My three buddies

My buddies, Lucky on the left, Buddy, center and Connie on the right.

Lucky came to us as a young puppy about six years ago. My son Dave said," there is a small dog outside our fence". Later that day he said, "The small dog has made her way inside the fence. Do you want to keep her ?"

I had two dogs and didn't need or want another one. My son had recently lost his 13 year old Princess to cancer and he wasn't ready for another dog. So, it was decided that Dave would take the little dog to the animal shelter in a few days. On the appointed day he and the little black dog started out but he was back home within a few minutes..."I just couldn't do it", he said. " She is part pit bull and they will put her down". So, Lucky as he named her, got a stay of execution and a good home.

Over the next two years I had to put both of my elderly dogs down . Suddenly I was without a dog as Lucky belonged to my son. My heart yearned for other Doberman as one of my long time companions that I had to put down was a wonderful Dobbie named Vokie. I finally found two , a brother and sister, pure bred Doberman pups for sale and in no time had purchased the male puppy.

It bothered me to leave his little sister all alone in the big yard. For a week I couldn't get that little female Doberman out of my mind so I ended up going back and buying her.

Oh boy! did I have my hands full with two seven week old puppies. They chewed up everything in sight. The bedspread I used as a couch cover looked like swiss cheese when they got through chewing on it. I ended up putting my boots up on top of the book case about six feet above the floor to keep them out of the pups reach .

They played and wrestled all over the house and claimed every comfortable piece of furniture as their own. Pottie train them to go outside ??? It's a job training one but two is a real challenge. And then there was the ear trimming which was it's own nightmare. Imagine two young pups with their ears wrapped and both having to wear large plastic collars to prevent damage to the healing ears. Picture taking those two pups both wearing their large collars in the family car 40 miles each way to the vets office to have the ears tended to. They wrestled in the car and it took my daughter driving and me trying to keep the pups from destroying the interior of the car and to make it worse, it was summer time in the desert with every day well over 100 degrees. My daughter thought I had lost my mind to buy TWO pups. At times, I admitted to myself that they were really almost too much for me, but give them up , never !

They are now 3 1/2 years of age . The 90 pound male is named Buddy, a name that fits him perfectly. Connie , the little female is about 60 pounds . She is a sweetheart.

At night it is a comfort to have them, along with Lucky who lives with me, zonked out in the living room...Buddy, on the couch of course and Connie, naturally , in my favorite easy chair. Lucky usually can usually be found in the bedroom in the middle of my bed. Home sweet home!

But it's a trade off...they love me unconditionally. They are always happy to see me. They would follow me anywhere and I hope they would protect me if the need should arise and all they ask in return is my love and dinner, not necessarily in that order!

Till next time.

Marion Springer

Meet Britta Penca

Britta is quite a gal, a real go-getter as a matter of fact. She is rated in fixed wing, in helicopters, and in gyroplanes. She is currently working on her commercial helicopter rating and in time plans to become a Gyro CFI. Good for her !

In the picture Britta is standing beside her single place Air Command gyro. The photo was taken at the 2008 fly-in on El Mirage dry lake. From that ear to ear grin I'd say she just landed from a good gyro flight!

Britta is also part owner of a two place tandem Air Command which she will use for flight training when she gets that all important Gyro CFI certificate. She is just what the gyro community needs.

This year for the first time ever, PRA ( Popular Rotorcraft Association ) recognized women gyro pilots...they asked Britta to head up a forum at the PRA convention at Mentone on Women in Gyroplanes. There were only four women gyro pilots at the time but it's a start. Connie O'Connor was one of the ladies working on the ' women in gyros' forum and she put together a very nice video of the women gyro pilots. I think that with Britta's enthusiasm that other women will be attracted to the gyro when she starts instructing.

Britta and her husband Mark and their two Border Collies live in Ariizona. She and Mark are regulars to the annual Ken Brock Fly-in that is held on the El Mirage dry lake the last weekend of September. Last year they brought Britta's Air Command to the fly-in and she put some good flying on the machine. Their gyro trailer only holds one gyro so this year Mark's gyro made the trip and Britta's Air Command stayed home. Earlier this year , Mark flew his gyro , which is his own design based on the Dominator, from their other home in Iowa to the gyro fly-in at Mentone. That was quite a trip.

Britta and Mark... gyro pilots both and they are both good for gyros!

Till next time.

Marion Springer

The gyro hang test

It is vitally important that the gyro be balanced properly, or in other words, the CG ( center of gravity) must be right.

To have the machine out of CG and fly in a nose up condition is very dangerous and the same is true for an extreme nose down attitude. So to be sure the CG is correct, the the gyro is is given a hang test.

When the gyro is constructed, it is given a hang test before the first flight. If later on changes are made to the gyro, such as adding or removing weight or modifying the gyro then it must have another hang test before flight.

In the photo above my friend, Teddy Udala, is preparing for Dave Bacon, another gyro pilot friend to do a hang test on Teddy's gyro. Teddy built the gyro awhile back then decided to make some changes such as shortening the mast , lowering the seat, and several other modifications, thus the need for a hang test to see if the center of gravity had changed.

So, early one morning before the wind came up we took Teddy's gyro the the gate-way and winched the machine up off the ground. Teddy then got into the seat.

Teddy's gyro is based on the Bensen design and as such it is supposed to hang between 0 and 3 degrees nose down for the CG to be correct.

To do the hang test, the pilot sits in the seat of the gyro with all wheels off the ground and holds the control stick centered...that puts the torque tube ( which is up under the rotor head) in a level attitude. The nose down angle is measured at the back of the mast by someone, in this case, Dave Bacon , holding an angle finder against the mast and reading where the needle points. Teddy's CG came out at 3 degrees nose down. So it was within CG limits. Had it not been in CG he would have had to make new head plates to get the CG right. Teddy was saved a lot of work because nothing had to be changed on his gyro...it was ready to fly.

My Bensen gyro had recently had a starter and a battery added to the gyro...that came to a total of 30 pounds that was added to the machine. I feared the worst. I thought it would be so out of CG that new head plates would have to be made and I had nearly worked myself into a tizzy thiking of all the work that would need to be done because of the added weight.

But to my great delight, the nose down angle of my gyro when we gave it the hang test came in at 2 degrees nose down. YIPPEE!! The CG was perfect and no new head plates were required.

The 30 pounds we had added had been pretty evenly distributed with half the 30 pounds

added to the engine and the other half more up toward the front...that may be why the CG was still OK. All I know for sure that it IS Ok and ready to fly!

And I did make a brief flight with the new starter during the fly-in. I flew from my hangar out to the fly-in site on the lake bed. Not more than a mile altogether but after getting there and making a couple of passes , it was quite enough flying for the conditions . The day was 103 degrees and that put the density altitude somewhere over 6000 feet...not ideal conditions for flight.

I am looking forward to doing some flying and getting the feel of the gyro with the added weight

on it. Oh the thrill of just turning on the ignition switch and then pushing the start button to get the Mac going !

After I get some time on my gyro with the starter I think we are going to add those wonderful tuned exhaust expansion chambers to the gyro this winter. Then I can stand that gyro on it's tail and go straight up on take off...well, I used to do that but I will tame it down some this time.

Till next time.

Marion Springer

Hello everyone, I'm back

I was a little under the weather for awhile so haven't posted in awhile . I think I was down from breathing all the smoke ( with ashes falling all over everything) during the raging forest fires in So. Ca. awhile back. The closest the fires were to us was about 40 miles but the smoke was so heavy here at times that we couldn't see more than a quarter of a mile.

Last weekend we had the Ken Brock Freedom fly-in on the El Mirage dry lake . The number of visitors was down from better times . Hopefully the economy will be better next year.

As far as gyro flying goes, it was a safe fly-in with no accidents. But we lost a fellow gyro pilot on Saturday due to a motorcycle accident. He was Mike Shallmann of Arizona. The photo above is Mike taxiing his gyro in from a flight earlier on the day of the bike accident which took his life.

Mike went riding just before dusk on a BMW motorcycle and ventured into an area where the lake bed is rough with small dirt mounds all over. Most of the lake is smooth as a table top but there are rough areas and that's where the accident happened. Apparently he hit a couple of dirt mounds at high speed and the bike started tumbling.

While traveling at high speed the dirt mounds would be impossible to see in time to avoid them.

My granddaughter Lynette went to the accident scene and was upset to see everyone standing around looking but not doing anything to help our friend Mike. Lynette is CPR certified so she moved in like a Marine drill sargent and took charge.

They worked on Mike until the emergency medical crews arrived. Despite their best efforts, Mike's time on earth was over and so he passed away shortly afterwards.

He was the first to arrive at the fly-in site at the beginning of the week and he did a lot of gyro flying over the week in his shiny original design gyro. Mike always did a buzz job at my home during the mornings of the fly-in. He called them ,

" wake up calls", and his ' wake up calls' were memorable. I shall miss them and I shall miss Mike. He believed in living life to the fullest. He said earlier on the day of his passing, " when my number is up , my number is up".

Till next time.

Marion Springer

One happy gyro pilot !

Last Saturday Dave Bacon came up to the desert and we started my gyro's McCulloch engine with the new starter. I was like a kid with a new toy, I'd turn the switch on, push the starter button and the engine would come to life.
I'd let the engine run a minute or so , shut it down and then do it all over again and again.
That's a photo of me on my gyro with the engine running.
After giving the new starter a work out we put the gyro on Dave's trailer and went over to a gate way to do the hang test to determine the CG ( center of gravity). A hang test is necessary when big changes are made to a gyro, in my case we had added a starter and a battery for a total of about 30 lbs. of weight.
The hang test involves attaching a hoist to the teeter bolt and with the pilot in the seat, lifting the gyro clear of the ground.
Someone then takes an angle finder and holds it against the back of the mast then reads the degree of angle that the gyro hangs from level. For the the center of gravity of the machine to be correct, the gyro should hang from 0 to 3 degrees nose down. My gyro came in right on target with a nose down angle of 2 degrees.
Teddy had made some modifications to his gyro recently making a hang test necessary for his machine also. So, after my hang test was done, we repeated the whole thing with Teddy in the seat of his gyro.
We started about 8 AM hoping to beat the heat but this is summer time in the desert and it was well over 100 degrees by the time we finished.
So, although I haven't flown the gyro since the addition of the starter, just having the starter and a successful hang test made my day! There will be cooler days to fly. Just knowing that I can start my gyro myself whenever I want to fly is a giant step of independence to me.
I am very appreciative of the work that Dave has done in getting my gyro to that point. He is a man in demand for he has taken on the job of going completely through someone else's gyro and bringing it up to flying condition. When he isn't working on gyros, Dave tries to decide which of his three gyros he is going to fly!
Till next time.
Marion Springer

Update on adding a starter to the McCulloch engine

We are now on the third starter for the McCulloch engine. The first one was defective and the second one was too long. The front of the second starter touched the prop! So, when Dave came up last week to work on the adaption he brought a new light weight starter . The new one was made for race cars, weighs 8 lbs. and is beautiful. It's small and compact.

But, it didn't fit in the mounting bracket. Dave cut off a little bit of the bracket and still the starter wouldn't go in. He said that he could cut a piece off the edge of the starter itself and it would fit, " but", he said, " if it doesn't fit, we can't return it to the store. You will have a pricey shelf ornament. What do I do ?".

Since I figured we were about out of options regarding starters, I said, " make it fit". And he did . Back to the hack saw he went and took off a bit of the starter and then it went right into place in the mounting bracket like it was made for it.

After buttoning up everything and securing the new battery in it's holder on the keel tube, we pushed the gyro out to the run up pad and started it up. The engine started easily. I was amazed at the power with which the starter spun the propeller.

So, like a kid with a new toy, I would start the engine ( push button start, imagine that ! ), let the engine run a minute, shut it down and start it again and again. It looks like we have a winner in the new starter!

The day was hot, 103 degrees hot, and it was getting late in the day so we decided to put off the all important hang test until Saturday, August 8, when Dave will make the trip up to the desert again. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas as I wait for Saturday,August the 8th. to get here !

Dave has gone to a lot of effort to help me achieve the freedom to fly whenever I want . He lives a couple of hours away in a much cooler area and yet he comes up to the high desert and works on my gyro in 100 degree plus weather . That's a real friend.

Till next time.
Marion Springer

Telephones and Cell Phones

One of my pet peeves is to be standing line at the check out counter with money in hand to pay for my purchases and have the cashier pick up the telephone and carry on a conversation while ignoring those of us waiting to pay for our items.

If I happen to be on a tight schedule I will leave the items on the counter and go on my way . In an auto parts store the clerk kept answering the phone while no less than eight customers waited for service. He answered call after call . Finally one of the waiting customers announced that he was going to go home and call the clerk on the phone as it seemed to be the only way to get his attention .

The man who delivers our water is addicted to his cell phone. You never see him not talking on it. Recently I was standing there with a hundred dollar bill waiting to pay for the load of water and he had the cell phone between his head and shoulder and was carrying on a conversation while writing out the receipt. He hadn't even bothered to say 'Good morning' to me.

In the supermarket one day I saw a male shopper talking on his cell phone while shopping. He seemed to get the other person's opinion on every item he put in his shopping cart. He happened to finish at the check stand just about the time I did and he still had his cell phone cradled against his shoulder and talking away.

I watched as he left the store just as I did...he had a bag of groceries in each hand and was still yakking away on the phone. I wondered if he would let go of the phone to stow his purchases in the car...no way! He set one bag on the ground and unlocked the car, put both bags inside , got in and drove away still talking. Now that is addiction!

About land line phones, I will be getting a new one in a couple of weeks. Because of my hearing ( or lack of hearing ) I use a TTY relay system with the telephone . It works great for me but callers are reluctant to deal with the operators who type their words, as the operators at times , have to interrupt the caller to check spelling or tell them to speak slower , etc. And also , many people don't know how to use the TTY system. When I called the animal hospital to check on my dog the girl who answered, said " We don't want any ", and hung up the phone , probably thinking the operator's explanation of TTY was a sales pitch.

The new phone I am getting is voice activated so the the callers words will be automatically typed for me to read and I will also be able to hear the caller's voice which my present system doesn't allow. I'm told the new phone, called, Cap-Tel , is more user friendly as it will be like making a regular phone call. Let's hope so . I'm looking forward to it. I promise not to become addicted .

Till next time.
Marion Springer