2000 Events
April 1- A Visit to Sparta, MI
I had to drive up to the Grand Rapids area and asked Don if he would like to come along and check out the GyroTech operation, since he had never been there. It turned out that everybody was out at the Sparta Airport just north of town, getting ready for the big trip down to Bensen Days. The weather was far from perfect, but it wasn't raining or snowing, so for Michigan in early April is wasn't all that bad!
Jim was flying the new factory demonstrator. Rather than electing to upgrade the previous year's Honey Bee airframe, they assembled a new one for the trip down south. This one has the standard 447 engine, Rotordyne blades, and a Digipod and weighs in at just 244 pounds!
Jim Norcia was also there with his lovely wife Daria,
flying the runway with his new 503 Honey Bee. With a 503, Rotordyne blades,
and a Digipod, Jim's ship weighs in at just 251 pounds!
Here's another shot of the factory demonstrator.
Jim Norcia was kind enough to offer us the use of his machine for a flying session. Don said he would take it out to the runway and check out the ground handling!
He must have likes it because this is where he was a few minutes later! He reported that it does handle differently during the takeoff run but feels just like the Gyrobee once in the air.
LATE NEWS: The next day Jim Norcia flew the pattern for the first time and then took off on a nice long flight to check out the area. Congratulations Jim!
The Sunstate Rotor Club (PRA 26) did their usual superb job hosting Bensen Days this year. This was probably even more special than most of these gatherings as there were many events in tribute to Dr. Bensen in view of his recent passing.
Most of us felt that single-place gyro attendance was down at Mentone this year. Despite that, it was a very good fly-in to look at the many variations in those Bee ultralight gyros.
A look at the gyroplanes that attended the ASC KIMO Nationals in
Marshall, Michigan over the Labor Day weekend.