Air-to-Air Magni Gyroplanes

Lowflynjack

Lowflynjack

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Jack Fleetwood
My friend Dayton Dabbs owns and operates Lonestar Magni Gyro. We went up to get photos of him, his father and brother all flying Magni Gyros. The goal was to go over downtown Austin, but the weather had other plans, so over the lake and fields to the East it was! Hope you enjoy.

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Awesome pictures..!!!!

I sure miss the beauty of central Texas...
 
I'm sure they are a blast but you ain't gonna get any chicks with one of those things :)
 
Zeldman said:
Awesome pictures..!!!! I sure miss the beauty of central Texas...
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Thanks!

Silvaire said:
I'm sure they are a blast but you ain't gonna get any chicks with one of those things :)
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Ha! You should see the girls these guys get!

edo2000 said:
More fantastic pictures. Thanks!
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Thank you!

OkieFlyer said:
Awesome pics! I gotta try one of those someday.
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Thank you! If you're ever down this way let me know. I was leery of them when he first started flying them, but after hundreds and hundreds of hours, I've seen the safety in these new designs. That and they're a blast!
 
Too cool! When I was growing up a friend of my dad's from his EAA Chapter built a Bensen Gyrocopter...but he stopped flying it. I always wanted to see it fly. Great pics!
 
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I haven't flown a gyro in years. I need to do that again.
Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
 
Shopshirt said:
Too cool! When I was growing up a friend of my dad's from his EAA Chapter was built a Bensen Gyrocopter...but he stopped flying it. I always wanted to see it fly. Great pics!
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Thank you! They've come a long way since the Bensen days. The tails are huge compared to the old ones and make them very safe.

Shepherd said:
I haven't flown a gyro in years. I need to do that again.
Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks! I like sharing them because you guys are always give me nice feedback.
 
Great pics! Whats the camera and lens?
 
I flew a Magni with the guy who taught Dayton how to fly. The Magni is nice stable flying gyro but I prefer the sportier MTO Sport as its a bit more fun to yank and bank with.
 
Lowflynjack said:
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I was leery of them when he first started flying them, but after hundreds and hundreds of hours, I've seen the safety in these new designs. That and they're a blast!
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How long does it take and experienced fixed wing pilot to transition to a gyro? Sorry for the thread jack.
 
edo2000 said:
How long does it take and experienced fixed wing pilot to transition to a gyro? Sorry for the thread jack.
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No problem. It's not very long. I'm not a gyro pilot, but I've flown them a few times. It really flies like an airplane. There are a few safety things you have to learn, but not many.
 
So THAT's what y'all were up to when we saw you there on Saturday! :)
We stopped by for a quick refuel on the way to Dallas and saw all the gyros taxiing out and I thought "Jack is up to something". :D
 
What's the costs on purchase and ownership of a craft like that?
 
AggieMike88 said:
What's the costs on purchase and ownership of a craft like that?
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Thanks to DOUCHEBAGS in the FAA rotorcraft division there is no such thing as an LSA approved manufactured gyroplane. Pretty much everywhere else in the world Magni and other very well made Gyroplanes are sold just like any other LSA. Here in the U. S. they have to be considered experimental. So they pretty much build you one in Europe then disassemble it and send it here where you build it again and register it as an amateur built aircraft.

To answer your question up until recently the European built Gyroplanes sold for just north of 60k ! Going as high as 200k for one very nice looking example called the Arrowcopter. A large part of the cost goes for the very well built Rotax 9 series engine the other part went for the very high cost of things priced in Euros. Now with a really good almost one to one exchange rate with the Euro they're "slightly cheaper". You still really got to want one to pay that much to go slow. As I've said before they'll do 90% of what a helicopter can do for 10% of the cost - but it's still a lot of money when you look at what else you could buy with those same bucks.
 
Art VanDelay said:
As I've said before they'll do 90% of what a helicopter can do for 10% of the cost - but it's still a lot of money when you look at what else you could buy with those same bucks.
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Thanks for jumping in on this one! I wasn't sure what the answer was. Dayton has started a club on the white gyro above (the N-Number ends in CG for Club Gyro), which allows you to buy a certain number of hours. I think of it as the motorcycle of aviation. You're out in the open, going less than 100mph, but it's a lot of fun. It's amazing how maneuverable it is. Dayton Dabbs and his friend John Craparo set some pretty cool records recently flying a gyro across the US. You can read about it here.
 
Great pics! Gyros look like lots of fun. Seems like they'd be more popular, especially among ranchers n' such.
 
ETres said:
Great pics! Gyros look like lots of fun. Seems like they'd be more popular, especially among ranchers n' such.
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They are becoming more and more popular. Police departments that can't afford helicopters are starting to buy them. The problem is using an experimental aircraft for commercial operations. An oil field company facing thefts recently reached out to him about using them for security patrols. The FAA said no.
 
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