Increasing Membership

[Tsemler]

Hi All,The SA Rotor Club had a general meeting the other weekend and the topic of club membership came up as the club is slowly in decline from the days of yesteryear,

[R Beadle]

Money is a factor and the fact that in SA to meet the chief flying instructor I will have to go to Lamaroo but for me the immediate issue was that the fly in at Lamaroo was only announced the week that it happened and I was unable to change my schedule to get down there to talk to people.I hope to make money available soon to pursue gyros in my retirement. I was also unable to talk to anyone at the Goolwa airshow some years ago because all the aircraft were behind barriers and I could not raise anyone"s attention to talk to them. I"m the sort of person who needs to investigate the whole business completely before making a commitment to build or buy and I can"t seem to get anywhere near a gyro to find out if it"s really for me.

[mad max]

Too many rules now Tsemler. ( then again I suppose aviation rules are mostly written in blood) I used to fly my old Higgans gyro into the T.C. show each year and fly it out. One year this guy kept coming back and druelling all over it. He loved it, because he knew it was safe in the right hands, and he was the chief minister. Now days we require public liability to do a static display! So very few people bother any more to show off there machines. The health and safety do gooders and lawyers are not only stuffing up our sport but also the country.

[asra]

I would like to join a club but all are far too far away from kundabung area (near Port Macquarie) as not every weekend is free to travel a long way to look and learn more about gyro"s . Then after only a few questions asked about training soon as you learn and get your licence you have buy a single seater fair enough you want to fly lots, I prefer to build, but then try getting some simple plans tryed and tested and building one but it seems since years ago when I was interested there are a lot more rules about building that lovely gyro ,I know the gyro scene has come a long way better safety etc. just to the new comer it is a bit a daunting thing but I,m now asking questions and hope to get more along the way with knowledge. steve

[Tsemler]

Hi Richard, Sorry you couldn"t make it down, the other weekend it was very much an impromptu thing and understandably not everyone is gunna be able to drop everything at the drop of a hat. If you would like, your more than welcome to come up to Jamestown and pick our brains out up here sometime and have a look over the machines that are based up here, Send me a Private Message if you wish.Hey Max, Your right its getting beyond a joke now a days, I guess the only way to get exposure is to just fly the heck outta our machines and hope that curiosity gets the better of people and they seek us out.Hi Steve, Thats one of the biggest problems with gyro"s is that we are such small a group compared to other forms of aviation that you need to travel near on across the country to just find someone that flys and that makes it even harder for the newbie to build something of their own (Im a great believer of waiting and buying something cheap and learn to fly in that before committing to a build or more costly gyro)

[asra]

Yes I think after learning it might be the best way to go start off with a already built one at a great price, then later progress to building. Steve

[dowen]

Richard,I am a member of SA Rotor Club and am based at Goolwa. I fly an ELA factory built gyrocopter. My field is based about 10Nm north of Goolwa but regularly fly into Goolwa, Strath and other local fields. If you wish to view a factory built machine or just discuss gyrocopters then do not hesitate to PM me and we can arrange a time to meet. I have been flying gyrocopters since 1999 and previously flown a range of aircraft from handgliders, paragliders and sailplanes through microlights, fixed wing and some very small experience of helicopters. But find gyrocopters to be the most versatile and enjoyable form of powered flight todate. If you have the slightest interest in gyroplanes I would urge you to arrange a TIF with Kevin at Lameroo. He is an excellent CFI and you will not regret it. It would be worth the trip!

[Brian]

Too many rules now Tsemler. ( then again I suppose aviation rules are mostly written in blood) I used to fly my old Higgans gyro into the T.C. show each year and fly it out. One year this guy kept coming back and druelling all over it. He loved it, because he knew it was safe in the right hands, and he was the chief minister. Now days we require public liability to do a static display! So very few people bother any more to show off there machines. The health and safety do gooders and lawyers are not only stuffing up our sport but also the country. I reckon you have hit one of the nails on the head Max. We have to remember though that its now legal to fly a gyro [ with the correct endorsements] into a lot of places that once was a no no and can travel quite easily around Australia without a lot of problems so thats a real big plus.I dont believe gyro are too expensive. Sure, the MTO"s ELA"s etc etc arent cheap but a Jabiru isnt any cheaper.

[mad max]

I live in a village with only 450 people, so thought that I should volunteer for something so went to a state emerg. meeting. The first question was "do you have a chain saw licence" then "do you have a first aid ticket" Then he said, "we"re looking for young people" I did two one leg stand ups and said "how many young people can do this" And then thought f@^k it, too many rules.

[birdy]

Max, we had the same jokes happen"n ere wen the hole area was on fire.Wot machinery do you have?Told them nun.Do you have this, do you have that, can you bla bla, wheres your pices of paper?Told them the only pices of paper i use go round the S bend wen im finished.Then told them to NEVER get in my way, iv got too much to wurry bout now without haven to wipe your *** too.

[mad max]

HA ha, bloody good Birdy, The ony way to stay sane is to have a good sense of humour! We could be very usefull in search work. I was once used by police and SES to do a search along with two Black Hawks, and I was charging $50 per hr and god Knows what a B.H. is worth. Someone mentioned $16,ooo per hr. I had two sets of eyes, Thats good value for the tax payer! What we need is a good Gyro rescue to give our machines some good publicity. ( I"d Like to rescue a lost and half staved nymphomaniac)

[bones]

HA ha, bloody good Birdy, The ony way to stay sane is to have a good sense of humour! We could be very usefull in search work. I was once used by police and SES to do a search along with two Black Hawks, and I was charging $50 per hr and god Knows what a B.H. is worth. Someone mentioned $16,ooo per hr. I had four sets of eyes, Thats good value for the tax payer! What we need is a good Gyro rescue to give our machines some good publicity. ( I"d Like to rescue a lost and half staved nymphomaniac)Thats interesting, cause a couple of years ago a glider went missing here at the towers, so i was asked by the glider guys to help out in a search next morning, or course i was there, Peg and i did 3.5hrs, came back for more fuel only to be told that i was "ordered" by the so called powers to be, that because i was flying a gyro i was not to take any further part in the search.To say i was pissed is a little soft, but i continued anyway because i was asked too, but it is the mind set of these w*nkers that is what is holding it all back too.They(search and rescue) were happy to pay fuel and cost for a F/W ultralight, running a rotax same as i was, but because they found out i was in a gyro i was not entitled to anything and told not to take any further part.F*ck them i said

[mad max]

Gyro"s are so usefull! I think that 10,OOO armed gyro"s all in the sky at once could win a large war. Instead a black hawk worth millions gets knocked out of the sky with a pissy R.P.G. ( the world is powered by economics and not common sense)

[Brian]

Thats interesting, cause a couple of years ago a glider went missing here at the towers, so i was asked by the glider guys to help out in a search next morning, or course i was there, Peg and i did 3.5hrs, came back for more fuel only to be told that i was "ordered" by the so called powers to be, that because i was flying a gyro i was not to take any further part in the search.To say i was pissed is a little soft, but i continued anyway because i was asked too, but it is the mind set of these w*nkers that is what is holding it all back too.They(search and rescue) were happy to pay fuel and cost for a F/W ultralight, running a rotax same as i was, but because they found out i was in a gyro i was not entitled to anything and told not to take any further part.F*ck them i saidThat mindset certainly isnt helping one bit and I"m really not sure how you change it. In your case Bone"s you are flying the most up to date gyro built, totally enclosed with all the radios and equipment you would find in most VFR aircraft so its not like me pulling up in my old Rosco that might look to the uninatiated as a box of rubbish. I know Allan Wardill has had words with the search & rescue mob some time ago and didnt do any good with them but Its worth persuing through the ASRA board to see if we can get equal status.

[Brian]

Max, we had the same jokes happen"n ere wen the hole area was on fire.Wot machinery do you have?Told them nun.Do you have this, do you have that, can you bla bla, wheres your pices of paper?Told them the only pices of paper i use go round the S bend wen im finished.Then told them to NEVER get in my way, iv got too much to wurry bout now without haven to wipe your *** too.Its probably worse down here Birdy, unless you have filled in the paper for " volunteer Firefighter" you are unable....officially to attend a bush fire. I"m legally unable to take my grader over the boundry fence to grade a firebreak as my grader isnt "approved". The fire fighter mobs contract out this type of work so as captain of this here brigade, I get on my radio and call up what I need and they send it up. Now this brigade has a totall of about 4 approved blokes and there would be another probably another 6 " unapproved" so the whole thing is ludicrous. Now I do know some of the reasons things are like they are because in the event of a fatality....and it can be as simple as someone dying cause of a heart attack on the way to the fire...not even at the fire...but that person [ approved] is covered by the workers comp etc etc and as well, the coroner then investigates and if all th