Xenon Gyro

[FLYNOTE]

What a lovely weekend for flying it was. I celebrated the first 150 trouble free , fun packed , exhilarating, stress free, comfortable , cosy , adrenaline rush( I'm running out of adjectives) hrs in my Xenon over the Maanhaarrand , Magalies and Rustenburg areas. The last of the Summer green, blanketing the Highveld at this time of the year has been enhanced by the late rains of the past week and what a vista from the Xenon cabin it offered ! There I am floating in a bubble , the 912 rst purring in the background , the Maanhaarrand with its beautiful gorges and cliffs , eye level on my right and the rolling hills of Magalies streching out toward the croplands of the North West Province boasting the promise of an excellent yield this season, on my left. I open the ice box between the pilot and pax seat and help myself to an Appeltiser to toast the 150hrs clicking over. My pax selects a Millers draft from the "mini bar" ... It shows you ! I'm not exactly sure what it shows you , but it shows you ...
Back at Tedderfield and she gets her weekly shampoo before being tucked away till next week. So nice to have a cabin which has been designed for safety, comfort, visibilty and strength ! You stand on the roof ( the whole 108kg of you ) if you want to inspect teeterbolts or just to wipe off the unfortunate insects who came in contact with the spinning alluminium.
I have removed my pax stick and rudders ( a 30 second exercise ) for even more space,comfort and visibility through the nose windows on the right side. Now I see that if I fold the leather which is fixed to the central panel back, it closes up the area where the stick normally goes into the central console beautifully and you do not even notice that something ( a stick ) is missing there. Removing the pax rudders allows an unobstructed view through the nose windows as mentioned.
Still the most enjoyable gyro in my mind and I am seriously contemplating a return to Poland for no 2 towards the latter part of the year. ZU RDV will then have to find a new owner locally . You future Xenonites out there can start taking your caculators out and 'gatkruiping' with your wives !
The strong Rand at R10.13 to the Euro is making it soooooo tempting ...

[braam hechter]

Good Day All.

We are busy looking at the fractional ownership of some gyros. This was done in conjunction with Athas Karatzas from AFOS. (See http://www.afos.co.za) The intention being, that you are a part owner of a gyro, and thereby have the aircraft for a basic amount of hours per month. The maintenance and other activities are carried out by an overseeing company. You basically book the aircraft, arrive, fly the aircraft and go home. The maintenance, refueling, etc is carried out on your behalf. The plan is further to have a few gyros scattered around the country. This will leave you the option to swop time and use another aircraft somewhere else e.g. if you are in holiday.
This should make the cost of owning a gyro less expensive and more assessable to everybody. You should be able to have a share in the gyro for less than the cost of a microlight.
If there are interested parties, please send me a pm or contact AFOS

Greetings and fly safely,
Braam Hechter

[KFA]

The plan is further to have a few gyros scattered around the country. This will leave you the option to swop time and use another aircraft somewhere else e.g. if you are in holiday.

Now that is one of the best plans I have heard in a long time. How will CAA now see this venture, will it not constitue commercial use? Hire and fly company?

[Jabbanaught]

Good Day All.

We are busy looking at the fractional ownership of some gyros. This was done in conjunction with Athas Karatzas from AFOS. (See http://www.afos.co.za) The intention being, that you are a part owner of a gyro, and thereby have the aircraft for a basic amount of hours per month. The maintenance and other activities are carried out by an overseeing company. You basically book the aircraft, arrive, fly the aircraft and go home. The maintenance, refueling, etc is carried out on your behalf. The plan is further to have a few gyros scattered around the country. This will leave you the option to swop time and use another aircraft somewhere else e.g. if you are in holiday.
This should make the cost of owning a gyro less expensive and more assessable to everybody. You should be able to have a share in the gyro for less than the cost of a microlight.
If there are interested parties, please send me a pm or contact AFOS

Greetings and fly safely,
Braam Hechter

U have to consider FASH !!!

[Low Level]

Interesting, and a good idea. Hire and fly gyros are very far and inbetween.

Can the mods split this thread to it's own. Xenon's is getting HEAVY.

[THI]

Does anybody know who is the new owner of the yellow Xenon?

[braam hechter]

Hi All.

There has been a new tandem gyro discussed during the show in Germany. The intention being to bring in an entry level machine. The powerplant will be the same as the Xenon (RST 122 hp). Discussions was held with Raphael and it would seem that the machine will work well in our conditions. All the lessons learnt with previous gyros were fed back and introduced in this range of machines.

From the web page;
KISS 912T, It is a real bargain for this level of performance. Has no competitor. This will become very quickly our tandem flagship. A true very high performance gyrocopter. The KISS 912T, is fitted with our amazing RST (Rotax Super Turbo). The reserve of power is immense, allowing special maneuvers and extreme operation possibilities such as very high altitude / temperatures. A great list of options will let you adapt – customize this KISS as per your dreams and requirements.

For more information see http://www.celieraviation.eu/view/171-kiss-912t.html

Greetings
Braam Hechter

[Eggbeater]

Hi Braam

If it can be brought in at 40 000 Euros then I am sure that it will be a winner.

It looks good and it is enclosed which is a plus for me (at my age I prefer cars to motor bikes). Is there any indication of when it will be available?

[Gyronaut]

Awesome! about time. The greatest barrier to entry is the cost of new Gyro's.
An affordable good quality machine will clean up and 39k Euro's is in the ball park!

I must say that it looks a lot like a Sycamore (at half the weight)

Eggbeater, I agree that enclosed works better for me too. but.... what about your M24 then??

Rgds

Len

PS, I assume the name KISS is for "Keep It Simple - Stupid"; Very appropriate!

[Eggbeater]

Hi Jetranger

I also thought that it looked a lot like the Sycamore but with the stabiliser turned upside down.

I would not swap the M24 and, hopefully I may even get to fly it one day. One way of looking at it is that each day that passes is a day closer to certification

It does help that the weather has not been that good of late but Condor does not help matters by posting notifications of flights which are in the planning for the immediate future.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

This is what we need in SA...

[braam hechter]

Hi RV4ker.

(There is a South African manufactured gunmount for the AK 47 available, that bolts onto the seat rail) You may have seen pictures of the three seater (Xenon XL, normal Xenon extended by approx 700mm). She has been under a testing and improving program and it would seem that the stability, loadcarrying capacity etc is where it should be. The planning being to have a two person crew with a weapons bay. The extra gap (seat) can be outfitted with various role specific packs. This can include a camera pack with real time down loads, FLIR cameras or a machine gun. There is a .22 gattling gun available that can do some serious damage. We were also looking at a Air to Ground type of ground suppression missile systems. The problem is that the launcher system is a bit heavy and you can only carry two missiles. There is a requirement in Africa to defend strategic installations i.e. pipelines etc. The requirement is to supply a complete system, this should include the machines, pilots, maintenance and logistic support. There has been various organizations in country busy preparing and setting themselves up for such a type of operation. If we just look at Wagtail Aviation who has flown in the region of 5000hrs in a commercial operation. The lessons learned from a training, maintenance and support perspective across South Africa taught them many things which should be totally useable in this environment.

Looking at what is happening across the globe with the Xenons in Burkina Faso, the MT's in Ethiopia etc, etc there is an emerging market.

One of the reason for the instructors and Approved person seminar is to ensure that the South African environment is prepared in the event that a contract is landed. We will then know each other and know what we are capable of. The intent is then to contract some of the instructors and AP's to help supporting as and when they are available.

When we read what Louis and Len did in Ethiopia, we have a small glimps of what is required. Celier Aviation also had a major operation with the training and support in Burkina Faso. If a major contract is entered into you look at at least 4 aircraft with 6 plus instructors/ pilots and maintenance crew. In order to support this type of exercise you need some additional resources and hopefully this is where the gyro operations in RSA will grow.

Greetings, and keep on dreaming...

Braam Hechter

[MAGNIficent]

This is what I call MARKET DEVELOPEMENT.

Well DONE!!!

[FLYNOTE]

Sjoe Braam ... ek lees nou net jou pos ! Verstaan nie so lekker als nie maar dit lyk my as n ou als en almal in hulle moer in wil skiet is die Xenon net die meneer vir die beskeie takie !!
Its great to see how Gyros are becoming a force to recon with worldwide. I firmly believe that, as has been the case with any aircraft that has been commandeered for military use , the technology just increases at an incredible pace and it would be fascinating to see where these wonderful machines are going to be in say 10 years time.
Have you guys seen the latest contribution from Holland.? Now here is a thing !!! Johan van Ludwich has been targeted by the Dutch guys to supply rotors for the prototype and I hear from a birdie that they are test flying the PAL V in South Africa in September 2010 ! \

http://www.pal-v.com/

But for now , no flying motorbikes, no weaponry and stealth and koes of ek blaas jou... just my trusty, comfy lekka Xenon side by side and the big smile I still can't get rid of after a year of the greatest flying of my life ! Viva Xenon !!

[FLYNOTE]

And then there are the Texans !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_h_xA24sQ