Raf Gyro Safety Full Blower And

I went down to the warbird area and spent the rest of the week begging for a ride in the PBY.

One of my most strident statements about flying was proven wrong a while back at the EAAs Sun (andor) Fun Fly-In.

You have to understand that I consider what I usually fly to be normal-sized aircraft: 767s and MD-88s.

Actually, if you really want to know the truth, I consider the MD-88 to be a little on the small side.).

For one thing, I had done pretty well over the years airmanship-wise by flying things like DC-9s and seven twos.

Secondly, since I have no confidence whatsoever in my ability to build things, why should I trust John Q.

Lugwrench to homebuild a sky chariot that wouldnt kill this homeboy.

Much to my Dads chagrin, I never got the mechanic gene and have embarrassed him over the years by actually having pieces of my car fall off while going down the highway.

I must have had a weak moment during Sun Fun because I strapped on and aviated in-get this-A GYROPLANE.

Or maybe it was that I saw all my other media-type friends plying the skies in various and sundry air machines, but I felt the need to fly something new.

I had spent years of my young life hanging out on ramps and for a moment I felt like a fuzzy-lipped, pimple-faced air newt.

I remembered that years ago in mags like POPULAR MECHANICS I read that you could buy a cheap kit and build your very own gyroplane at home.

I always figured that people who did that sort of thing were probably looking for a quick exit from this existence into a similar-yet-not-quite-so-tacky universe in their next life.

Daniel explained to me that not only was the gyroplane a safe and solid concept, but that he personally had flown them and had come back to tell the tale.

It would be like a freshman psych major trying to explain the Vulcan mind-meld to Mr.

Spock.

This man knows all and sees all when it comes to gyro flight.

Definitely not my usual style-Im a meat-and-potatoes, big airplane guybut this thing simply looked like too much fun to pass up.

The RAF 2000 would fit very nicely into my barn and would fly easily in and out of the small fields that adorn my tiny horse farm.

Raf Gyro Safety Full Blower And

The power of the rearward-facing Subaru 1800 cc engine came up to full blower and we were off and flying.

As we flew out over the cow fields (and cow doots) of central Florida, Dan impressed this turbojet pilot by showing me that the RAF 2000 can stay in the air at zero knots.

He then showed me how to do a zoom climb over an imaginary water tower and my grin muscles went into cramps.

How the hell had I missed all this fun over the past few years.

By the way, I was kidding about your not mentioning that you read about it in US AVIATOR.