28 September 2012
Six UK pilots are the latest graduates of a unique course aimed at providing pilots with the skills required to flight test light aircraft. Run jointly by the UK CAA and the LAA, the latest course offered dedicated training to enable experienced AutoGyro pilots to be able to test and evaluate such aircraft. This is believed to be the first course to teach autogyro testing ever developed.
The week-long course, run from the LAA’s headquarters at Turweston Aerodrome, taught the basics of stability and control with dedicated sorties on four very different fixed wing aircraft – Optica, EuroFox, SkyRanger and Eurostar. In addition to flying all the fixed wing types the Gyro students flew dedicated sorties in the Magni M24 and RotorSport Calidus two seat autogyros.
Chris Taylor, designer of the course and Senior Test Pilot with the CAA said, “The biggest challenge was putting together the autogyro stability and control theory lectures as nothing like this has been done before; we managed to complete the course on schedule, within budget, with students and tutors enjoying themselves immensely throughout.”
Course graduate Phil Harwood of the British Rotorcraft Association said, “For me, it was a superb way to learn how to assess how an aircraft is really flying. It is easy for a pilot to take an aircraft’s stability for granted – but now I know that making it stable yet controllable is the result of a lot of hard work. Well done to all the tutors.”
It is expected that the course will continue to run twice a year, with the 2013 courses being already planned for June and September.
