UFO down in NZ

[bones]

Found this one this morning pretty sadhttp://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3058514/Loud-pop-before-crash

[Brian]

That is sad.The old UFO rears its ugly head again!

[asra]

Mr Adlam is the registered owner of UFO Helithruster registration mark RAZ initially registered 10 Dec 2007.The registration mark in the picture picture doesn"t look like Mr Chubb"s Magni Gyro M16 Registration RCR.

[bones]

Stev,As it states at the top i am fairly sure it is a UFO, as the magni do not have a tall tail and yes it does look like the start of RAZ on on the tail

[asra]

Very sad, and a real tragedy for both the deceased men"s families.

[Brian]

Very sad, and a real tragedy for both the deceased men"s families.

[asra]

I remember speaking to the late Chris Williams before his accident. Remember him saying the machine felt very twitchy, and somewhat unstable with speed (in pitch and yaw) His answer to that was going to be a much larger and improved tail.Here are a few pics of G2223 before the fatal crash, and yes this Assie UFO was highly modified compared to the stock machine.Very Sad, Chris was a great bloke.SamL.........

[asra]

Day off work was pilot"s lastBy Joseph Barratt9:06 AM Sunday Nov 15, 2009"Don"t worry about work ... just have a great day." Those were Denis Adlam"s last words to his dad Neville shortly before Neville and another man were killed in a gyrocopter crash.Neville Ronald Adlam, 70, was on a training flight in the home-built gyrocopter with instructor Stephen John Chubb, 51, when the aircraft plummeted to the ground in Taranaki last Thursday.Neville Adlam worked in the Citroen workshop he owned with sons Denis and Andrew.Denis said he had urged his dad to skip work and indulge in his passion."He had said the day before that if the weather was fine tomorrow he wanted to go out on the gyro and I told him he should."Early the next morning I followed it up with a phonecall to make sure he went out."He kept talking about having some parts arriving and working on a car."I said not to worry about it and that I could do the work. I told him to just have a great day."The next thing I knew of it was two police officers walking down the driveway."He says his dad had always been a motor enthusiast."It started when he was a boy... his dad drove up the driveway in a 1939 Light 12 and that was it, love at first sight."Denis said his father was a "loving husband and great dad"."It"s been quite a blow. Something has gone horribly wrong."It hit me this morning walking across the yard. I haven"t just lost my dad, I"ve lost a mate."Neville is survived by his wife, Rhonda, five children and 10 grandchildren. His first wife, Val, died aged 41.Chubb, who was also killed in the crash, was president of the NZ Autogyro Association.He told Dannevirke News earlier this year: "Gyrocopters are the motorbikes of the sky and onlookers sometimes think we"re going to drop out of the sky and crash, but it doesn"t happen too often."One Normanby resident heard the gyrocopter flying moments before it crashed. "I was just sitting around the back doing some painting. I could hear it landing, taking off and landing again."Then it started sounding different and I thought "woah you"re sounding sick". It then gave one big rev and then nothing."A few moments later I heard a pop, like a balloon, and I just hoped it hadn"t gone down. But then I heard the sirens."It must have hit pretty hard ... it left a 2m crater."The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the crash. A spokesman said the investigation would take months. Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward.By Joseph Barratt

[asra]

Citroen "good guy" had built his own gyrocopterBy KIRSTY JOHNSTON - Taranaki Daily NewsLast updated 05:00 14/11/2009Taranaki"s "Mr Citroen", Neville Adlam, died while fulfilling a dream.The 70-year-old was killed in an accident on Thursday while learning to fly the beloved gyrocopter he"d built himself.Mr Adlam was well-known in the Taranaki community as a Citroen enthusiast and all-round good guy who added a personal touch to his service.Famously, he purchased on old dairy factory on Hurford Rd to store his car collection.Son Denis, one of five children, said his father first fell in love with the French automobiles when he was a boy."He was up a tree with a mouthful of birds" eggs he"d stolen. Then his dad drove up the driveway in a 1939 Light 12 and that was it. Love at first sight."Mr Adlam had a passion for anything mechanical, Denis said."He rebuilt his first engine on his mother"s kitchen table. But he bought her a new table, that"s the kind of guy he was."Mr Adlam established a Citroen dealership in 1968. Using his mechanical skills, he started building the gyrocopter after Denis took over the business.The machine was certified and Mr Adlam was determined to learn to fly it, his son said."We don"t know what went wrong but something went terribly wrong. We just feel for Steve"s family. And we"ve lost a great mate."Dad wasn"t a wealthy man by any means, but it was because he was generous. For example, he had his 70th birthday at the shop and all the clients came. He was just so personable."Mr Adlam was a religious man and never worked a Saturday.He is survived by his wife, Rhonda, and children Angela, Katherine, Janice, Denis and Andrew, and 10 grandchildren. His first wife, Val, passed away when she was 41.