Did you know the epicentre of all things gyrocopter is in York? Well just a few miles west of York city centre you’ll find Rufforth Airfield. And it’s also here you’ll find one of the most renowned gyrocopter training centres in not just the York area but the whole of the UK. It’s a veritable academy of autorotation here.
This Yorkshire operator offers so much more than just great gyrocopter experiences. There’s a showroom where the latest gyrocopter on sale will be on display. And then there’s the museum dedicated to all things gyrocopter (including a collection of traditional gyrocopters) and the small cinema will be showing a number of gyro related segments of films. The hangar has a rather impressive fleet of aircraft too with an example of almost every factory-built type of gyrocopter housed here.
What’s so fun about these gyrocopter experiences is that you’ll get to see all this as part of your day out discovering this thrilling form of sport aviation. Your experience will begin with an introduction to gyrocopters and how they fly along with a tour of the hangar and museum. Having checked out everything landside the moment will come for you to get dressed up in your aviator gear (remember this is open cockpit flying after all!) and get airside to meet your gyrocopter.
You’ll be flying in something like a Rotorsport MTO-Sport or a Magni M16C. Both are industry-leading gyrocopters that can often been seen taking off from Rufforth giving student pilots their first taste of this very special kind of rotorcraft flying. Of course you won’t be riding high in the sky on your own one of the centre’s expert flying instructors will be piloting the gyrocopter.
If you opt for the 30 minute taster flight you’ll stay local but what a local area it is with all of beautiful York to discover from the air. On the 60 minute session you’ll head out to the countryside a bit more. And the creme-de-la-creme is the 90 minute gyrocopter experience that’ll see you take off from Rufforth and head off on a themed flight. That might mean a cruise over the famous dams swooping over the atmospheric Moors whizzing up to Scarborough or flying down to the Humber Bridge.
There are lots of possibilities when you take a flight in gyrocopter from York. And as well as all the fabulous sightseeing you will also be invited to have a go at the controls of gyrocopter. This really is open cockpit gyro flying at its best but if you think you might prefer the closed cockpit version that can be arranged too (with a small supplement payable locally).
