Welcome back to GCA! This is a “hello” from Jason’s wife, Liani. I have been on the peripheral of Great Commission Aviation and now get to serve in this area a bit. This past month, we attended “Bensen Days,” a once-a-year gyroplane fly-in and expo of all the best gyro manufactures. The gyro community is a small but growing family of (rotary-wing) aircraft and this Bensen Days marked the 50^th anniversary of this fringe family reunion.

The weather was windy, but sunny Florida was beautiful. Of note, while gyros are light-sport, they can still fly well in windy conditions. Jason was able to take me up in the newer model Magni M-26. It is always fun to go up and look at the gators, birds, hogs, cattle, people, roads, trees, horizon and everything else from a gyro, they have great visibility. And since this model is enclosed, I do not have to worry about dropping my phone out.

Jason helped serve at the Magni tent throughout the week, and one day I helped at the registration table. It is the most fun meeting new folks–from Indiana, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, NY, and gathering once again to hang-out with past acquaintances from even more places. Also fun is watching all the demos. A pic I have here taken from the registration tent is of an ELA Eclipse 10 in air and several ELA’s lined up in the foreground. They are a smooth ride.

My first flight was about 10 years ago in a very open air, tandem, gyro from a “North Carolina Barnstormer,” (kind of a big deal). I absolutely loved it. I say “very” open air because in addition to no canopy, there was no hull, or bottom. I remember how crazy it was that I had my feet on two little footrests and could see the ground below my feet as we were taking off getting farther away. It was so exciting and then, in air was like a super smooth roller coaster, in a good way, and I could up close see the trees and fence rows, and since you fly low you can make things out on the ground-my eyesight was better then. During the landing, it was so strange to see the ground come closer to my feet too-it was so much fun!! If not during that flight, it was not much later I thought, why are these not being used in the mission field, there are so many possibilities.

Back to Bensen Days, while I was not there to see this year’s “egg drop,” a fun contest to see who can get closest to dropping an egg on a target, or the “pylon race,” to determine the fastest and most skilled pilot/gyro combo, I hope that you dear reader, know that gyros have some excellent maneuverability and opportunity for mission work (or even work as missions-think of how you can help in other countries, or domestically). Over the 4 days, Jason was able to spend time catching up with all the manufacturers and friends made over the years. BTW, Jason is an authorized Magni dealer and can hook you up with any info needed for that manufacturer (others too really) and is a CFI for gyros. Again, I was able to meet some really neat folks and it wrapped up with a smoked meat dinner on Saturday night. Until next year…

Upcoming—GCA Bootcamp Info coming soon…