Gyro-copters at Wheels and Wings
Flying school's gyro-copter seen during Wheels and Wings site inspection.
Gyro-copters of all colours will be on display at the Addie / African Reporter’s Wheels and Wings event at the Springs Airfield on August 2.
During the Addie’s staff visit to the airfield on Friday morning, we spotted these interesting little fly-mobiles.
Rainier Janse van Rensburg, chief instructor of the Kestrel Flight school, the biggest gyro-copter flying school in the southern hemisphere gave of us some insight on these machines.
The flying school is situated in Hanger 21, home of the 94th Aero Squadron.
Van Rensburg says because the gyro-copter uses an auto rotation system, it cannot stall, making it one of the safest types of aircraft to fly.
It is cheap to keep, as it uses afgaz or unleaded petrol.
Where flying a helicopter costs up to R4 000, a gyro-copter’s cost will be no more than R800 per hour
He teaches in four different types of gyro-copters, the open Magni which is made in Italy, the Ela from Spain, MTO3 from Germany and the Sycamore, made in Hungary.
He says the law requires students to do 30 hours practical, but his students do up to 40 to 45 hours, before getting their licenses.
Although the army, air-force and anti-poaching units are currently investigating using gyro-copters in their operations, the people currently flying the gyro-copter the most are individuals who use them for recreation.
Farmers, especially game farmers also use them to manage their farms by whizzing through the air with it to do their work.
See more on this flying school on https://www.gyrosquadron.co.za/
