Saftey and public preception

[asra]

Safety and the future of recreational flying.I would like to take a few moments to share some thoughts with the people who read this forum and give everyone a perspective from the general aviation community and the other users of the airspace that we all must share.There is an ongoing discussion and disagreement on the American Forum complaining about the number of airports that are denying gyroplanes the use of their airports.What seems to be lost in this discussion is the plain fact that the general flying community see gyro pilots as renegades and or an unregulated fringe element of the flying community.Therefore when faced with being banned from some airports some of the group take the position that this unfair discrimmination and rail against their preceived unfair treatment.However when we examine the reasons for these bannings we find that the bans are due to safety concerns between gyroplanes and the other users of these airports.I do not want to see gyroplanes discrimminated against, however I also can understand that part of the problem lies in the behaviour of a few of the people that bring this reaction from airport managers.As long as we have public forums where anyone can just log on and observe the mindset of many of the members of the gyroplane community there will be no change in the perception that gyroplane pilots are just to risky to be allowed to mix with general aviation.So for this public perseption to change the gyro community must try and weed out or at least shun those who think that flying without due regards to regulations and performing low level high energy manouvers that some refeer to as yanking and banking is looked upon by general aviation as wreckless operation of an aircraft.The fact that gyros can be safely flown more agressively that the sunday afternoon use light aircraft does not change the public preception.In my opinion the situation of gyros being not welcome at many airports will not change until the gyroplane community takes a closer look at who they are following as examples of airmanship, and you do not have to look far to see examples of poor airmanship and borderline wreckless operation of their gyros with the mistaken idea that there is nothing wrong with the way they fly.Obviously most of the rest of aviation does not agree.Chuck E.

[mrford61]

I cant help but think that the "general aviation community" only have to look at an open frame pusher gyro and their "perception" is made up and we could all be the saints of the sky and it would not change. People want to fly these little machines to their extremes in the name of sport,or work, and then post about it, so be it. Live and let live. Not into organised weeding and shunning.Mark.

[NiqueNaque]

I think the largest problem by far is the seemingly large pool of ignorance of gyros in the GA school.I was speaking to a SLSA rescue helicopter pilot with 7000 hours of flight time, he didn't know the first thing about them, ditto a flying instructor for a heli school down at Bankstown with an equivalent amount of flight time, they were genuinely interested and welcomed a discussion about gyros and their similarities to helicopters, what really gets them is that gyros were the forebears to the helicopter, something they usually are not aware of. What they find patently annoying is the price tag, how to upset a GA pilot in 5 seconds - tell him how much your gyro cost!What Mark says is accurate, it would not matter how 'safely' we were perceived to be flying the GA community would still have misgivings because they simply do not know much about gyros. I think an information and education program would be appropriate, at the very least any and every pilot should be able to identify one and know how a gyro can fly and what its flight envelope is, ie, speed, climb abilities, landing capabilities, etc,, I believe it should be part of the aviation curricula for all pilots to know generally about all the kinds of aircraft that there are and what their flight characteristics are, gyro pilots included. I say gyro pilots because we must be aware of the characteristics of other aircraft if we are to operate in the same airspace as they do, more so we know what to expect.On the business of flying at the edge of a gyros envelope, it is no different to a GA pilot going for a spin in an aerobatic aircraft, gyros just look hell more scary than, say, a Pitts Special (especially in the hands of the crash dummy!), though they could well be equally if not more safe. It is prudent to learn how to fly any aircraft just short of its limit, because there will be some point in time where you may just have to, better to be able to do it just like you did yesterday than to be learning how to cope with a wild, new control situation for the first time in an emergency setting.Hope this helps,Nick.

[asra]

Hello concerned gyronauts,I suppose that the situation regarding gyro usage is the same in the US as here in Aus. My question re banning from airports is; Are any other types of flying machines also not allowed? If so, then gyros are considered to be in the same catagory as those aircraft. How would you rate those aircraft? Perhaps it is simply the type of flying that is done in them that bothers the administrators and the safety aspect is not that gyros are inherently dangerous, but that the kind of flying that is generally done in them could cause area safety fears, as it is different to what other, acceptable aircraft, are doing.For instance, are trikes ok, are powered parachutes accepted?Fish.

[birdy]

Look'n from an ignorants point of view[I'v never flown in controled air,or even a regestered strip except B Springs.]It's easy to see the "others" point of view.........IF any gyro is do'n anything but the normal circuits and follow'n the correct entry and depart rules.This sort of fly'n would bore me sh*tless,but it is PREDICTABLE to other flyers.If you want to go **** & bank,go somewhere where you wont be a moving target for the unaware.If the ****'n & bank'n isn't done round other craft,there is no reason for you to be baned.I think it's called RESPONSABILITY.Ignorance is bliss............but only till you realise you were.

[asra]

Just for your information. A Registered Gyroplane cannot be banned from any U.S. airport that has ever received any federal money. That is the vast majority of public airports. The original post on the U.S. forum was about 'ultralight' gyoplanes, that do not require registration, or a pilot's certificate for that matter.None of this means that many gyro pilots don't need to work much harder at getting along with the rest of the aviation world, at least those of us who fly in and out of public airports.

[asra]

As I understand it the situation here is somewhat differeent. Various entities own/operate airfields. In many cases they require insurance, this, at the moment appears to be unobtainable.John EvansThink logically and do things well, think laterally and do things better.