Gyro Gerald (heretofore ground-bound videographer of Bensen Days and other gyro events) has fledged in his Mac/Bensen. He will be able to use the machine again, however its ability to fly once he gets through adding on all the cameras remains in question.

Thanks to Greg Spicola for his dual instruction and getting Gerald past balancing on the mains.

WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Congratulations to Gerald.
Good seeing him flying. That is soooooooo awesome.
Proud of ya Gerald! You go man!!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect!!!!

Does that mean everyone will be calling him a 'fledger' from now on?

Congrats Gerald... well done

Way to do it!!! Good on ya!

Nice smooth flying mate.... just watched the vid.... awesome!!

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I had to look up the word Fledged ... never heard of it before.

Congratulations Gerald . You are the first person I know who has fledged over broccoli.

I dare you to write it like that in your logbook .... HAAAAA

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Evidently, fledged over broccoli is nice with some flava beans and a nice chiante..... fftttt, ftttt, fftttt...

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Muz ... have you been peeking in Hannibal Lecters recipe book again ???

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Gerald, that's outstanding and a hardy congratulations. Your camera work is supurb and I am sure you will delight us with your video adventers.

Thankx for that and enjoy the new freedom of flight!!!!!

OK, my wife is a professor of avian biology. The word "fledged" comes up regularly in our daily conversations. It seemed appropriate in this case. "Broccoli," in this context, comes directly from Steve McGowan. I believe the origin is from a ride Steve gave to a young boy who said that all the trees looked like broccoli from a gyroplane.

Gerald did do an excellent job, but I am still going to rib him about being the only one I know who got lost while trying to fly the pattern. There is a perfectly logical explanation for the path he took, but I prefer the "lost" version.

Gerald is flying a very bare-bones Mac/Bensen as a Part 103 machine, so there will be no log entry. As a side note, the machine has old RotorHawk rotors that are remarkably easy to hand start. All he need do is taxi to the runway, reach up from the seat and give them a little push, and with a little careful throttle management, he's off.

He is now a "fledgling" gyro pilot, had a couple of really great landings, nice and slow....



Those old rotorhawk blades fly very nice, a little draggy, but they are smooth, don't flap, come up to speed nice and fast, and don't balloon on landing.

Loved the video BTW!

Last time I fledged....

I nearly got caught

Congrats Gerald! Great stuff.