I'm sure it would have made a fine headline for the local paper, but for some reason, most of the folks in the small town of Fowlerville (Michigan) never knew what was going one! It all started when I got the idea to use the October meeting of the Central Michigan Gyroplane Club (PRA 63) as an excuse to get in one more good cross-country before really cold weather set in. About mid-week the forecast for Saturday, the 10th, started to look good. I mentioned to Jim Fields of GyroTech that I was planning to make the flight and he indicated that he would like to fly the HoneyBee along for the experience. Jim had only soloed the HoneyBee the previous weekend and this trip was not a short hop - it was a 27 mile cross-country trip with few possibilities for diversion if problems should develop! You usually don't expect an new gyro pilot to make such a trip. However, Jim was an experienced ultralight pilot and the HoneyBee was designed to have the same easy handling as the Gyrobee. Jim only had a few hours logged in the aircraft, but much of that was in moderately windy conditions. If he felt up to it, I was inclined to let him try. Besides, in nine years of cross-country work in the Gyrobee I had never had the chance to make such a flight with another gyro! As the date approached, it looked like a clear but cool day, so we planned for an 11 AM lift-off from Bergeon Field in Mason to make Maple Grove airport in Fowlerville by the 12 noon start of the meeting.

Jim, his dad, and his son arrived from the Grand Rapids area by 10AM and the HoneyBee was soon off its trailer. That's Jim's dad in the background.

For those of you who didn't meet Jim at Mentone, here he is, checking out the new Rotax 447 on the HoneyBee. With a 66-inch PowerFin 2-blade prop, this gyro pulls over 280 pounds!

One of the last things we did prior to departure at 11:15 was to review flight procedures, since neither of us had experience with extended close-quarter flying. We agreed that Jim would stay off on my left and maintain a minimum separation of 200 feet. Should any surprises pop up, he would break left and I would break right. Given his experience in stiff-wing ultralights, I figured I could trust him to avoid doing something weird!

Jim makes some last-minute adjustments to the shoulder harness straps right before departure. In the air, his "Galactic Warrior" motorcycle helmet is easier to see than the gyro!
 

Rotax roaring, prerotator motors humming, I pull the stick back and head out to the active. Jim has just blasted off and now it's my turn. I would be the first to admit that the HoneyBee is "cuter" than the Gyrobee, but our old gal has got some miles on her. I figure that there is at least 1500 miles of cross-country flying in my log and Don has more!
 
 

The morning was gorgeous and the 27-mile flight was made at 1000-1200 feet AGL, with temperatures in the high 40's at our flight level. I had made this flight many times before, but I was naturally concerned as to how Jim would do on his first gyro cross-country. There was moderate thermal activity at mid-day, but Jim just tooled along off to my left like he'd been doing it for years! By the time we put Mason behind us, I stopped worrying and enjoyed the pleasure of flying, with company, over the marvelous display of autumn color that had been spread out by Mother Nature for our exclusive enjoyment. Basically, with the exception of lots of hawks (thermals were popping) and an occasional distant flock of Canada Geese well below us, we had the sky to ourselves. The flight normally takes 35-40 minutes, but it would be almost 50 minutes until our landing, as we had to wait for some fixed-wing traffic on our arrival. I didn't realize how cold we were until after landing. I think Jim and I consumed about half the chapter's hot coffee reserve and we also hit the donuts pretty hard!

The business meeting was just starting as we arrived, but you don't expect a bunch of PRA guys to stay indoors when a new gyro arrives. Here is the Chapter 63 crowd giving the HoneyBee the once-over.
 

Three gyros flying in - in October yet! That is Merv Read's 532 Air Command in the foreground, the Gyrobee in the middle, and the HoneyBee in the background.
 

 After the business meeting, Jim put on a very impressive demonstration of the HoneyBee's flying talents! In addition to Jim's dad and son, who drove the trailer, Jim's wife also drove over. I think the very positive opinion's everyone had about the HoneyBee and its flight characteristics made her feel a lot more comfortable about what Jim was up to.

We lifted off for the return flight at about 3PM, with a bit of a head-wind to start but that tapered off later in the flight. The sights were fantastic on the return trip, but the really awesome thing was the very strong thermal activity!

Here are three channels of Digipod flight data for the return trip - tach (8000 rpm max scale, 400 rpm/div), airspeed (100 mph max scale, 5 mph/div), and AGL altitude (2000 ft. max scale, 100 ft./div). The record shows the first 40 minutes of the flight log (horizontal axis) with lift-off at just after 5 minutes. I wanted to keep the airspeed in the 45-50 mph range because of the strong thermals and shot for a cruise altitude of 800 feet. Despite good airspeed control and virtually no throttle inputs, the gyro was up as high as 1200 feet and down as low as 500, all due to strong thermal cells. The lift was so strong that, if you clipped a cell with your blades, it imparted a slight roll to the aircraft! This definitely wasn't "beginner conditions", but Jim and the HoneyBee did just fine! Jim would hang back slightly, watching the Gyrobee surge up and down, getting a bit of advance notice for each thermal!

While conditions were certainly "active", especially on the return flight, both aircraft were so nice and stable that it was just fun! We made the return trip in the usual 40 minutes, using just half a tank of fuel. This was definitely something we have to do again!

I'm always amused that folks who have no experience with real ultralight gyroplanes assume that somehow they cannot measure up to Experimental models. When you consider that most pilots of Experimental gyros spend most of their time orbiting the pattern of an airport they've trailered in to, it kind of make you wonder! I suspect that the real difference is the pilots coming from fixed-wing ultralights. These guys always have loved to go places in their machines and a gyro can really provide the opportunity to travel. The five gallon Part 103 fuel limit requires that you plan longer flights carefully, but, as Jim and I showed on this trip, you can be up and flying while the fixed-wing ultralight crowd is checking the tie-downs or bolting the hangar door!