Pitcairn PA-18 Autogiro Flies at FoF

[@tandrews1965]

Kermit, just wanted to say thank you so much for posting these videos. Yes you live a life that many of us cannot comprehend because of your family's history. I have heard the skeptics and I say they are just jealous. You don't have to share any of this stuff and you could keep it all private and to yourself, but you are kind enough to take the time to share it with all of us. I used to live close to FOF and came many times to your facility and loved and soaked up every minute of it. I now live in North Carolina and man I wanted to come to your event this weekend, but between flight cost, hotel cost, rental car cost and the event cost it would just be to much. But wanted to say thank you for the videos you put out and thank you for sharing your world with us and the incredible aircraft that most of us would never see in our lifetime if not for you. Bravo Kermit, Bravo!!!

[@flybyairplane3528]

Kermit, I have a model autogyro, for a FOX 35 ENGINE for MANY years ,,never built it, it’s for ‘U’ CONTROL LINES, the last model I built was a P51 WITH MONOCOTE finish, in the 60s also with a FOX 35 ENGINE, flew well. , I never knew that such as yours,that the rotors were powered ! Stay well, CHERIO 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@harrysvarvare9933]

I got on my 60 birthday precent to fly Gyrocopter one houre. The day was warm and sunny day. My pilot asked me if I know anything about aviation, I answerd that I was aircraft technician with 40 years in aviation. He put me to sit in front seat where all controls and instruments were, it had dual comando. I have been flying everything exept this. I had the best flying hour in my life I learnd how easy it was to fly, only thing it was so far away from my home. The machin was a MTO Sport tandemseat.

[@aorakiboydog]

The rotor head looks like a clothes line. Immaculate looking machine, that motor sounds great.

[@steveshoemaker6347]

A brave man once said no.....But Kermit said hell yes l WILL FLY it,so it was.....l really liked the Pictures better cause they show more detail....Thanks Kermit....Blessing my friend and yours....!

[@flyswryan]

Hugo Bauhaus flew one of these all over California in the early 30’s. He towed banners over the ‘32 Olympics in LA. He became distracted in a turn and whacked the banner cable with a rotor blade. He made a precautionary landing on the Olympic grounds and found no damage, so he took off, sans banner, and had someone pick the banner up and take it back to the airport. He also landed in front of San Francisco’s City Hall as part of some celebration. He sure enjoyed flying her.

[@Watson1]

A lot of people have the wrong idea about flying Gyros, they are one of the safest aircraft to fly. The biggest problem you see on KZbin with a gyro crashing is 90% of them is pilot error, the horse them off before it’s ready to fly.. the rotors aren’t ready to give you lift, ( aren’t up to speed) That’s down to two , things. 1 Instructor didn’t teach the student correct technique, rotor speed, 2 getting behind the power curve. I have just over 2,200 hours in gyros and not one of my students ever crashed on takeoff. It makes me mad when you see these gyro that cost $100,000 get trashed from bad piloting, or bad instructions.The machine I learned in only had a draft indicator out of a oven. I flew at 175 whatever. Pineapples, miles knots. But that was back in 1983. Good old days, cheers Wiz

[@elosogonzalez8739]

NOW...... There's another aircraft in your stable I'd love to fly in. What an amazing machine! I saw Steve Pitcairn' at Oshkosh many years ago. So glad at least a few are still gracing the sky.

[@GordonjSmith1]

For some reason I have always been drawn to Autogiros, and this vlog just underlined why! My thanks and lucky you for having one in the collection for you to fly.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

FWIW: When I first saw the Sean Connery BOND film *YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE* on television -- probably back in the 1970s -- I *FELL IN LOVE* with _"Little Nellie"._ I have loved autogyros {gyroplanes} ever since...👍👍

[@myronplichota7965]

I've always loved autogyros, and it's great to see a classic design flown safely.

[@raymondclark1785]

I grew up between North Philly and Boulavard airports, Pitcairn,s were west of us and I remember seeing them fly over us a lot:) Seeing that Connie on the field :) I was a radar operator on the EC-121 version of that.

[@barrygrant2907]

An amazing sounding aircraft. The wires on the rotor blades are something else.

[@remb9614]

So true. It’s amazing all that is whirling above your head and it all stays together…id hate to see what happens if something comes loose.

[@mycroft1905]

What a fantastic, noisy little machine. Always liked the look and concept of Cierva and Pitcairn autogiros.

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

Hearing that Kinner run, pure music. We called it "2 1/2 Harley's"

[@ZacYates]

Oh wow, this is fantastic! There is a sprinkling of Pitcairn footage on KZbin but nothing like this! Thank you Kermit and Phil(mer)! Now, if you could get the Pitcairn and the Avro up together...

[@ronaldjennings8057]

That is so cool Kermit thank you for showing me the plane it is awesome is it more stable than a helicopter or vice versa that is a nice👍👍👍 you look pretty good up there Kermit take care of my friend and God bless🙏 thanks again

[@jacobaubertin645]

I'm really enjoying the latest archival stuff! More please if there is any! Wow.

[@eamo106]

The antithesis of the old mantra 'if it looks right , it will fly'. though I knew you survived, aeronautically I was on the edge of my seat and I still wonder why ! Brave men !

[@edwardpate6128]

I have always been fascinated by auto gyros, great video.

[@stanleyheggs6654]

What a beautiful old machine you guys are really Brave

[@dirtylatte]

OK c'mon. Where else are you going to find a video of a Pitcairn autogiro flyin' around. Beautiful piece of history from the golden age of flight. Thanks Kermit, and everyone that keeps these things flying for us mere mortals to enjoy!👍😎

[@SmokeFlame1]

Incredible flying machine and a great piece of history.

[@tenlittleindians]

I love the old black and white film news reels that's showed these flying back when they were new. There's some footage of one flying backwards in a head wind and doing almost vertical takeoffs and landings.

[@z_actual]

they could spot land pretty easy, the glide is about 4:1, full back stick flare at 10ft and land on the back wheel and she rotates down herself

[@fw1421]

Kermit sure does have some great toys.

[@fpvoslo]

Thats a really slowmoving aircraft :) So beautyful Thanks for sharing Yf....

[@DARANGULAFILM]

An audiovisual delight. My late mother described seeing autogyros flying over Riverstone in then rural New South wales as a youngster. I didn't have a clue what they were until later in life.

[@vehdynam]

Thank you for that , most interesting. That is some pretty good technology for 1932. Please the videos coming .

[@artd.]

Amazing! great video, and a beautiful aircraft. Probably the only Auto-gyro that I would get in. Great video Mr. Kermit.........:-)

[@russellfreeman9074]

Lets see more! Give us a walk around! You know us aviation nuts like the details :)

[@derekblake9385]

I can’t believe that thing flies from looking at it, but it’s amazing

[@apostlestumpy]

What a brilliant and unique sound she has! Great stuff👍

[@davelewandoski4292]

great video, thanks for sharing Kermit!

[@bigun447]

Great historic video. Looking forward to up-to-date mechanics corner vids.

[@marcuszekezechini9029]

Beautiful !! Thanks again, Andrew!

[@robh4671]

I heard some time ago a couple of this aircraft types were used during the battle of Britain, as observation aircraft,very interesting video here Sir Kermit.

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

I had to watch this. I've always been intrigued by the autogiro since first seeing one in the Alfred Hitchcock film, "The Thirty-Nine Steps" way back in the mid 20th century.

[@scottcol23]

I have always been intrigued by them too. I remember seeing an autogiro as a child in the movie "The new Adventures of Pippi Longstockings" (1988) Where there was a character that flew one. It was a Pitcairn PCA-2

[@z_actual]

thats the 1935 version of the 39 Steps, its on you tube

[@imbok]

There isn't anything much cooler than a flying autogyro. Harold Pitcairn and Juan de la Cierva would be proud to know that their machines are still flying. While the helicopter superseded the autogyro as a practical aircraft, you can't beat the 'gee-whiz' factor of an original autogyro.

[@pbyfr]

Beautiful flying machine! I finished earlier this year a mode kit of the similar PCA-2 (after more than 20 years hiatus). The old Cierva/Pictairn autogiro are very nice. The "nothing fell off" sentence is quite true, I saw it on modern autogiros.

[@markdraskovics1962]

HEY, MR. KERMIT WEEKS Well I love And Enjoy any kind of flying As long as there's wind Under my wings and the blades are turning Got to love the gyrocopter it's awesome wish I had a chance to fly in one but never have I've been in A few different kinds of Aircraft and a helicopter but never a Gyrocopterc I guess I'll have to fly in one by watching this video OK Take care stay safe God bless and will see you on the next awesome adventure

[@davidhewson8605]

Whirlygigs !. Thanks guys. Dave

[@Doc.Holiday]

Remarkable that any one individual can master so many airframes!!!

[@guidor.4161]

Much simpler and more elegant than a helo...

[@DymondzTrucking1962]

That is very cool Kermit. I wish you could get the old Connie flying again.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

What a lovely machine, I have never seen one like it, seen a few modern types, but not one like this. I love Autogiros, why they were never more popular is a mystery to me, a lot safer and a lot harder to stall. This type of Autogiro was used in WWII for radar testing in the UK just off the coast, they would go out and try to stay in one position for as long as they could, so radar could get a fix on them and check how well the radar was working. Dangerous work with Germans going around to try to shoot you down if they saw you! They have just got to be the best idea and fun aircraft to fly.

[@Colt45hatchback]

I cant remember which manufacturer they were licenced from, but if i recall the japanese used them in limited numbers for anti submarine warfare from memory

[@z_actual]

@@Colt45hatchback the Japanese used their own version of Kellet KD-1A, generally inline engines theres a nice video of a closed cockpit KD-1B radial engined on YT that shows it configured as a mailplane, taking off from the roof of a 10 storey building ''The First Air Mail Flight from the roof of the Post Office @ 30th Street in Phila PA to Camden NJ''

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@Colt45hatchback Ideal for the job, interesting.

[@abidfarooqui-sla3301]

Not "harder to stall". Impossible to stall.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@abidfarooqui-sla3301 Not impossible, there was an accident in the UK when one stalled.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Kermit my dad had sport aviation from about 67 to 75. I got bit by the bug in the 90's. I read about you alpt in those mags and the air trails mags too

[@shortribslongbow5312]

To cool!!! Great plane nice flight. :o)

[@benhudman7911]

Great piece of history!!

[@z_actual]

with the conning angle on the rotor its like the flying shuttlecock

[@NSResponder]

I understand how it works, but it still amazes me that anyone was able to dream it up.

[@davidhewson8605]

Up , up and away in my noisy , clattery , uncomfortable Autogiro. Am 72 and love giros . Kermit would be a great name for this red flapjack . Who restored this beatifull Pitcairn ? . ❤ Many thanks guys . Dave

[@SteamerEdge]

Wow, a fantastic looking aircraft, really interesting , and flies so well, thanks

[@jmanhuntley]

What a lovely old Bird. Love it!

[@rubensandri740]

Congratulations

[@stranraerwal]

what an impressive little beast...

[@tommycoad7410]

Wow what an amazing aircraft!

[@stevegallagher687]

Even though I live in New Jersey I never got to see the Pitcarin collection. A big regret. Juan DaLa Cireva would be proud.

[@Mercmad]

years ago i had a collection of magazines called " Boys Own Papers" which had been published weekly in the 1920's. There was a serial about criminals who were able to evade the law by flying an Auto gyro. The illustrations for the serial featured very similar aircraft. But until now i had only even seem little home made gyro copters flying here.

[@iplaymytele]

I Love Sky Tractors….! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️

[@P61guy61]

Awesome. Thank you for posting!

[@johnjones4825]

OK Kermit, looking very satisfied with yourself, and rightly so. Now we need a short video of you telling us plebs about the differences and challenges of flying that thing! Not too long now, hear?

[@CraigLYoung]

Thanks for sharing 👍

[@montanasnowman3138]

Wow what a crazy machine

[@abidfarooqui-sla3301]

Very nice. I would love to see this in person since we are one of the few gyroplane manufacturers in the US based right here at Zephyrhills, FL. It would be so nice to see this aircraft

[@jacobwaters5845]

Hey, I got to work with this aircraft when it was in Urbana, Oh

[@johndavey72]

Thanks Kermit .

[@josephmarciano4761]

Love these videos. As a pilot and big fan of Kermit--Keep 'em coming! With great respect, a suggestion: Repeatedly turning the screen black to add 1-2 sentences of commentary, switching back to the video, and then turning the screen black again for another 1-2 sentences of explanation is how they made High School documentary films in the 1960s. It's kinda distracting to be staring a black screen. Please consider a voice-over, or running the textual commentary at the bottom of the screen.

[@markfrench8892]

Pure nostalgia. ❤️

[@xfirehurican]

Excellent! (A couple of GoPro cams would've been mounted if it was my first flight!)

[@KermitWeeks444]

There were no GoPros when this happened.

[@kbjerke]

Beautiful, odd old bird! I'm guessing there's no "lead and lag" on those rotor blades, since they're all tied together with wire rope!!! Scary! But, I suppose it worked. Nothing fell off. LOL Thanks for the video, Kermit!

[@machia0705]

No controls in the front cockpit. I’d pass on that one! Looks like a lot of fun to fly.

[@josephferdinandsilvacroske5464]

Precioso autogiro, es el modelo de Juan de la Cierva?

[@bernardc2553]

I was In position & boom there you were Kermit!

[@johnbartlet6669]

When is Paul's next video? It's always great to see what he's working on. That autogyro looks like a lot of fun to fly. Slow can be fun too :^)

[@KermitWeeks444]

Bf-108 update cming soon.

[@mantatrip9319]

@@KermitWeeks444 Mister, you are right guy on YT to record every video with 360 camera. Later, it is easy for you to edit for 2d, or sometimes upload full 360 video.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@@KermitWeeks444 >>> It is mentioned in the video the front 'seat' of this PITCAIRN does not have any controls. Was that _standatd_ on these autogyros, or was this airframe a special build?

[@stephenpropnut7486]

Now that’s something you don’t see every day!

[@arnhemseptember2009]

Big fun!

[@jhaedtler]

Great Video! Thanks

[@richyrichk]

The "Eagle" has landed.

[@Pauls-World]

That is the most insane gyro that I have ever seen. Thanks for the upload Mr Weeks. Be safe and take care.

[@steveoh7465]

I love the fact that the ending of this video, was a dad joke 😂

[@Watson1]

Forgot to add, I had 3 engine failures, all in two strokes. And just landed like normal. Wiz

[@anandshukla8782]

Great 🌟☀️👍⭐

[@scotabot7826]

Hey, Is that the same Andrew that ferries all the Antique aircraft all over the country? Sure sounds like him. He is also good friends with Dewey Davenport, as seen in Deweys videos. Small aviation world!!

[@Tadrjbs]

OK, way cool. Always liked the Pitcairn autogyros and their variants. Some will almost vertical land...Moses

[@LostCloudx4]

omfg the blades have guy wires.. how in the hell does that fly with such a tiny tail lol.... what a design!

[@Danger-ds7vz]

That is awesome

[@tennriverluver3534]

Cool!!! I want one!!!

[@MARKLOCKWOOD2012]

I thought like a ultra light momentum wind turned the rotor

[@bernardscheidle5679]

An autogyro is a Philly cheese steak, grinder or sub, sold at a Horn and Hardart Automat.

[@russellharris5072]

Scary things with those wires supporting the rotor blades..................................

[@outlawflyer7868]

So I got a few questions. Why are the wing tips bent up? What's the HP? How much fuel can it carry? How far and how high can it fly? How is the rotor engaged and can you show us. You say a cutch so i am thinking there's a clutch pedal down at the floor which I am sure there's not but a kermie later would be great. Been missing those.

[@johneastman1905]

Enjoy that Kermit is the host and recipient of a new experience, but not the big cheese …

[@clovisra]

IIn the thirties, the batplane used to be an autogyro!

[@outdoorfreedom9778]

The full scale seems to fly a bunch better than the RC models?

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

The siightly later flapping link rotor head didn't need the ailerons.

[@esq1422]

i remember the shuttlewoth collection here in the uk had an avro autogiro for many years but because of law they could only taxi it because they were to dangerous. im guessing the us laws are different on them ??

[@KermitWeeks444]

They sold it to Me!

[@esq1422]

@@KermitWeeks444 then i have seen it in real life haha how cool

[@brustar5152]

I have only one question; where does one go to get practical hands on training to effectively understand the nuances of flight controls that would be characteristic of one of these ancient things? Kermit is akin to one of those guys of old who were willing to giv'er-er-a-go with only his ingrained engineering/flight skills.

[@themadhondaguy2090]

There are people that hold type ratings in just about anything you want to learn to fly. So you do research figure out who and where offers instruction in that particular aircraft and you then proceed to pay them large amounts of money.

[@emmettbaker5024]

Man what a unique bird. I get that autorotation works and can be applied, but for the life of me i still cannot wrap my mind around it. Are the controls and effects fairly similar to a standard slow airplane, or does it have its own quirks that set it apart from both airplanes and helicopters?

[@leofriedwald9901]

I'm curious about this too. Is it standard stick n rudder or is there more to it?

[@michaelfraser5723]

Thanks to a willing, and able, gang of retired enthusiasts, who work for no financial reward, usually, nearly always.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

_"SINCE NOTHING FELL OFF, AGAIN..."_ 😄😄😄😄😄

[@hadleymanmusic]

Heck puttin it together is fun too!!!!?