– Daniel’s experience of a gyrocopter flight in Ras Al Khaimah.
The temperature’s very comfortable at the moment and this particular day we also had the chance of rain. It was cloudy and windy so I wasn’t sure if we had the best conditions for a flight. When I arrived at Al Jazeera Airfield in RAK I was still motivated to do my flight, not wanting to have driven all the way from Dubai for nothing. I looked out of the window and saw Aurimas pushing a strange looking thing on the airfield, and there was the yellow Gyrocopter looking to me much more like a bumble bee.
A Gyrocopter is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the gyrocopter’s rotor must have air flowing through the rotor disc in order to generate rotation. (Source and more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro)
Although not very convinced of this ‘bee’ thing, I climbed into the small seats. Aurimas spotted my camera straightaway and was concerned about safety – if anything were to hit the propeller it would not be good, even a small stone could destroy it. I didn’t want to imagine the consequences of that happening.
Grateful to Aurimas for this information, I felt much safer straightaway. To ensure my camera was kept safe, Aurimas tied it to the seatbelts even though I was using the straps of the camera. After fixing the camera, Aurimas then connected the headphones and microphone for communication with the pilot while flying, then jumped into the gyro-copter himself. After he started the engine we felt a few drops of rain and the sky was cloudy. Aurimas asked me if I still wanted to fly and assured me the conditions were safe. He explained that we had 10m/s wind speed which whilst grounding all other plains was no problem for the gyro-copter. However, for our comfort he just waited a few more minutes, to see if it was just a few drops or if it would start raining. Luckily the raindrops stopped and we were ready to lift off.
Apart from commercial planes of all sizes, I’ve flown in a helicopter, power parachute and hot air balloon, so I’m not afraid of flying. However, as I mentioned before, this time there was a little uncertainty. Had I pushed Aurimas to fly even though the conditions weren’t good? By now it was too late, the engine grew louder with the increasing RPM and we were soon hopping down the runway. The gyrocopter is very light so you feel every little hump. Aurimas got the all-clear from the tower and we were ready to launch. The gyrocopter accelerated down the short runway and we lifted off. We quickly gained altitude and within seconds reached a height of a couple of hundred metres. The engine noise, the wind in the open carbine and the vibration gave a very pure feeling of flying and connection to the machine. We were heading directly to the beach over the hotel. Slowly my confidence grew in the gyrocopter. The lift which pushed us up in the air was much stronger than I had expected from this ‘bumble bee’. Aurimas asked me if I was alright and whether I was enjoying the experience. I nodded which must have signalled for him to take his flying skills to the next level. After gaining altitude and levelling out at around 500m, he put the bumble bee into a nosedive. The surface of the ocean was approaching us at high-speed until he pulled up and continued the flight along the shore line with only about 25m between us and the sea, until we turned inland and up to higher levels. Aurimas, sitting with the back to me, was unable to see the huge smile on my face. Suddenly my concerns and signs of fear changed into excitement and joy. Aurimas asked me if I wanted to fly further over the desert or if I wanted to return. Of course I wanted more! His next question was if I’d like to flight high or low. Altitude’s great for scenic views but flying low was promising more action and fun. “Let’s go low!”
Aurimas said that he wanted to show me what happens if the engine fails. I suddenly remembered his initial concerns about anything getting into engine’s propeller … and the engine was off!
The noise was gone and so was the forward force. However, instead of dropping down like a stone, which is what would happen to a helicopter, the rotor blades buffered the gravitation through their rotation and we slowly lost altitude without gaining speed. Aurimas pointed out a small sand track and told me that we could land there without use of the engine – no problem. Before touching down he re-started the engine and we gained altitude. He continued showing me different manoeuvres outlining the abilities of the bumble bee. By now I was very convinced about the safety of the gyro-copter and Aurimas’s skills as a pilot. After the technical demonstration it was time to apply the skills of the pilot and the abilities of the gyro-copter. I’ve never played computer games but this must feel like one. Aurimas was flying over the dunes at low altitude following the sand valleys, then over one dune down into the next valley, turning left, turning right, going up and going down. The impressions were like those of a flight simulator and the feeling in my gut like being in a very, very good rollercoaster.
After an amazing flight of 15 minutes we went back to the airport, touched down with a smooth landing, safe and sound. After the flight I had the chance to talk to Aurimas a bit more, which would have been good to do in advance. Aurimas is from Lithuania and as I learned before is a very straightforward talker, coming directly on the point. After he told me about his flight-school in Lithuania and his teaching the pilots here at Al Jazeera Gyrocopter as well as aerobatic flying, I was impressed by both his knowledge and the experience he’d demonstrated during our flight. In the end I’m happy that it went this way… my initial concerns about the flight made the experience more intense than it would have been if Aurimas‘d had my trust from the outset. I’m sorry to take this experience from you but I hope on the other hand that my experience will convince other people to try it themselves and overcome any fears they may have.
The flights are very affordable starting at 300AED and can be booked through Dream Days. Al Jazeera Airfield is in Ras Al Khaima on the EXXXX. I will definitely be back with some friends to show them another great thing to do in the UAE!
Pilots Details:
Name: Aurimas Bezaras
Nationality: Lithuania
Flight experience: 12 years
Qualification: FI(A), ASI & Gyro Instructor
Gyrocopter Info:
Speed: 35-185km/h
HP: 100HP
Max flight time about 4hrs
