The Butterfly LLC - Greg Mitchell

Greg Mitchell - Tasmania, Australia

MY JOURNEY INTO FLIGHT

By the time I could walk, I wanted to fly. My Dad served in the Military, Naval Chief Petty Officer and served time in New Guinea and various Australian bases. Mostly he was attached to the Fleet Air Arm, so exposure to various aircraft types was a given. Later, in my formative years the Army Cadets afforded me further opportunities to get airborne. Again, upon attaining my High School Certificate, I had more time in military aircraft when I joined the Royal Australian Naval College as a Cadet Mid-Shipman. I soon got out of the Navy and went on to do other things.
During the Christmas of 1984, I was working in Central Australia and had the opportunity to do some shooting on Mulga Park Station, owned and run by John Fogarty.
On one of my many visits to his place, John asked me if I knew what a Gyro was. “Yeah, it’s one of them instruments that rotate and float inside a glass ball”, was my reply. “Well, that’s close” replied John. “It’s a rotorcraft, the blades rotate and they kinda float, damn things just won’t hover.”

“What, is it like a chopper?” “Yeah, come on I’ll show you.”

And show me he did. It was an old Bensen, with loud direct drive and red dust billowing out behind him as he taxied for take-off down the gravel track towards me. I was amazed. After all of my exposure to expensive complicated military aircraft, here was something so simplistic that seemed to fly with ease and extraordinary manoeuvrability. I would not forget the sense of exhilaration I had watching that Gyro carving up the sky.
That old Bensen ended up in the Mulga scrub three times whilst John mustered his cattle and in the end he went and got himself trained up to fly helicopters. He came back one year with a second-hand Hughes 300 and mustered out of it. I went up with him a couple of times; the most memorable, skimming the Mulga, atop Mount Conner, heading due west towards Ayers Rock. One minute you’re at 15 feet above the ground, next second there’s 700 feet. “Look out! Hang on to that lunch!”
Well, nobody else I knew had much knowledge about Gyros, but I knew I had to fly! I started fixed wing lessons in a Cessna, training out of Yulara at Ayers Rock, got to 6 hrs and work and family cut in.
So I had flown in Sea Kings and other military choppers, a Caribou, short take off, short landing, fixed wing transport craft on a Political Science trip from HMAS Albatross to Canberra return, had been exposed to jets operating off HMAS Melbourne before she was de-commissioned and through the Fleet Air Arm. Some stick time in the Cessna and I had seen a Gyro Fly! One never knows what life may turn up.
Having a propensity for living life on the edge during my younger years, I tried lots of stuff to get that ‘rush’, exhilaration and excitement. My partner and I did a tandem sky dive when I turned 40. Now that’s a rush! Not quite the controlled flight I had always dreamed of.
Back in October of 2003, shortly after turning 43, my partner again encouraged me to get back in the air and was keen to get me to have a TIF (training instructional flight) with Eugene Reid over at George Town, Tasmania, in a Jabiru. Whilst exploring this possibility I saw an advertisement in the local Trading Post, Gyro for Sale! I went and had a look, then another and another. This guy must have thought I was a compulsive ‘tyre kicker’. He mentioned there was a RAF 2000 operating out of Cranbourne and I could probably take a flight and see if this Gyro thing was for me. That said and done, I was hooked.
See, I’d been doing some research and learning some of the lingo, so when I got in that RAF 2000, I blurted, “Show me the lot, vertical descents, simulated power out, tight turns, whatever she’s got.” Needless to say this fella, who would become my instructor and friend, took a more measured approach to the flight but by the end of that 40 minute flight, I knew flying a Gyro was for me.
During this period of intense research and desire to find the right Gyro for me I came across a picture of the prototype Butterfly. Well, I must have driven Larry Neal to the brink; finally he agreed to send me a kit, even though he was nowhere near production. Soon after this we entered into a manufacturing/distribution licensing agreement for me to import, manufacture and sell Butterfly’s in Australia and New Zealand.
We decided to travel to Forbes for the ASRA Nationals 2003. The annual National Championships are a must see event for anyone who loves things that fly. We met lots of fine folk and forged many new friendships.
June 2003, I started training. Tassie had no instructors prior to this but with the help of the ASRA Board and especially the Operations Manager, Allan Wardill and CFI Terry Boatswain, Geoff Jamieson would become Tasmania’s first Gyroplane instructor.
November 2003, I was signed off to go solo but still had no Gyro. December 2003, I was in Queensland; went out to Watts Bridge to observe a fly-in and watched with added enthusiasm; I could almost taste the air. Allan Wardill took me up in his RAF 2000 and gave me some added tips for take offs and landings. It would be almost a year before I would fly in a Gyro again.
There was further interest expressed by others here in Australia regarding Butterfly Gyros and in the interim Allan had met Larry Neal at Oshkosh in the US and decided he too would like a Butterfly/Monarch. Larry decided to send out two rolling frames and three more partial kits. They arrived in May 2004 and we began building. I was building the Butterfly 503 Rotax Ultralight 57” wheel base and Allan, the Monarch Butterfly 582 Rotax with 72” wheel base.
December, 2004 I had completed construction of Butterfly and ran the engine in. Later that month Geoff Jamieson test flew the Gyro for me and was amazed at its performance and handling capabilities. He assured me I had purchased and built a great little Gyro that would be ideal for solo.
February, 2005 I flew two 20 minute circuits as pilot in command of my Butterfly. The grin on my face was akin to the Joker from the Batman movie. During the lead up to solo flight I had conducted some powered hops in Butterfly and done some glider training.
With a couple of months to go before the ASRA Nationals at Cooma I was finally flying solo. I managed to clock up 6 ½ hrs, get a fully enclosed Butterfly Gyro Van built and registered as a caravan and we were ready to attend. This time as a fully paid up member of ASRA with my own registered Gyro and a Certificate authorising me to fly a Gyroplane; two years and four months had passed since first experiencing the joy of a TIF in the RAF 2000.
The Cooma Nationals was without doubt one of the most enjoyable weekends of my life. To put faces to the well known ‘tags’ blokes use on the Oz Forum, to catch up with old friends, and to fly with these folk was a joy. I did not compete in the competitions. I flew early mornings and late afternoons. Much of the time I fielded questions about Butterfly, Monarch and the Gyro Van. David Bird, Ian Morcombe and Robbie Burton all had some time in Butterfly. Allan had several fellas fly his Monarch.
I hope to attend as many Nationals as possible. They are what bind us all together.
Well, at the time of writing I have 12 ½ hrs up after a 2 hr plus flight recently flying from Cranbourne to Bridport return, tracking creeks and rivers and flying along the Central Northern Tasmanian coastline. Sun was glistening off the water from the north at this time of year; so beautiful. The ‘rush’, well that’s still there, every time I take off and land; much of the flying time has been replaced by a peaceful serenity, now the apprehension has dissipated somewhat. To fly a Gyro is a privilege and a pleasure not easily described. To those of you who came before me I thank you for your knowledge and experience and to those who follow, Aim High, Shoot for the Sky, take that great leap of Faith and Fly!
Gyros, with appropriate training, are Safe, Affordable and really the most fun you can have up there…….where eagles soar and “Butterflys”.