Southwest Regional Chapters of the Popular Rotorcraft Association

July 2014

Kent Goddard Over The Snake River

Chapter 62 Lone Star Rotorcraft Club Contact: Mark Spies Houston, TX Phone: 713-469-2462 Email: MarkHSpies@gmail.com Website: www.gyrosaway.com

Chapter 78 Texas Rotorcraft Association Contact: Bob Stark PO Box 428 Olney, TX 76374 Phone: 940-564-2938 Email: rgstark@brazosnet.com Website: www.txrotorcraft.org

Chapter 20 Pelican State Rotor Club Contact: Bill Wieger 112 Gayven Dr. Pineville, LA 71360 Phone: 318-640-5656 Email: bwieger@suddenlink.net Website www.pra20.com

Chapter 6 Mid-South Rotorcraft Club Contact: Thom Francis 210 S 8th Street Gurdon, AR 71743 Email: thomefran@netscape.net Phone: 870-403-2888

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 2 July 2014

Southwest Regional Newsletter

Club news and upcoming events

Member profiles

Member’s machines

Chapter meeting minutes

Projects, builds and modification

Photos

Family news

Classifieds

Newsletter Past Issues If you have missed an issue of our newsletter just go to http://www.gyrosaway.com/newsletters.php to download past issues.

This Months Contributors:

Dean Dolph John Ferguson

Paul Erb Stacy Maness

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Chapter 65 Central Texas Rotorcraft Club Contact: Paul Erb 9901 Brodie Ln. 160-283 Austin, TX 78748 Email: perbgyro@sbcglobal.net Phone: 512-680-1835 Website: www.centexpra.org

Oklahoma Contact: Robbie Hyde Duncan, OK Email: Robbie.hyde@yahoo.com Phone: 580-475-5261

Visit The Lone Star Rotorcraft Club on Facebook.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 3 July 2014

Send Us Your News

Project Reports Send us pictures of your project to include in fu-ture editions of the newsletter. We will post any-thing you have on your build, modifications, train-ing, etc. Just send an email to tell us what you are doing and include some pictures if you have any. Progress reports are probably the most inter-esting things to read about and see.

Your Pride and Joy

Send us pictures of your machine to include as a feature in future editions. If you include some in-formation on the details of your machine or a short bio of yourself we’ll also include this with your pictures. Brag about your aircraft!!

Events and Meetings

Next time you’re at a fly-in or just out flying with a buddy, take some pictures and let us know about it. Have your club secretary send us your club news and tell us about your meetings. Send us names of new members so we can welcome them to our sport. We are interested in anything your club is doing.

Family News and Announcements

Our newsletter isn’t just all about the machines, it’s about the people of our region also. Any fami-ly news or announcements you want to share please feel free to send us so we can let every-one know.

On the Cover

Kent Goddard flying

over the Snake River .

Upcoming Events

July 19; Chapter 62 Meeting in Anahuac

July 26; Chapter 78 Meeting in Olney

August 5-9; PRA International Convention, Men-tone Indiana

August 9; Chapter 65 Meeting in Luling

August 16; Chapter 62 Meeting in Anahuac

August 23; Chapter 78 Meeting in Olney

September 25-27; Ken Brock Freedom Fly-In; El

Mirage Dry Lake Bed California

October 17-19; Steve Weir Memorial Fly-In (Formerly Gatorfest Fly-In), Anahuac Texas

October 24 and 25; Chapter 20 Meet in Bastrop,

LA

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 4 July 2014

From The Editor Made my first trip to Rotors Over The Rockies this past month. What a great place to hold a fly-in, the scenery is just gorgeous with a mountain range serving as the back drop while watching the flying take place. The weather was great throughout the event and several very interesting forums were held. This was the second stop on a quest that Danny and I have to attend all four of the major events and as many other smaller ones as possi-ble this year. In April of this year we were at Ben-sen Days in Florida. The next stop is the PRA In-ternational Convention in Mentone Indiana at the end of July. The most enjoyable part of attending these events is the people you meet and the familiar faces of the ones you’ve met at previous fly-ins. Our com-munity is like one very large family and having the chance to get to know so many of them is a real treat. Now, on to Mentone the first week of August. Until next month, fly safely. Mike Grosshans, Southwest Rotorcraft Editor

Steve Weir Memorial

Fund

The family of Steve Weir, with the support

of the PRA, has set up a memorial fund in

Steve’s name. The funds will be used by the PRA for education and training. If you

would like to contribute, please visit the

PRA website’s donation page, http://www.pra.org/donation.aspx?i=48, check “other”

and put Steve’s name in the box. Fill in the amount you wish to contribute , check the pay-ment method, and hit “Donate”, it’s that easy.

If you can’t, or would rather not contribute via in-ternet, you can send a check to the PRA at:

PRA Steve Weir Memorial

P. O. Box 68

Mentone, Indiana 46539

Make sure you clearly mark the check with

Steve’s name to assure the funds are de-

posited into the right place.

We strongly encourage all SWR readers to be-come members of the PRA. By joining you will be supporting the organization that promotes our sport by representing us to the FAA and as-sist them on making gyro flying available for all of us. The new PRA website has several mem-bers only benefits including: PRA’s electronic Rotorcraft magazines along with past issues chocked full of great information and historical data, downloadable plans, and a PRA supported forum. Please join today, you won’t be disap-pointed.

www.pra.org

PRA Volunteer

Opportunities

The PRA is not a self-standing separate en-

tity; the PRA is the expression of the effort

by the members who donate some of their time to our wonderful sport. Please consider

lending a hand by pitching in and volun-

teering for PRA activities like writing arti-

cles, helping at the convention or some of the following positions.

Web Content Editor

Web Interface Programmer

Manufacturer Information Ambas-

sador Airport Activities Manager

Web and Content Ambassador

Advertisement Coordinator

Social Media Ambassador

Curator Volunteer for the History of

the PRA

For info about any of these opportunities,

email praglobalsupportteam@gmail.com.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 5 July 2014

June Meeting On June 21st, the June Meeting of PRA Chapter

62 was called to order by Vice President Cliff Mas-sey (filling in for Mark). Members in attendance were Dean Dolph, Danny Whitten, Bobby Munroe,

Antony Thomas, Chauncey Surry, Keith Johnston, Don Bouchard, Will Templeton, Art Wilson, Chuck Burgoon, Mike Grosshans, Dan Carr, and Bobby

Martin. Visitors were Jim Cavender, Steve Fin-gerhut, Jim Brewer, and Charles Brazil; Charles joined the club that day.

Danny presented the monthly Chapter bank bal-ance.

New Business began with the group being asked for volunteers to help move the boom glider from

Katy, out to the hangar.

Dean then gave a brief report on Rotors Over The Rockies, five Chapter 62 members were in attend-ance including: Dean, Danny, Stacy, Chris, and

Mike. Stacy’s wife attended with him and his two sisters traveled from Idaho to spend the weekend at the event.

T-Shirts for the fly-in were discussed. The BOD has approached David Tees to provide the shirts

and the details are being worked out. One change on the shirts will be to replace Anahuac Fly-In with Steve Weir Memorial.

Security for the hangars was the hot topic for the day. We need to have better security for our

hangars, the BOD is asking for anyone that can, to please get some quote/offers with the recom-mended systems so we can decide what we

should get and get something installed.

The hangar roles and responsibilities was dis-cussed so everyone can understand how it works. The hangars are a privately owned facility by

some of the chapter members, everyone else, including the chapter, are renters. The club is not responsible for providing any materials or con-

sumables that are needed to maintain or repair gyros, everyone is responsible to provide their own. If everyone pitches in, then we should not

have a problem keeping everything stocked.

Next on the agenda was project progress reports.

Cliff started by letting everyone know he is work-ing on a rotor brake for his tandem Air Command and that it is ready for test flying. Bobby is in-

stalling an electric start on his Air Command. Don is working on a front brake for his and has

brought it out to the hangar to do hang test and to weigh it. Tony has just received his Chinese made 70 horse power, air cooled engine for his

Dominator build and will begin installing it. The meeting was adjourned, the lunch (tasty ham-

burgers) was provided by Cliff, donations were accepted.

Next meeting is set for July 19th at Anahuac, Chauncey volunteered to bring the lunch.

Ground school was not held due to the amount of flying activity taking place.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 6 July 2014

Pictured (l to r) are; Bill Wiese and his Mac powered Benson , Walt Backer with his Benson with modified 1835cc VW engine, Greg Nelson,

Jim Edwards with his modified Benson with a Rotax 503 engine, John Ferguson and his Monarch Butterfly with Rotax 582, Perry Eddleman,

and Richard Kennedy and his modified KB3 with Rotax 582 engine.

Top: Danny and Tony unpacking Tony’s new engine for his Dominator build, Dan Carr preparing for take-off, Danny “hovering above

the airport. Middle: Cliff setting up for a thrust test, Bobby giving visitors their first gyro ride, Tony test flying Cliff’s Air Command.

Bottom: Chuck’s Mosquito, Don showing off his latest creation, Tony high above Anahuac.

Mid-South Rotorcraft Club

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 7 July 2014

Mid-South Rotorcraft Club

Chapter 6 had a nice gyro get together Saturday the 14th at the Morrilton Arkansas airport. Perry Eddleman and Greg Nelson are very inter-ested in becoming gyro owners and pilots. They both live in Eldorado Arkansas and are currently receiving training from Ron Menzie in Searcy. Ron mentioned to Greg and Perry that PRA Chapter 6 has several different gyros flying out of Morrilton and Russellville airports. Wanting to

meet more gyro enthusiasts and also to talk to the owners of the various types of machines, they drove two and a half hours to the Morrilton airport. The weather was beautiful, sunny and about 85 degrees. All the gyros in the hanger were either out flying or would be flown later that day. After several hours of flying and “hanger flying” the group all went to lunch then returned to the airport for more of the same that afternoon.

Physical recovery nearing completion, scabs sluff-ing off with the last area being an uncomfortable left knee, couple more days for the knee. Physi-cally I’m very lucky. Have new rotor on order from McCutchen with a three month lead time. Load up the aircraft after dismantling the rotor to have it ready for transport to shop for eventual analysis and refurbishment. Ideally I will resume airborne-ness in about three months. I have had interview (phone) with FAA, and result in the records should be description of an incident for which the pilot learned the critical lesson of never moving again without a seatbelt being buck-led and no need for further attention. My input to the FAA emphasized the “incident” was 100% gross pilot error being failure to have had a seat-belt buckled and in no way related to any short-coming of the aircraft. The National Square Dance convention went well, considering the nuisance of having to let abrasions dry out after showers and being careful about handshakes. At least that scheduled event was not cancelled out by my “incident.” Bill

Recently one of our Louisiana brothers, Bill Wei-ger, had an unfortunate incident when his seat belt came unbuckled. He notice that it had and was going to buckle it back when he got set up for pre-rotation but forgot. He experience a harder than normal landing which ultimately threw him from the aircraft, as it rolled uncontrolled down the runway it eventually rolled over and was severely damaged. Luckily Bill came out with a lot of scuffs and bruises but was otherwise OK. When he got to feeling better he sent me a note to let us know how he was doing and is asking everyone to please, learn something from his mistake.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 8 July 2014

CENTRAL TEXAS ROTORCRAFT CLUB

The PRA Chapter 65 June meeting was attended

by seven people with Smokey coming by visiting the club. We discussed the Fly-in, upcoming events, and club direction. We've had a change in leadership and I'd like to thank Lindsey Jackson for stepping up and running the club while the vir-tual club president was buried in getting a new business off the ground. David Nesmith is taking over for Lindsey, so con-gratulations! Since Hoppy Maldack has been keeping notes on the meetings, welcome to being the Secretary (required for PRA chapter status). We're planning on adding some guest speakers and other content in the coming year. I'm happy to be back in the air just in time to prep for my bi-annual flight review and hopefully making pro-gress toward instructor status in the coming year. Thermal Riders based at Luling will be adding a SLSA fixed wing to the airport and offer sport fixed wing training in the near future, so the Luling crys-tal ball has it becoming a busy training destina-tion. Tech Tip: Recently I've had electrical problems,

like not being able to kill the engine, where I thought it was the mag switch, but it was the en-gine connector block that contains all the sensor and mag lines. It was corroded. Unnerving when you're in the air and your oil pressure or other readings become out of range, but the runway is just straight ahead! Cleaning the block and apply-ing electrical lubricant did the trick. One thing on the list of things to maintain and make sure good connections are made through the connector block. They seem to be interior connectors not sealed for the elements. If you find you can't kill the engine, apply the choke at low idle and that should do the trick. Yanking spark plug wires is another option.

The 2nd Annual Fly-In took place June 28th at

our digs at the Luling airport, T91. In just a year's time, the airport has changed rapidly with a sky-dive operation that moved in and more intense hang glider activity. Hopefully, there will be increased activity when more rotorheads get airborne. We had a number of visitors viewing the gyros that were on display, a Hornet, Bensen, and a Magni. Turnout was lower than last year due to the Watermelon Thump being out of sync with our normal meeting schedule that will be fixed next year and possibly my attendance since I missed last years event. The rotor dogs were great and hopefully bring back the chili for next year. The winds were 20 to 30 mph, that was prime for demonstrating the gyro hovering illusion and making a statement that gyros can play in conditions that other light sport classes are grounded! Mark your calendars... The 3rd Annual Fly-In will be on June 13, 2015, our normal monthly meeting Saturday.

Paul Erb; PRA 65 President

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 9 July 2014

Kent Goddard’s Summer Quest

Kent Goddard of Tampa Florida is traveling the

US with his MTO in tow all summer long and attending as many fly-ins as he possibly can. He began his quest at Bensen Days in early April where he was giving as many rides as he could in between the daily rain showers that plagued the event this year. I had the pleasure of meeting Kent last year when he was in Houston and had brought his gyro out to our hangar for a few days. By the time I ran across him again at Ro-tors Over The Rockies in Bingham City Utah he had already been to six fly-ins before arriving there. Kent is a very generous man and he is single handedly making sure anyone wanting to get a flight in a gyro gets a chance to do so with him, many of these people are getting their very first flight. He is not asking anything back in return but rather getting his rewards by seeing the ear to ear grins on the faces of the passengers as they taxi back up to the hangars. At the end of his summer tour I am sure that he will give more people their first gyro experience in one year than anyone else flying today. Kent left ROTR and headed to Idaho where he flew the Snake River Canyon and again took along passengers. People like Kent are very valuable to our sport as they let others experience the thrill of flight who otherwise may have not had the opportuni-ty. I am looking forward to spending time with Kent at Mentone, El Mirage, and of course our own Anahuac fly-in.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 10 July 2014

Chapter 62 at Rotors Over The Rockies

Dean, Danny, Chris, Stacy, and Mike all attended

this years ROTR.

Chapter 62 had five of it’s members travel to

Brigham City Utah for Chapter 2’s Rotors Over The Rockies event. Chris Toevs used the event to get some training from Michael Burton and get her sign-off so she can now go to Ron Menzie and take her check ride and receive her license. Stacy Maness traveled there with his Wife Bar-bara and made a vacation out of it, his sisters (Shelly and Shelby) traveled from Idaho to spend the weekend with them. Danny Whitten, Dean Dolph, and Mike Grosshans all took the easy route and flew Southwest for an extended week-end. The mountain range across from the runway made for a beautiful backdrop while watching and taking pictures of the several gyros that were flying during the event. The group attended several of the very interesting forums that were

held. Danny got a chance to fly the Cavalon with Mi-chael Burton. Mike and one of Stacy’s sisters took a flight with Kent Goddard from Tampa. Saturday afternoon, most of the troupe took a trip thirty miles to the west to visit the Golden Spike historical site and to watch a re-enactment of the driving of the final spike that connected the east with the west. For four of the attendees, this was the second major fly-in this year; Danny, Stacy, Chris, and Mike were all at this years Bensen Days in April. This was stop number two for Danny and Mike as they are planning on making all four major events and as many other fly-ins as possible this year.

Stacy and Barbara with Stacy’s sisters Shelly and

Shelby.

Danny returning from a flight in the Cavalon with

Michael Burton. Stacy’s sister Shelby preparing for her very first

flight with Kent Goddard.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 11 July 2014

The Flight Line

Dean’s and Stacy’s ROTR Pictures

Another look at The Flight Line Forum on Charlie’s Air Command Re-

build/Modification

Yamaha Conversion Forum by the master

of the conversion Mark Shook giving a ride to a new PRA

member (his requirement was that you join

the PRA for a ride)

Dean taking a picture of Barbara

taking a picture of Dean

Michael Burton briefing new CFI Cammie

Patch on the Cavalon Ready fo Take-Off Kent Goddard and the beautiful back-

drop seen from the airport

The group made a trip over to the Golden

Spike Site

The closing banquet The Gyrobee buffs looking over a beau-

tifully built Gyrobee

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 12 July 2014

Got a Fly-In Coming Up In Your Area?

Please send us the information and we’ll let everybody know.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 13 July 2014

Hangar Flying Random Pictures

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 14 July 2014

Gyro Books For Sale

Great books, DVDs, and CDs at

www.gyrobooks.com

Born Free - My Life In Gyrocopters

ORDERING INFORMATION Born Free ................. $ 19.95 Sales Tax @ 8.50 % .. $ 1.69 (California residents only) Shipping .................... $ 4.00 in USA To Order By Mail Send check or money order payable to: Marion Springer 720 Mirage Lake Rd. Adelanto, CA 92301 Pay Online Through PayPal Email: ddakota@earthlink.net

Light-Sport Gyro-planes

An introductory guide for discov-ering these unique aircraft

This non-technical book is for persons who are interested in gyroplanes, espe-cially those who may not know much about them, but are curious to discover more. Even persons who think they know a lot about gyroplanes may be surprised to learn about developments that are making gyroplanes better, saf-er, and more inviting to fly for novices new to aviation as well as pilots who fly all kinds of aircraft. In brief, whether you’re avidly interested in gyroplanes or simply curious, this book is for you.

Available on Amazon.com. Also available on Amazon:

CHAPTER SHIRTS Chapter 62 has two styles of T-shirts available, if you are

interested please contact Danny Whitten.

He has these available for purchase at the meetings. They are $15 each

New Bensen/Brock Rotor Blades B & B

Rotor Blade Price List July 9, 2012

Blades, either Bensen or Brock attach points $1,295.00

Hub Bars: 25”, 36”, or 48”

Blades and Hub Bar Sets:; 21’, 23’, or 25’

Contact Roger Farnes at rotorsnradials@msn.com or (909) 519-4427

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 15 July 2014

Parts and Supplies

Chapter Patches

If you would like to get a chapter patch for your flight suit, favorite shirt, ball cap, or just whatever you want to stick it on, contact: Chapter 20; Rudy Graffeo at RLGraffeo@eatel.net Chapter 62; Danny Whitten at dannywhit-ten@embarqmail.com

Hangar Talk Radio Nationally syndicated weekly talk radio show on Yahoo

Sports Radio dedicated to all aspects of aviation and avia-

tion enthusiasts. Also available on Podcast and iHeart Ra-

dio.

aircraftspruce.com

wicksaircraft.com

DAR Services, Pre-

rotators, and Seat Tanks

www.calumetair.com

For Sale

Classified are free, just send some pictures and a description along with your contact information to mike484@aol.com and we will post whatever it is you have for sale, trade, or looking for.

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 16 July 2014

CLT Air Command Asking $6,000 or best offer. Contact Ed Moreland at 832-496-7306 or emreland55@gmail.com

Bensen Gimbal Head Early style head that uses Heim bearings for pitch, rather than the solid blocks. I bought this straight from Bensen, less than ten hours, new main bearing because of age. $400 Contact Jim Edwards at 479-747-4323 or jimedwards200@gmail.com

Gyros For Sale

Air Command Rotax 582ul DCDI Model 99 with electric start, 25 ft Dragon Wings, high torque pre-rotator, 9 gallon seat tank, RK Clutch on the Warp Drive 68" 4 blade prop, EIS Mod-el 2000 control panel, Rotor Brake, Shine plated muffler, am asking $15k but will consider all reason-able offers. Rex Byrns, 361-655-4987, .

Snowbird Avenger Tandem Gyroplane Kit

Has a Honda Cam engine with Mikuni carb. 115 HP.

$16,500.00

Contact Mark at 225-936-3527 or mmcdon-ner@bellsouth.net

Aggressor, Plans Built

27’ Dragon Wings, 1982 1.8 Turbo Bratt engine, Tennessee prop, Aggressor air frame. Also have a 2.2 Legacy engine in-cluded. $8,000 Gyro is located at the PRA headquarters in Mentone. Contact John at john-gillmore1959@yahoo.com or 317-840-2697

RAF 2000

Subaru 2.2 Carbureted, 30Ft RAF Rotors, Built in 2006, Cab-in Heat, Pitch and Roll Trim, Belt Driven Pre-Rotator, Carb Heat, Rotor Tach, Engine Tach, Altimeter to 20,000 Feet, Air Speed Indicator. Reduced to $29,500. Contact: Thom Francis, email thomefran@netscape.net, phone 870-403-2888. Located in Gurdon Arkansas

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 17 July 2014

Bensen Bensen, has the McCullough 72

just put a new cylinder and pis-ton and rings and a starter kit on it also 10ft 3 in rotors with a 24 inch hub bar. $5,500, may have a small trailer to throw in if need-ed, ready to fly. Contact Hoppy at 512- 488-2440

For Sale by Ron Menzie

Also have one more RAF, Fuel injected Subaru, 350 hours total, has never been dam-aged. $24,000.

KB3 that I have had for several years. has about 350 hrs. Rotax 532, pre-rotator, hydraulic front disc brake, rotor brake, dragon wing rotors, built in prop balanc-er. This is a true ultralight, I think its empty weight is approx-imately 248 lbs. $10,000.

Air Command for sale is quite new with a 148 hours total. It also has a flex shaft pre-rotator, hydraulic main wheel brakes, rotor brake and its power is a 503 Rotax, pull rope start. $11,000.

ronsgyros@gmail.com, (501) 766-6456, ww.ronsgyros.com. Located in Searcy Arkansas

Southwest Rotorcraft Page 18 July 2014

James Chowns Bastrop, LA

James trains in a tow glider at the Morehouse Memorial Airport (KBQP) in Bastrop. This is a great training aid for anyone just entering training in gyros. This was the way training was done before the two place trainers. gyrochowns@yahoo.com

Paul Patterson, Edmund Oklahoma

Paul trains in a modified RAF at the Guthrie/Edmond Geoport (KGOK). His RAF includes both a stabilator and a horizontal stabilizer.

405-826-8443 PaulPatterson1@cox.net

TRAINING

OKLAHOMA

ARKANSAS TEXAS

GEORGIA

LOUISIANA

Henry Foster

Trains at the Olney Airport in a Modi-

fied RAF, a SparrowHawk, and an Air

Command

hsf66@yahoo.com 214– 692-0727

ARIZONA

Proper training is the best money spent.