Norman has landed safely in Corsica

Norman has landed safely (17.00 GMT) in Corsica, the French island close to Italy, because the airport at Elba was closed for maintenance.   He will be there for the night. More later….

Norman’s French progress - Formidable machines and chicken sandwiches

Norman had an interesting arrival in France at Le Touquet. The inspiration for his expedition is having an impact on local people. They have sought him out offering help and hospitality.  Of particular note was Irish Woman and French resident who helped in many ways. You can see her son and her posing below with Gyrox autogyro at Chartres airport.

Because of a strong head wind and the lightness of an autogyro Norman had to land at right angles to the runway.  It seems that the air traffic control staff were speechless at the arrival of Norman’s little yellow machine.   As he arrived in a French pilot was so impressed he exclaimed “machine formidable!”

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Norman live on the BBC World Service tonight

Breaking news - Norman will be live tonight on the BBC World Service radio programme News Hour at 21.50 (GMT) check times in your area of the world.

Norman expected at Toulon-Hyres later today

Norman landed safely at Toulon-Hyres, France on the Mediterranean coast at 17.40 (GMT).  He has been flying along the Mediterranean coast since 14.40 (GMT) where it was partially cloudy and a nice 17c. 
More later....

Norman is in Beziers - 18.00 GMT

Norman has diverted to Carcassonne, France because the weather was not the best. He was supposed to land in Beziers tonight.

Norman landed in France safely

Latest - 26th March 2010 - Norman landed in at Le Touquet, France (photo below). He is then flew on to Chartres where he will be for the night.

For photos of his trip across Kent, England on the way to France click here . 


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Norman prepares for France / notes on trip to SE England

Norman is in Kent, England now preparing to fly to France leaving at approx. 10.30 am (GMT). He will be heading across the English channel via the White Cliffs of Dover. The day looks good as viability is about 10 miles (17 kilometers) with broken cloud at about 2,000 feet (600 meters). There is a slight head wind so he is expected to reach Le Touquet Airport at about 1PM (CET). He will be flying in formation down to the English coastline with four other autogyros - a nice sight if anyone can catch it. (Photo belwo of Norman preparing to leave Long Mynd, Shropshire, England)

He had an interesting flight down from our technical base RotorSport UK Ltd in Shropshire, England yesterday afternoon as it was "quite murky" with light rain. Not the best weather for autogyro flying.  He flew over his sisters house south of Luton near London, who had a visible good luck message mark out in her garden. A nice personal touch!


He was jointed by by fellow autogyro pilot John Butler and both escaped the heavy rain by the skin of their teeth. As they landed in Kent a sudden squall blew up and they struggled to get their autogyros under cover. But as quickly as it came the rain departed in 10 minutes.


For more information check out our website  http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/  If you want to give us feedback, comment or contribute in any way use the comment box below or become a Facebook friend

France here we come!

Some people have asked why Norman and Gyrox is still in the UK. We have a technical base RotorSport UK Ltd in Shropshire where the autogyro was getting some final technical adjustments because  of the extraordinary demands of the journey.  This was already planned for.

Norman and Gyrox are now heading for Kent for an overnight. On Friday March 26th it will be flying across the White Cliffs of Dover accompanied by another autogyro acting as camera platform.  

Then to France where it is expected in Le Touquet airport on Friday (depending on weather conditions) then three other stops. The stop offs in Sarlat Domme and Béziers-Vias Saturday and finally Toulon-Hyères airport Sunday before heading down across Italy on Monday.

To get an insight to what lies ahead for Norman the photo above was taken of him flying over France last year. 


For more information check out our website  http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/  If you want to give us feedback, comment or contribute in any way use the comment box below or become a Facebook friend,

Norman drops in before flying off!

Norman Surplus got of to a flying start today in his attempt to go around the globe in an autogyro. He dropped into Larne, N. Ireland, his starting point on his global adventure, where he was enthusiastically greeted by hundreds of local people and school children.

According to the Irish Times He arrived with the cheers of hundreds of well-wishers behind him. After high-fives with many banner-waving youngsters, Mr Surplus said emotional goodbyes to his wife Celia and young children Felix and Petra before climbing on board. (Richard McMeekin) Irish Times 23 March 2010  

Norman is now at RotorSport UK Ltd in Shropshire, England where he is getting final adjustments to the autogyro completed.  He will then fly to the south east of the UK to Kent before departing on the next leg of the journey to France in Friday.

Temporary problem with SPOT tracking 

Remember you can track him across the globe with SPOT at the moment it inaccurately has him in the North West of England.  This will be re-set and will reflect his actual position later today.  

For more information check out website  http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/  If you want to give us feedback, comment or contribute in any way use the comment box below or become a Facebook friend.

Autogyro global circumnavigation website live

The website, which is the single source of all information about Norman Surplus's record attempt autogyro flight around the world, is now live.  It has links to: 

• Video
• Photos
• Podcasts / audio 
• Lots of background information

Here is the link http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/