Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go and visit Craig McPherson of Blue Skies Powered Parachutes and Gyros. Craig is a CFI for both Powered Parachutes (PPC) and Gyros. I have known him for a number of years and at one time, I would fly my Aerolite 103 Ultralight Fixed Wing Airplane and land on his runway (a pasture behind his dairy) and visit with him about flying. At that time he was only flying and teaching and selling PPCs. He also continues to services Rotax engines as part of his current business.
Two years ago Craig had just begun his Gyro Training and sales business in an MTO Sport, like the one here. He was working pretty much solo. Yesterday, I met 2 employees, a gentleman named Bruce, who is also a CFI and Pam. Pam runs the office, performs maintenance on engines and aircraft while keeping the business organized. Bruce also helps with the repairs, flight training and assists customers in building their machines.
They were all busy helping Craig pack up his MTO for a trip to Olney, TX for a PRA meeting and then on to Benson Days, a premier Gyro event in Florida.
It is great to see Craig's business doing so well and it is my goal to train with him while working toward becoming a Gyro Sport Pilot CFI.
Happy Flying,
Tom
After buying a Gyroplane I contacted Craig for training and took a week of leave from work.
ReplyDeleteThis week I have flown for four hours so far in his MTO Sport trainer pictured above. It has been quite an experience and very different than the hour I spent with Steve McGowan in Georgia back in 2009.
The MTO Sport is very fast and responsive. Craig challenges his students by going beyond the typical syllabus. We have done the usual touch and go landings, but, rarely do we do them the same as done during the previous session. For instance, most CFIs use a powered approach and land the gyrocopter more like an airplane. Craig however, started me off with power off (engine at idle) approaches to simulate engine out situations.
At first the approaches were similar to a normal pattern with down wind leg, base leg and final. Then in a later session we started doing very short finals. Next we did an approach from a vertical decent, then a powered on standard approach.
More to follow, we are about to get back in the air and I will later describe the other training techniques that were incorporated with the touch and goes above.
Happy Flying,
Tom