Microlighters

Hello everyone,

The gyro way of flying seems quite interesting! I just wanted to know what happens if you want to fly gyros, but you don't own one. Is it possible to "hire and fly" after you've got a license?

Hi Delta13

... and welcome.

Unfortunately, because of the price of gyros and insurance, hire and fly does not come easy. On top of that, gyros are one of the most forgiving flying machines in the air, but once touched down, that's a different ball game, and that is why 99 % of gyro accidents happen on the ground, take-off and landing. A small incident on the ground can set you back R 100 000 - R 200 000. Owners are therefore reluctant to rent their gyros out.

I trained with 303 squadron in Brakpan, and I know you can rent their gyro if you trained with them. Their attitude is, if they can send you in the air with your life in their hands - trust that you can fly, they must be able to trust you with their planes. Only problem is, availability, their gyros run almost full time for training. The positive on that, they are closed on Saturdays, therefore full day availability of their planes.

Other than that I don't know of any.

P.S. Where are you looking skywards ?

I live in Centurion.

Pity. I was hoping there would be hire & fly type flying clubs. But thanks for the info!

Good morning,

We do hire out gyros. Some conditions apply and you have to do a theory and practical.
While we are on the subject, we are in the process of finalising the last legalities to actually lease out gyroplanes at a fixed monthly rate which will be a fraction more than the current monthly insurance premium on a gyro. We have a number of persons on the short list already and it will be interesting to hear how many interested parties are on this forum.
All our machines are equiped with real time GPS trackers and data recorders so we can keep a watchfull eye on them.
Feel free to contact us at 082 452 8194
Regards
Johan