Gyros - I suggest you read the text while photos are downloading.
WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
It has been said ( by me! ) that if you haven't flown in an autogyro - generally known as gyros - then you haven't lived. They look like such amazing little flying machines that you can't help thinking "wow, I wonder if flying one of those is as much fun as it looks?". Well, the answer is YES, it is. When you realise that there is nothing directly driving those rotors other than the wind passing back through them then the word 'magic' springs to mind. Of course, a little more insight into the aerodynamics of gyros reveals that it is the propeller which gives the forward motion, while the wind passing through the rotor provides the lift - but magic is still the right word to describe them! When you have read this page I suggest you visit some of the other pages (more than 30!) on this gyro website, by clicking on the links in the 'Links table' at the bottom of this page - and most of the other pages too.
25 September : Photo changed lower down this page. Air to air on the 8 White Horses flight ( - I will update the White Horses page when I get a moment.)
29 September : The return flight of the RAF 2000 gyros from 'Magni Day' in Italy back to the UK. Click HERE .
3 October : a new gyro added to my "Gyros on Floats" page, gyro13. This is a big page now - if people have trouble with the photos loading then please let me know.
22 October : The North West Gyroplane Club now have a new and growing website showcasing all their activities. It is added to my Links Page, but shortcut to it here: www.nwgyro.co.uk .When I have got the Nov/Dec issue of Fly Gyro! out and away, I promise to do some serious updating on this old site!
17 November : My "Rarely flown UK single seat gyros" page gyro5 updated - including the latest Air Command situation.
A patchwork of English fields either side of the M5 motorway near Dunkeswell Airfield, Devon. A much better view than from a car, I think you would agree? - to see a MUCH bigger, brighter version of this photo (82kb), set your browser to 'Full Screen' and click on the photo. It is just what you need on a rainy day!
Marc Lhermette flying his RAF2000 2seat gyro over the Kent countryside - or it may even be the French countryside as Marc has recently flown this gyro across the English Channel to France, then down South to a gyro Rally. Who says that you can't go long distances in a gyro?
The photo above shows Keith Balch's VW Bensen gyrocopter at the beautiful Cornish coastal airfield of Perranporth - I shall always have a soft spot for Perranporth as I did my first solo circuit there.Those with sensitive ears will be glad to know that Keith had some silencers made up for this gyro!
Flying in a group on our annual 8 White Horses flight. If this looks like fun - believe me, it is!! But get yourself proper training if you want to fly one. If I can fly one then so can you - I had never flown anything (except a kite!) before flying gyros but nobody should even think about flying one without proper training from a qualified gyro instructor. (See Fly Gyro! magazine's "Gyro Links" page for a list of instructors worldwide)
A word about Edwin Shackleton who took the photo at the top of this page : Edwin appears in 'The Guinness Book of World Records' every year as the person who has flown in more different types of aircraft than anyone else. I last checked with him on September 17, 2001 and his record stood at 724 types. Don't expect me to keep this up to date ! Edwin has flown in all of these types of aircraft as a passenger - he is not a pilot !
My gyro back down on the ground again at its farm strip. For the technically minded : it is powered by a direct drive 1834cc VW engine, has a 22ft Dragon Wings rotor and 52"diam x 28"pitch Prince P-tip propeller.
This page was originally intended just to show potential customers to my work website that my family and I continue to do interesting things after 5 o'clock in the afternoon when we usually stop working. Surprisingly to me it has proved very popular, and so for the real gyro enthusiasts among you I have added, and will continue to add, some further gyro pages (there are 29 gyro pages here already!). This website is very much UK based (if I ever earn any money I would love to broaden my gyro flying horizons by flying gyros elsewhere in the world!) though there should be plenty of international gyro general interest here, and there is now a table at the bottom of this page with a selection of gyro topics for you to choose from.
A 'Gold Award' given to this site by Helicopteros - The Page (see links). This flying machine was, of course, designed by that well known gyro enthusiast Leonardo da Vinci. If you want to know what the small globe icon is, click on it to see very detailed statistics of visitors to this site - an excellent free service for which I thank eXTReMe Tracking.
What we do ........ interesting carving projects - and things you can buy - which help afford to keep the old gyro flying.
Fed up with gyros? try a beast ....
What's new .... latest updates on the rest of my main (non-gyro) site.
FLYING LINKS ..... constantly growing. Try them when you are ready to leave this site - they are all good ones!
return to my main site (non-gyro) homepage . . . . back to reality !
Mel's gyro training .... if you have nothing better to do then you could have a read of these old stories from 'Ultralight Rotorcraft'. (You may want to read them off-line - they are quite long). - And 2 more magazine articles HERE .
The '8 White Horses flight', August 21, 1999, and details for the 2001 flight.
View of Mel's cockpit ...... (and text) taken in flight to answer questions received about the instrumentation on my gyro.
Trying flying high! ...... a flight I made on Mid Summers Day, 2001.
gyro1
' Mel's Gyro Page ' (gyro homepage) - you're in it !!
gyro2
Ken Wallis page
gyro3
gyro photos taken while filming for TV series
gyro4
single seat gyro types commonly flown in the UK (Cricket types, Bensen, Montgomerie Bensen)
gyro5
single seat gyro types rarely flown in the UK (Wombat, KB2, Air Command, Hornet, McCandless, etc.)
gyro6
2 seat gyro types commonly flown in the UK (VPM M16, RAF2000)
gyro7
2 seat gyro types rarely flown in the UK
gyro8
an assortment of other pages - several sub-pages to this one
gyro9
interesting projects going on
gyro10
International gyro page
gyro11
FLYING LINKS
gyro12
Gyroglider page
gyro13
Gyros on Floats
gyro14
Stop browsing this and get proper training to fly gyros in the U.K. (this link will take you to the BRA site)
Fly Gyro! magazine
The new international magazine (printed) for enthusiasts everywhere!
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