bones

Well i never thought it would happen this quickly, but after just one add in the PF, about the Xenon, with the small part about my ability to offer instruction this far north, i have had a least 20 calls about the Xenon and gyros in general, and the amount of FW and Ultralight/trike people whom are interested in getting into a newstyle of machine and enjoying flying in all kinds of weather, whether their preferance be the XENON, ELA, GYRO OZ, or MAGNI and yes i been pushing all the new types, as i really dont care, i just want to see more rotors flying.
Of course i realise the interest may fade abit, but the interest was surprising for me, 3 FW guys, 1 already gone for a fly, and is in the process of joining ASRA, so as to be able to start lessons, another one tomorrow who is already jioned after talking to me, wants 3 hrs straight up to see, if it suits him, but to have already put the membership in i think his mind is already made up, another guy from around Roma decided to ring me after seeing Cam flying around.
A couple of property people just wanting to know more about these craft.

So my question is, does this happen every where else or have i just opened up a whole new area to gyros?

I know that after the Xenon and Ela in Atherton i have a few tif's to do up there as soon as i get time too.

So how do we spread the word more???????
I know the idea of the Gyro news being spread is being explored more now, but is there a better way?????

__________________
http://www.zenogyro.com.au
Good gyroplanes are not cheap, cheap gyroplanes are not necessarily good

richo

Hi Mark - I have had the same response but the enquirers are mostly dreamers.

Mitch

Ditto Richo!

Bones, you did not mention Butterfly's....Thanks.

I'll have to stop promoting the Serbian Zenons.....LOL.

bones

Mitch ihope you know me better than that, of course if some one is looking for a single seat machine there is a couple of people i pionting them to, and your one of them.

BTW you home yet?

__________________
http://www.zenogyro.com.au
Good gyroplanes are not cheap, cheap gyroplanes are not necessarily good

Mitch

Rattling ya Bones ole Mate.

I'll be home Tuesday arvo/evening. I'll likely ring on Wednesday to catch up.
What no bite on the "Serbian Zenons.....LOL."

bosca

I feel that the Gyro industry needs to promote themselves through the newesagents for example.What I mean by this is having a saleable magazine either on a stand alone basis or in partnership with other aviation sports.In other words get ourselves on the stands and to be noticed.This approach may need some paid staff etc to be effective,however I think it is worth a try.I am sure then the rest will follow.
Kym.

Brian

I wonder if the industry /sport is suffering because of the 'cheap' part, what I mean is that gyros have been promoted as the low.....lowest cost flying available with cheap gyros, cheap training and cheap flying!!

The mentality is that gyros are an easy to fly thing, some seem to think instruction or even not having flown for many years as a non issue and flying to any form of rules is completely beyond them!

Has the cheap image got what we aimed for ??

What have we got ?? Well, instructors are struggling to make a bob! Instructors 'some] seem to be teaching a variety of methods/ some pilots coming out of some instructors seem to behind the power curve!

Pilots, Well, what a motley lot, more divided than wool growers and thats really bad ! Some are dedicated conscientious flyers that we are all proud of.Some just dont want to know anything, pay for nothing/ read nothing/ not use any of the stuff ASRA has out there to help them and generally seem puzzled when the ineviatiable happens [roll the gyro up into a bundle or finish up in front of the law] Then we have those in the middle, not really sure if they want to be involved /not sure if they will support the association that gives them breathe or generally fly around not saying much but sticking to the back blocks and thats where they are happy at.

Hopefully, things are on the up, we can now buy showroom glitzty, reasonably expensive gyros with all the bells and whistles but will this cure the problems that exisist today ??

BTW, this is what happens when I'm bored , supposed to be doing bookwork on the puter but its more fun here!

__________________
Brian Reid
Pooncarie
NSW

bosca

You are correct in all accounts.We cannot be more divided than the wool growing leadership,if we are then we are doomed.
I finished my gyro training at Parkes a few years ago and was happy to pay the commercial rate.Instructers must be able to make money out of their training and in my view it would be a win win for all.

These things need to start from the top,however it needs the support from the ASRA members.

Aviation as a whole is going through turberlent times.This in my opinion is not helped by CASA.In actual fact they(some)are a total pain in the neck hellbent in destroying general aviation.How many instructers(GA) between Orange and where you live Brian?2 maybe3?About $20000 is required in bookwork and licences to set up a flying school,plus all of the extras.I could keep going about this lot,like the RTA.
Kym

MechFx

I managed to track down an original 1930's copy of Cierva's book "Wings of Tomorrow, the story of the Autogyro" I'm about halfway through.

It’s an absolute tragedy that his invention hasn't fulfilled a tenth of the potential he expected.

I'm in a pretty unique position after 4 years of involvement in Gyros. I have met some great people and seen a lot of great machinery. I've seen Gyros fly all over the world and I’ve come to a few conclusions during this time.

some good, some bad.

Everyone involved is very passionate about their flying and their own machinery. Brand loyalty is very high. This passion brings out the best in some and the worst in others.

I don’t agree that gyros need more promotion through advertisement.
In my (humble) opinion, at the moment, that would do way more harm than good.

We’re not ready.

How many people out there think of their local gyro club and ASRA as 2 completely separate things ?

ASRA is a Sports Association by definition. It is a group of volunteers giving way too much of their time to forward the “SPORT” while at the same time representing the wishes (and complaints) of 500-ish individuals that hardly agree on anything except the greatness of Autorotational flight.

I believe, the gyro movement (I purposely didn’t say ASRA) has 2 choices.

1. Leave things as they are.
Things aint so bad. Who's stopping you from doing what you want ? Why is changing other people’s perception of what you do so important ? The rules as they stand right now are pretty good compared to other countries. You are allowed to build just about anything you want (within quite a wide reason) , and if your wallet allows you can buy what you like from anywhere in the world, get it checked out and then head for the skies ? What's the problem ?

or

2. Get serious.
There are very few people out there that look at Gyros from a professional viewpoint.
Respect and acceptance from the outside world will only come through professional conduct and commercial involvement. The low level endorsement (I understand that as commercial gyro use for mustering, correct me if I’ve got that wrong) and competent flight training are the 2 best avenues to promote positive spin.

The main problems with option 1 is no-one is ever really happy with what they have now. Gyro pilots are drawn to the adventure, uniqueness and usefulness of these special machines. These same qualities are at odds with the type of person who is just happy to meander along not learning anything new and not experimenting with new boundaries. And secondly it doesn’t address the issue of mustering.

Now option 2 has already started.

With the eventual approval of commercial gyro usage will come a new respect for gyros and the people that fly them. Let’s say if 20% (guessing, but probably higher) of mustering flight that is done in helicopters at the moment could be legally undertaken in a gyro there will be a huge rise in interest from business. Remember the companies that pay for this aren’t in the helicopter business, they’re in the mustering business. Show them a way to increase effectiveness and profits at the same time they will be knocking down doors to get more gyros in the air.

And from the flight training perspective , In the whole country, There is only 1 full time instructor with permanent access to an airfield and available machinery. One . (I hope I’m wrong here) There are a few people putting up their hands to change this and they should be encouraged with gusto.

I have met people I would never fly with, and seen machines I would never fly in. I’ve encountered people with extremely overinflated views of themselves, and some gems that quietly go about with the satisfaction that they know what’s right , and don’t make a big fuss. I’ve also seen brilliant innovative engineering, met the only person I’ve ever been truly inspired by (Ken Wallis) and hopefully made some good mates along the way.

I guess what I’m hoping is that a 21st century “Cierva” will come along (Mitch it could be you !)

I think it will be individuals that will force the advancement of Gyros through becoming dealer/manufacturers and instructors and eventually commercial gyropilots.
Advertising will obviously be a part of this in the future but at the moment what are we trying to sell ?


Cheers

Art (the non-pilot , ex-editor, outsider)

Ps ASRA is you

__________________
"Never criticise a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes"
At least then you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes !

rotor

The best advertisement gyro's ever got was in one of the Mad Max movies and the James Bond movie ...... everyone remembers the gyro scenes in those movies (although a lot of people would think they were small helicopters)

Helicopters have been used in documentaries quite successfully so why not a twin seat gyrocopter? We've had "Dan" in his chopper buzzing the outback - what about "Birdy" buzzing the outback! If a doco could be produced travelling the out of the way places in the aussie outback/topend - places not on the everyday stopover calendar It'd have to be a winner ....

Doco's bring a lot of business's together .... travel, tourism, accomodation to name a few .... and business is money! (which you need to make doco's)

So what's needed is a get up and go person who knows the film/doco industry to talk to .....

Just a thought .....

__________________
Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment