Gyrobee Cross-Country Flight Standings

Many gyroplane pilots spend most of the time orbiting the airports they fly from. In contrast, most Gyrobee pilots love making cross-country trips. This page is set up to record and recognize such flights. No elaborate documentation, beyond entries in your flight log, is required to get listed here. There are three classes that fit most situations. If you have a flight you would like included, simply send me the details via e-mail. Your flight does not have to set a new "Record" and if it is less than the top distance recorded in any class, it will be inserted at the proper position as the list(s) gradually build. If you can include any interesting details or photos, so much the better. If you have a web-page describing your flight, I would be happy to include a link.

As lists develop in each class, the longest flight in a class will be the one listed at the top with other flights positioned on the basis of distance flown. All distances are shown in statute miles [sm], rounded to the closest 0.1 sm. In cases where flight distances are submitted in other units (nm or km, for example), the distance will be converted to the closest 0.1 sm. Since some Gyrobees have been built as Experimentals, they can carry more than 5-gallons of fuel. Such an aircraft can still be listed on par with the ultralights IF no single leg used more than 5-gallons of gas. I will recognize longer flights in Experimentals, but they will be marked to differentiate their status.
 
 

Class 1: Single Leg Flights

Flights in this class are going to be fuel- limited, but who knows what can accomplished on a good day with a brisk tail- wind! Flight distance will be computed on the basis of the Great Circle distance between the starting and ending points of the flight.

44.8 sm - Ralph Taggart, Mason, MI to Hillsdale, MI, 22 July 1992

40.4 sm - John Landry, Harvey Field, WA to Auburn Muni., WA - Aug 2003

39.0 sm - John Landry, Olympia, WA to Pierce County, WA April 2003

30.8 sm - David Mikesell, Lodi, CA to Franklin, CA and return May 2002
 
 

Class 2: Multiple Leg/Single Pilot

This is the class where most pilots can make their mark. The flight can be any number of legs and does not have to be completed on a single day. However, it should obviously represent a coherent trip or tour. To be fair to the touring pilots, distance will be computed based on the total of the Great Circle distance for each individual flight leg. Long flights in this category are the most demanding in terms of pilot skill and determination.

112.6 sm - John Landry, Harvey Field, WA to Pierce Co. Thun and return (4 legs), Aug. 2003

81 sm - Nick Costa and Matt Novotney, Lansing IL municipal to PRA Mentone, Aug. 2007

78 sm - John Landry, Olympia, WA to Pierce County, WA and return (2 legs), April 2003
 

Class 3: Multiple Leg/Multiple Pilots

This class is designed for flight partnerships or other situations where more than a single pilot does the flying. The rules are the same as those for Class 2 (above).

132.4 sm - Don Chubb and Ralph Taggart, Mentone, IN to Mason, MI (5 legs), 25 July 1999 Flying to Mentone - Backwards