Autogyro gyroplane or gyrocopters in Essex – whatever you call these funky little aircraft they are great fun to fly! These flight experiences take off from historic North Weald Airfield (an important fighter base during the Battle of Britain) and give you a wonderful bird’s eye view of the London east area.
Just by the main M11/M25 junction North Weald is a great place to take a gyrocopter lesson. As you soar over the Essex countryside the London City skyline is never far away and it’s totally amazing to be able to look down and see the traffic snaking along the motorways the greenery of Epping Forest and the lakes of Lee Valley Park as you fly.
But these gyrocopter flights out of this Essex base aren’t just about sightseeing they’re about airmanship too! Chief instructor Owen Brooking will be getting you airborne in an open-cockpit gyro and making sure you have plenty of time to have a go at the controls too.
And in case you’re wondering what it’s like in a gyroplane they are actually really stable. There are no wings to cause that bumpy turbulence as the rotor blades simply slice through the air. You can also hover over the Essex countryside in a gyrocopter but you can’t do vertical take offs and landings as you can’t increase in height whilst hovering. Having said that you only need a tiny airstrip to take off and land one of these things making them super agile.
Once you’re airborne out of North Weald your cruising altitude will be about 800ft which is lower than helicopters and fixed wing planes. This means you can literally see everything that’s going on below which is utterly fascinating and mesmerising. And as the aerodrome is in the heart of Essex right next to the M11 there is so much going on around you.
We could say flying in a gyrocopter at Essex’s North Weald Airfield is a hidden gem of an activity but now we’ve told you all about it! There’s plenty of opportunity to take a lesson though as the school operates flights (subject to the weather) all through the year. Isn’t it time you joined the gyrocopter revolution and booked a flight?
