Well I note the biggest gap since I started running a blog!  The good news is that we are so busy living and flying that time is at a premium.  On the plus side we have been doing a lot of work with Mark Humbke in his shinning new Eagle YOG.  Mark flew with me last summer to solo standard and then went overseas for what turned out to be an eight month break.   Much of this time was spent researching gyros around the world including a visit to the AutoGyro factory in Germany.  Eventually Mark committed himself to buying an Eagle from us and when he returned it was waiting for him.  Many thanks to SoloWings for fitting the 912s Rotax and to the CAA for attending to the registration and other paperwork on schedule.  Could this be the most polished aircraft in New Zealand?  I doubt it, I know of many well tended aircraft that have had years of TLC, this includes the Tiger Moth BFF in a neighbouring hangar which appears to have an engine bay cleaner than when it was first made in  1930 something,  immaculate!

Mark went solo about a week ago but the winds have been to challenging to build on this, instead we have been checking his navigation skills against his new Garmin 296.  Garmin wins hands down!

About a week earlier we had checked his nerves by sending him as a passenger with Bruce Watson – Bruce’s first ever.  They flew to Matamata over the spectacular Kaimai Hills on a glorious afternoon and all was well.   On return they came back into Tauranga and were cleared to the main runway in use 25.  Unfortunately the wind at this time was Northerly and fresh with gust over some new hangers that have just been built alongside this runway.  Bruce dealt well with the approach and put RGG down in the centre of the runway looking good, then as the airspeed dropped and the normal weathercock tendency started to turn the aircraft  there was insufficient rudder input to keep straight.  This in turn, combined with a lack of into-wind stick lifted one wheel and the inevitable rotor strike followed.   When learning to fly a tailwheel aircraft they always say that ‘the landing is not over until the aircraft stops’,  add ‘and kill the lift’ and it is just the same for Gyros.  The lesson here is if you’re not current and very capable with crosswind landings insist on an into wind runway for landing, your passenger won’t mind the go-around and your wallet will appreciate your decision!

This slow-speed incident was somewhat overstated in the press and I had a number of calls asking if I was involved in the Gyro Crash at Tauranga.   Unfortunately the next ‘crash’ that was reported was just that!  It is with great sadness that we came to hear of the deaths of two keen New Zealand Gyronaughts doing what we all love to do.  From every incident there are lessons to be learnt and although we have little knowledge of the machine or the circumstances we wait with anxious concern to discover how things went so horribly wrong for our friends.

Remembering is always significant to me in November, my birthday happens to fall on the 11th.  In England everyone of a certain age or with military connections wears a poppy on this day so it’s hard to forget.  The poppy emblem came from the Belguim fields of Flanders where so many New Zealanders died in the first World War.  The poppies bloom in their thousands and sway like untamed spirits as the breeze passes by.   Sad that so many young untamed spirits are now fighting over the poppy fields of Afganistan;  to quote Julie Felix, ‘when will they ever learn’.

In Tauranga something else must have stirred the memories for without a poppy in sight, 24 of my aviation friends arranged a surprise gathering to celebrate my Birthday.  This was quite rightly shared with my wife  Sue, who has  her Birthday on the 3rd November.  We were both astounded that having only been in this town for three years we have such support from aviation people who are all becoming close and valued friends.   Thank you all again for coming.

Things have changed for the better in those three years, we established Gyrate and met a lot of sideways looks from the aviation community in Tauranga and indeed in New Zealand.   After around a thousand hours of gyroing we find ourselves almost accepted by a growing sector of the flying community and have again been invited to display at various locations throughout the country.  The modern factory made gyro is proving as reliable as any other aircraft and one day soon we hope that even the insurance world will realise this and offer us some cover.  I hear that sales of the MTO3 Eagle have reached 70 in the UK and that the order book for 2010 is planned for 2 a month with a further 2 of the new Calidus model as well.  Is this the fastest growing sector of light aviation?

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 11:20 am and is filed under Gyrate Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.