Following his 8am departure from Nongprue this morning Norman has really given G-YROX a thorough workout. After flying across open sea for over 200 miles (330+km) and crossing jungle and mountains in the central Malay Peninsular, Norman arrived at Trang airport where he had a short break before heading off again for a 70 mile (110km) hop to Hat Yai International Airport, close to the Malaysian Border. Here he will stop overnight before continuing tomorrow to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Norman arrived at Hat Yai at approx 16.30 local time after a journey lasting approximately 8 and a half hours (including the break at Trang which covered approximately 520 miles (836km). A truly epic first day for our intrepid flyer in his amazing flying machine.
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Glad to see you're off again, here's to a safe continuation of the epic journey and no more mishaps.
ReplyDeleteIt has been great to know that you are on your way again, Norman. Congratulations on your first days flight and good luck for all your following flights.
ReplyDeleteReally happy and pleased to see that your first resumed flight has gone so well and you have landed safely at Hat Yai.
ReplyDeleteNow you can enjoy a well earned rest...sleep well.
Well done Norman.
ReplyDeleteThe description of the flight given above seems somewhat exaggerated if my view of the track on SPOT is to be believed. A much shorter sea crossing and skirting the mountains to the west.
What is the revised ETA in the UK? Mid October I would guess.
Cheers
Frank Shaw
What a great day for you yesterday! Norman, the kids and I are pleased as punch that you're back in the old saddle again! (Isn't there a song about that??) :-) You must have the patience of Job by now after all your trials and tribulations! We'll be following your progress eagerly and wishing you well every step of the way!
ReplyDeleteBarbs xx
congratulations on your first days flight norman. good luck for the rest of your journey. STEPHEN .LARNE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been up in a Gyro Frank? Pretty amazing journey I'd say! Not one for the faint of heart!
ReplyDeleteWell almost 300 miles in a gyro seems pretty epic to me! Have you actually seen the gyro Mr Shaw? It isn't exactly fitted out with home comforts - and as we all know anything unexpected can happen at any time which makes the journey all the more daring - and dare I say 'epic'!
ReplyDeleteMr Shaw, I find it hard to believe that you didn't find todays flight as amazing as everyone else did. The distance covered over water is not an exaggeration. Norman does like to fly a little out to sea when flying down a coast as this is where he gets calmer air. Yes, he did go inland to skirt the mountains but did have high ground to negotiate. If you add onto this scenario that this was the first long distance flight since April and in a rebuilt machine, I would certainly call it an epic.
ReplyDeleteYour inevitable nit-picking does not help Norman in his journey and can possibly be seen as damaging.
Norman's ETA for his return to Larne is still being calculated. As everyone can imagine, a whole new set of flight plans and permissions have to be cleared before we can judge how long it will take. But as soon as we know we will be posting that information.
ReplyDeleteThe Gyrox Goes Global Team
Terrific first day's flying Norman. Seems like the Autogyro didn't misbehave on the two sectors, thankfully. It won't be to long before you pass the point where you are no longer flying away from home but are flying to it ! Your family must be very proud of you just as much as everybody following the record attempt surely are. Fly on and fly safe Norman.
ReplyDeleteWho said I did not find today's flight amazing. My post started "Well done Norman"
ReplyDeleteFLYING IN AUTOGYRO
No I have never flown in an autogyro. I did get a flight in a Tiger Moth many years ago - fantastic. I am not unfamiliar with autogyros as I have in the past done autogyro maintenance work for Wg Cdr Ken Wallis. Ken is based at Reymerston Hall close to Dereham, Norfolk where I live.
I visit Beccles airfield in Suffolk quite often. A guy there has the same, or simiiar, model as Norman (G-JBRE) He has not offered a ride but I would accept.
My gripe is not against Norman but this blog. Who makes the posts that say "Posted by Norman Surplus the pilot" Is it Norman or someone else. Why not tell us your name? Is it the ever present Eddie Gold? Why so much secrecy about what happened in Thailand? Allcock and Brown would have been all over the internet if they could have been.
HOW CAN MY NIT PICKING AFFECT THE FLIGHT?
Cheers
Mr Frank Shaw
Mr Shaw, I can safely say that there is no secrecy about what happened in Thailand. Norman himself posted a description of the incident as well as recounting it to a number of radio/podcasts, all of which are available on the website.
ReplyDeletePosts here are submitted by either Norman himself, when he can get a chance, or by members of the Gyrox goes Global support team. The fact that it shows up as 'posted by pilot' is just a default mechanism in the site.
It has been made quite clear that posts are generally made on behalf of Norman unless otherwise stated. Because of the many volunteers in the support team we have a policy of remaining anonymous so as to keep the centre of attention Norman himself.
I am sure you have a keen interest in aviation and we know Mr Ken Wallis is an extraordinary autogyro pilot and gentleman and therefore I hope you can understand the massive undertaking Norman is doing and the intracies involved in keeping that undertaking going. The blog and other social networking sites are just a small but integral part of the whole venture but they rely on volunteers who give of their time freely to do a difficult job in trying to inform, entertain and keep the interest in Norman's journey alive.
The Gyrox Goes Global Team
...like a mule wearing blinders, ignore the distractions and keep plowing the field.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Norman on reviving the
adventure.
As the partner of 'the ever present Eddie Gold' I can say that his enthusiasm for aviation goes back many years and when he read of Norman's attempt to be the first person to fly around the world in a gyro and that part of his journey would take him through Egypt (where we are living at the moment) he was extremely interested. Along with other aviation enthusiasts he was able to help Norman when he landed at October 6th airport near Cairo. Norman stayed with us for 3 days when he was unable to take off for Aswan the same day. He got to know Norman quite well during this time and consequently has been one of his biggest supporters, even during the quiet times. Eddie, along with a small group of fans was instrumental in keeping Norman's Facebook page alive because they were keen to make sure that Norman's quest was kept in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteI do hope this goes some way to explaining why Eddie is ever present!
You are truly displaying the spirit that will conquer, Norman. We are all sighing a breath of relief - may the rest of your epic journey go safely and well.
ReplyDeleteMr. Shaw, my cousin's adventure is utterly remarkable to say the least. I'm not sure how you could have a beef against the blog (none of us have been privy to any more information than you have, despite our -- or should I say mostly Eddie's -- efforts to keep interest in the project alive) but we would all hope that Norman receives the most positive support from those following his quest. I would imagine that the flight plans and all courses of action have been worked out meticulously for specific reasons that none of us, except for the Gyrox team, should be privy to. I feel it just isn't our place to comment upon those types of matters as it may very well affect Norman negatively. I want my lovely cousin to be successful on this voyage and return safely home to his family as I'm sure you do. I'm sorry if you took offense.
ReplyDeleteIn my defence Mr Shaw, my aviation credentials go back to the 1960's and I worked as an aircraft maintenance engineer at Keenair, Liverpool. Always a keen aviation enthusiast and photographer I have flown a number of different types of aircraft including gliders and microlights. I am a co-founder of the only aviation enthusiast group in Egypt and because of this offered our services to Norman as we knew he was flying through Egypt, a place not renowned for helping GA flyers. We did our job succesfully, got to know Norman very well and I am sure he was very gratefull. Why do I seem to be always present? Well that's easy, I was inspired by Norman and his quest (I have recntly recovered from heart surgery) and promised myself that I would help this man and his venture in any way I could. The main way I could help that was visible to everyone was to have a positive and informative presence on the facebook site and here on the blog. I do know some of the support team because of there kind words to me in thanks for the help I have given, but I am no more an official member of the team as you are. My presence is because of my admiration for a man doing a difficult job to complete his dream and I think I can be forgiven if I might decry any comment that trivialises the enormity of what Norman is doing. I did see that you congratulated Norman on his flight but then you went on to lessen the achievemnet by finding faults in what had been posted. Surely on such an uplifting day in the history of this adventure, an uplifting description of his flight is a better way to go than to find fault. I see that the Gyrox team have given their answers to your other questions and I hope that you except my reply as not being against you in anyway but against any negativity toward what is an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteWell done Bo. So pleased you are back on your journey again. We think about you often. Good luck with the rest of the trip. Speak soon.
ReplyDeleteThe Surplus Clan in Manchester
WTG Norman, a great epic journey today, fantastic for a first day back. I hope that everyday will be like today, another day closer to your goal and another day closer to your family back in Larne, I'm sure they are so proud of you Norman, like we all are too, keep up the good work and keep those posts coming in, we can't get enough of them on this blog.
ReplyDeleteTo all those real fans out there, who have been following Norman since the beginning of this amazing human adventure and to those who have been touched by him in some way or another, I say lets concentrate on sending our positive thoughts Normans way, lets not waste time on answering negative posts. It's unfortunate that this has happened today of all days but how and ever, there will always be somebody out there who has to have a moan,
if one has nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all.
Thanks Eddie for sharing your knowledge with us on FB, you are a real mine of information, I really enjoy your posts every day.
On that note Good Luck tomorrow Norman, keep her lit.
J. Colou
Hi Norman, great to see you have overcome the substantial obstacles strewn in your path over the last three months. The B9 crew are estatic at your resumption of this epic journey.
ReplyDeleteAll the very, very best from all major & minor B9ers!
Great to see you back on your adventure hope everything goes well now and you have a safe flight back.I had hope to see you fly back into Larne from Browns Bay but I'm guessing the caravan seasion will have finished then.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck and be safe.
This is the best news I could get today. God go with you on this magnificent journey ...
ReplyDeleteMilton Fantucci - Cascavel - Brasil
Norman I was so excited to read you have resumed your flight. All the best in the pursuit of your dreams and record setting attempt. Best wishes and have a safe journey!
ReplyDeleteJim Cook - Vancouver, Canada
From a fellow Irishman, I'm looking forward to the day we'll cheer as Norman makes his final approach into Larne. Good luck & stay safe.
ReplyDeleteHey Norman - good to see that you are back in the air and making good progress again. You'll probably not be back in time for the Biarritz trip - but you know we'll be thinking about you and of course we'll have a beer or too for you there. Cheers mate. Safe onward journey and godspeed. Junty
ReplyDeleteReally wonderful to see that you are up and running again Norman! Awesome flight and we hope to see you in British Columbia, Canada in the not too distant future! As far as any un-needed negative comments go...I say ignore them and keep to the positive vibes! Cheers, and safe flying, Randy Findlay, Burnaby B.C.
ReplyDeleteThis is just Boys Own stuff, brilliant, inspiring for all in the Gyro community. Safe onward journey.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Brilliant news and a good feeling to see Norman back in the air. We're cheering you on, Norman! Fly safe.
ReplyDeleteHello Norman
ReplyDeleteGreat news to hear that you are on your epic journey again. Fly safe and keep us posted!
Peter Krysiak (fellow MT-03 pilot)
Manchester,UK