These two photos show Wing Commander Ken Wallis at Wallis Days '97, Shipdham Airfield, Norfolk, UK - taxying out in the top one and flying past at lightning speed in the one above ! G-BLIK has held the autogyro world speed record of 193.6kph (over 120mph!) over a measured distance of 3 kilometres since 1986 - another of Ken's gyros previously held this record since 1969. Notice how Ken can hold onto his rotor whilst sitting down - these days the gyro fashion in many countries seems to be for tall masts, large diameter propellers, powerful engines and fancy tails. As Ken pointed out, his aircraft probably had the least powerful engine (a 60 hp Franklin) of any gyro at Wallis Days - and it certainly does not have a large diameter prop or fancy tail either!
At some point ( notice that I didn't say soon!) I shall do some serious text and photos of the amazing phenomenon that is Ken Wallis and his gyros, but in the meantime this will have to do as a taster!
These photos were taken at Wallis Days '97 which since 1997 has become an annual event sponsored and organized by Rotor Gazette International - with the flying display side of things organized by myself and authorized by the CAA.
(10 August 2000) Some news on
Ken: In his mid eighties and still very sprightly he now has his medical
card signed up, and the CAA's Medical Department have sent him a letter
wishing him well with all his future flying. He is just getting the Permit
to Fly sorted out on his gyros (which shouldn't be too much of a problem).
In his letter he says "Now that the Medical matter
for gyroplane pilots is on a far more realistic footing I am interested
in catching up on lost time and getting a number of my machines back in
the air." If I was a betting man I would put my money on the
'Time to climb' world record being the next to go!
Wallis Days '99 was held at Swanton Morley Airfield on May29,30. Click HERE for a brief summary of the event and just a couple of photos.
Wallis Days 2000 was held at Swanton Morley Airfield on May27,28. Click HERE for a brief summary of the event and a few photos.
I am hoping to bring some very interesting developments to this page soon, but for the moment I will copy part of a long letter which I received from Ken Wallis on February 14 and which concerns his latest official World Record (achieved 'accidentally' at the age of 81 years and 336 days - can you believe it!!?) set on 19th March 1998 - the 'Time to Climb' (to 3000metres) :
" . . . . the record achieved was 7 mins 20 secs, but this was from a standing start to 3010 metres; the barograph was only set to read every 10 seconds. Further, I wasn't trying for Time to Climb to 3000 metres - I was going for much higher altitudes, with the oxygen gear and fuel to suit.
I gave up due to cloud cover over the ground beneath me at 18,976 feet. I think I could do the Time to Climb to 3000metres in under 7 minutes if I were trying for that only. Ken" . . . . Watch this space!
I include a list of all the current autogyro world records in the table below (if anyone knows of any that I have missed out - please tell me. I am fairly confident that this list is complete). All of these records were achieved in Wallis designed and built aircraft, and were also piloted by him. The exception being the Altitude record which was set by Dr Bill Clem in a turbo-charged Dominator gyro last year in the USA. Well done Bill - perhaps the first person ever to take (borrow?!) a world record from Wing Commander Ken Wallis?
In an even more recent letter to me Ken Wallis wrote " . . . . In the flight of the 19th March (when Ken set the 'Time to Climb' record) I gave up at 18,976 ft , since I had lost all sight of the ground due to cloud closing in. My little naturally aspirated WA-121 could do quite a bit more, but could not beat Clem's record by the required 3% required to qualify. I'm looking at the possibility of using a supercharged or turbo-charged engine to regain the record".
| September 28, 1975 | ||||
| September 28, 1975 | 6 hours 25 minutes | |||
| October 14, 1984 | ||||
| April 17, 1985 | Speed over 100 km closed circuit (62 miles) | 190.4 km/hr (118mph) | 164.4 km/hr (102mph) Don Farrington (USA), Air&Space 18A,180hp | |
| September 18, 1986 | 193.6 km/hr (120mph) | |||
| August 5, 1988 | 130.8 km/hr (81 mph) | No previous record | ||
| August 5, 1988 | 134.0 km/hr (83 mph) | |||
| August 5, 1988 | ||||
| March 19, 1998 | 7 minutes 20 seconds | |||
April 17, 1998 ( Bill Clem ) |
FREE !! downloadable Wallis Autogyros
for you to fly in Microsoft Flight Simulator '98!!!! The image on the left
is a frame taken from the program! Click on the image to go to my download
page and find out more!
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' Mel's Gyro Page ' (gyro homepage) |
gyro2 - you're in it ! Ken Wallis page |
gyro photos taken while filming for TV series |
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single seat gyro types commonly flown in the UK (Cricket types, Bensen, Montgomerie Bensen) |
single seat gyro types rarely flown in the UK (Wombat, KB2, Air Command, Hornet, McCandless, etc.) |
2 seat gyro types commonly flown in the UK (VPM M16, RAF2000) |
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2 seat gyro types rarely flown in the UK |
an assortment of other pages - several sub-pages to this one |
interesting projects going on |
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International gyro page |
FLYING LINKS |
Gyroglider page |
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Gyros on Floats |
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! |
