www.PSFmagazine.com | March-April 2018 | 33 32 | March-April 2018 | Powered Sport Flying Innovator Technologies Presents The Mosquito Helicopter The Ultimate Ultralight ! (403) 669-3101 mosquito@innovatortech.ca www.innovatortech.ca Available in Ultralight, Experimental and Turbine Models Dealership Regions Available Support Our Advertisers terminated, squawk vfr, with Propwash in sight! My last stop should have been one night at Mark and Marion’s but after takeoff on my last leg home on a one day window of fair weather I realized that my pneumatic pump was inoperable and I had no rotorhead trim or rotor brake. So I returned to Propwash to diagnose and repair the issue, then waited two days for clear weather! Five weeks from my departure on this unknown adventure planned as best I could, I returned to home base in Newton, Kansas with a huge feeling of accomplishment, thankful for the help and generosity of many old and new friends, with great flying weather allowing an overall smooth trip (apart from the last leg hiccup!). All of my and the gyros needs were carried onboard in the large cargo pods and rear seat. I had logged 63 hours of flying, covered 3250 NM total trip, landed at 17 new airports and revisited five familiar ones. Several flights crisscrossing Florida totaled 630 NM! • Going to the beach is more fun in a gyro. Gyro Adventures It was now time for me to begin my Kansas return journey, so I departed northbound with Joe flying alongside in his Aviomania for the first 10 or so miles. A lunch stop at Deland to check out Jeff Hartog’s Aircam build and say hi to Gabor and Gordon, then off over hostile-looking (for emergency landings) swamp and forest terrain, dodging around Palatka R-zones and moa’s as well as wildlife refuges. Destination that night was Little River private airport (between Lake City and Live Oak) where I was the guest of Rick Martin. Along with several other pilots, we enjoyed a fun evening of good food, fellowship, hangar flying and games. When the morning mist lifted I was off on my next leg to DeFuniac Springs after a fuel stop at Suwannee County/ Live Oak. It seemed that Florida was on fire, as I saw much smoke haze and many active burns as I headed west. At DeFuniac I was met by a friend of one of my rotax school classmates who wanted to experience gyro flight. I took Gabriella flying around her place, dropped in on her friend farmer-aviator’s grass field, then enjoyed her hospitality overnight before continuing on to Hammond the next day with another great lunch/fuel stop at Bay Minette. I spent a couple of nights with Steve and Terry Rastanis, waiting for weather to pass by, then a very long 6.5 flight hours day, with refuel stops at Natchitoches, Louisiana and Corsicana, Texas, ending at Fainting Goat Field near Blum, Texas and the welcome hospitality of Craig McPherson, where I stayed in his student bunkhouse facility. The short 60 minute hop next day up to Propwash–Justin, Texas was rather exciting as there was a law enforcement tfr 2,000 feet and below right in my flight path. The smoothest air was about 1500 and atc asked me to climb to 3500 to transit the west side of dfw bravo space! There was the craziest windshear/turbulence I have ever experienced at 3000 feet and I had settle for 3300, feeling very small, scared and alone and very happy to hear the words atc radar service You can read more about Christine Toevs' adventures on her Gyrogypsy blog: https://gyrogypsy.wordpress.com/blog/page/2/.
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