A few people may have heard of Wing Commander Ken Wallis. Many more will have seen him (anonymously) flying 'Little Nellie' as James Bond (Sean Connery in other scenes) in 'You Only Live Twice'.
'Little Nellie' is a bright yellow, rocket-firing autogyro, one of many autogyro designs created by Ken Wallis. I have long been impressed by photos and videos of Ken flying his wonderful designs, often with no hands, proving how stable and safe these tiny flying machines are:
It seemed to me that an autogyro could provide a safe way of flying without the huge expenses involved in something like a helicopter or a light plane, and having an undercarriage for landing on might be a whole lot less risky than using my feet to touch down on as I used to do when hang gliding. An autogyro can also land, rather like a helicopter, in a very short space, and takes off with a much shorter run than most light aircraft, making it very versatile in its choice of locations to fly from.
So, a bit of research on the Wonderful Worldwide Web soon revealed several schools ready to take my money and introduce me to the world of gyro flight.
Most of them though, seemed to rely on the Rotorsport MT03 or MTO-Sport open cockpit models for training. Undoubtedly fun, but in Britain's inclement and often rather cool weather, I felt that at 2,000 feet up and doing 70 mph, it was going to get a bit cold. I know how cold it can get at 0 feet doing 70 mph on the ZZR600 and think that at my age, I'll leave such masochistic pursuits to the younger, hardier fliers.
But, the idea wouldn't go away and I discovered that some autogyro flying/training happened at RAF Little Rissington, a 2nd World War RAF airfield they don't use any more, but is used for glider training at the weekends.
So, one sunny Sunday in the autumn of 2010, I rode up there to have a look. It was, it seemed to me, a perfect flying day, but no sign of any aircraft movements. One helpful pilot working on his 2-seater plane said it would be okay for me to walk around the hanger. What a little treasure trove, aircraft of all shapes and sizes, and in the dim recesses at the back, various gyros.
Up close, I had difficulty believing that these tiny machines could really fly. They were so much smaller than the 2-seater planes I'd passed further up the hangar. I wanted to know more. I wanted to see these things fly for real, not just on YouTube. But it didn't look as though it was going to happen that Sunday so I made a note to come back soon.
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