some circuits and experience the joy of hovering on finals with perfect ease while traffic backtracks and departs ahead. Oh how gyros like to show off with a little wind to help. Later, as dusk approached Kahu was set up with lights on the rotor blade tips and cameras to record the tracking. This proved to be near perfect.

Bright Spots beneath a Leaky Sky

2008-06-17T23:24:00.000+12:00

Well they promise a fine day tomorrow but I spent the second day this week on the ground watching the sky leak. It did give me the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely brunch at the Classic Flyers Cafe, one of Tauranga Airports major attractions where they show videos of expensive aviation errors before enticing you to visit the aviation museum to see what survived. Classic Flyers is a success story and is still growing fast as a tourist attraction and center for aviation minded people from all over NZ and indeed the world. The Gyrate web site and brochure need going over and I had meetings on Monday with Martian Design Labs to attend to this work, they produced the very successful designs for the aircraft as well as doing the publicity and promotion material. Email arrived from Poland showing the fitting instructions for the new Xenon doors which should be finished just in time for me to leave for an overseas break. Work in hangar 9 continues to perfect the Kahu project and more flight trials are expected later this week.

Sunday - Damp Day in the Bay

2008-06-15T23:05:00.000+12:00

So I have found this neat site for weather, it seems to be fairly accurate for the rather special local climate that we have in the Bay of Plenty. It is called Windfinder.com and can be used for anywhere, I hope to have a link to Tauranga Weather on the web site and the Blog when I find out how! The other good news is on the insurance sceene, we seem to have an Australian broker on side and he is confident of placing our risks at a fair rate. Watch this space but now that some gyroplanes cost more than the flying club spam can the income from premiums is becoming more attractive. I flew in a Xenon from Tauranga to Dannevirke via wairoa and Hastings and after the worst of the hill country I plucked up courage to take some pictures as attached.

2008-06-15T22:55:00.000+12:00

Xenon Doors at last!

2008-06-14T23:00:00.000+12:00

Finaly DHL managed to deliver the new doors for the three NZ Xenons. Air freighted from Poland to Auckland in about 4 days it took another 4 days to get to Tauranga. These are not cheap doors, the delivery costs exceeded the price of the goods and this was high to start with. Anyway another fine day in the Bay and the Xenon and Eagle provided training around the circuit in light easterly winds. We move forward.

Friday 13th, Blade Tracking - not flying!

2008-06-13T21:32:00.000+12:00

Today I have ben using lights attached to the end of my rotorblades to make sure that each blade cuts exactly the same path through the air. Failure to match the blades causes the control stick to shake excessivly and the whole machine and the occupants suffer fatigue. To do this we drill the blade ends and attach mini LED lights that shine in towards the crew, by filming the lights we can see if one is flying in a different path to the other. It is best done at last light and it was so black when we finished I must have qualified for a night rating.

Training in Company Systems

2008-06-12T21:26:00.000+12:00

Today has been educational for me, I have been subjected to statistics about Company success, if you have good systems and account control your Company will stand an 80% of surviving even in the hard times ahead. I spent the afternoon addressing my accounts and tax returns!

Training in Tauranga

2008-06-11T18:39:00.000+12:00

What a fantastic day, sun all day and almost calm conditions created still water on the inner harbour that reflected the colours of the day and the evening sunset. I trained two students in the MTO3 Eagle and flew some 2 hours of circuits. All very relaxed as they are both at solo standard and contemplating purchase of machines in which to proceed further.

Initiation

2008-06-10T22:45:00.000+12:00

Following an instructional session on computer Internet marketing I have created my first ever blog site and will enthrall a small but select audience with the unbridled joys of flying gyros in the beautiful Bay of Plenty.