Norman Arrives in Borneo!

We are happy to announce that after an incredible feat of flying, Norman has arrived safely at Kuching. Today’s epic started late last night as Norman with the help of members of the EAA Malaysia Chapter 1090 (Experimental Aircraft Association) sorted out the aircraft and prepared new flight plans ready for today’s flight. It was 01.00 am (all times local Malaysian time) when Norman finally got to bed and he was up again at 06.00am! This allowed him to depart Kuala Lumpur on time and he was escorted in the air for 50 miles by members of the EAAM before he made a landing at Johor Senai Airport for refueling. This took less than an hour and then he was off again, heading out over the South China Sea with a daunting 400 + mile (640+ Km) flight across open water, before reaching the Indonesian eastern side of the island of Borneo. He then proceeded up a river valley to enter the Malaysian part of Borneo and proceeded to descend into Kuching International Airport (WBGG) where he arrived at approximately 18.15 and was met by more members of the EAAM and local aviation enthusiasts.


We cannot thank enough the members of the MEAA for their assistance whilst Norman was in Kuala Lumpur and special thanks go to…

Captain K Siva Rama, a 747 pilot with Malaysian Airlines and main coordinator of the EMAA

Mrs Rani Siva Raman; Honourable Secretary of the EMAA

Mr Lee Chong Yen,

Mr Shafiq Wilson

Mr Ritzerwan



A truly daunting flight has been accomplished once again in Norman’s resolute and inspirational way. I am sure he is already impressing the folks on the ground with his big smile and affability.

We hope you enjoyed watching his progress on Spot Tracker, it was really entertaining.

Norman Prepares for Major Sea Crossing...

Norman is staying in Kuala Lumpur tonight and is being hosted by members of the EAA Malaysia Chapter 1090,. His arrival was spectacular, with a member of the EAA meeting him mid-air about 30 minutes out from the airport and escorting him to the city where they did a few circuits of the Petronas Towers, which was videoed for future publication.


Because of the extra time spent in the air and activities on the ground, Norman was unable to carry on to his next scheduled destination of Tioman Island. This means that he will depart Kuala Lumpur at 08.30 (local time) tomorrow morning and fly to Johor Senai Airport (WMKJ) where he will refuel before carrying on to Kuching Airport (WBGG) in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. This epic flight will also include a sector of flying over open water for 450 nautical miles (518 miles / 833 Km).

The members of the EAA Malaysia Chapter 1090, will be flying in formation with Norman after he departs Kuala Lumpur and will accompany him until he leaves the city airspace and they will be taking photos during this stage of the flight which we hope to be posting in the near future.

The Gyrox Team.

A Great Arrival In a New Country...

After a day’s delay in Hat Yai, Thailand, Norman has arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the 15th new country he has visited so far on his journey. He was met mid-air by members of the EAA Malaysia Chapter 1090,(Experimental Aircraft Association) in some of their aircraft. They were able to escort him over Kuala Lumpur and in formation, circuit the world famous Petronas Towers which hopefully should have made for a great photo shoot.

The Epic Continues...

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.

The Adventure Resumes

The news everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived! Norman and G-YROX have departed Nongprue and are well on their way to Trang, which lies 67 miles (110Km) from the southernmost border of Thailand on the Malay Peninsular. The flight is a straight line journey of approximately 380 miles (613km) of which approximately 201miles (324km) will be over open water. Norman will be flying past his original destination of Samui and continuing inland, crossing the Trang Kao Mountains, famous for their rubber plantations before arriving at Trang regional airport (VTST).
It is expected that after a short stopover in Trang Norman will then continue with a short hop of around 66miles (106km) to Hat Yai International Airport (VTSS), close to the Malaysian border, where he will night stop before continuing on his epic voyage tomorrow.

News Flash...

Norman will restart his attempt to be the first to fly a gyrocopter around the world, departing Thailand on Sunday (1st August 2010) at 7am (local time).

Still a waiting game....

Seven weeks seems a very long time to wait for anything in our high speed internet powered society, it certainly seems a long time when you are waiting for a decision that will resolve the course of action going forward and move us on from the state of inactive limbo I now find myself in Thailand. I still await a decision from our own UK CAA as to whether they will allow the aircraft to be repaired in situ. These decisions are perhaps slow in formulating at the best of times (aircraft repair is not the simplest activity - many factors have to be controlled and procedures followed in order to maintain the integrity and safety of the machine) and these factors can be further subject to review by committee (a good recipe, one might suggest, for perhaps best producing bureaucratic treacle...) this treacle is having a good effect of sticking us firmly to the ground.

In the mean time I discover a bit more of the culture and ways of the Thai people. Pictured is the “Big Budda” statue situated on a prominent hillside overlooking and between Jontiem and Pattaya. Many of the Buddhist places of worship are bedecked in gold and glittering shininess and the many statues are no exception. On visiting a monastery recently I was given 5 tiny pieces of gold leaf (about 1cm squared) held in carefully folded pieces of paper. This gold leaf was to stick on to the 5 Budda statues arranged in a small open room, each statue assuming a different position. You picked a part of each statue that hadn’t much gold covering and stuck your gold on for good luck- the effect was to have a golden patchwork covering the entire statue - though some of the leaf was either peeling off at the edges or not properly applied so it gave each statue a slightly shaggy appearance - a golden “woolly jumper” if you like - the golden fleece wafting gently in the afternoon breeze. This scene of quiet contemplation is very far removed from the hustle and bustle of down town Pattaya - late afternoon sees this vibrancy erupt onto the streets as people, who, whilst having been up and active in early morning (but then lying low during the heat of the middle of the day) regain the streets in a wild assortment of passenger carrying pickup trucks (Baht Buses), big 4x4 jeeps, lorries and cars of all shapes and sizes and sprinkled into the middle of it all, like so much oil meshing and lubricating between the cogs of some mighty ungainly noisy machine is a liberal helping of scooters and motorbikes constantly weaving and dodging through all the cracks in the slow moving traffic.

Braving the middle of this lot will be found the humble mobile shop mounted on an ancient motorbike and sidecar, a duo act where each component wholly relies on the other to maintain a (more or less) upright stance on the roadside. Often groaning under the strain of a wildly optimistically huge amount of stock (ready to sell door to door around the bars during the busy evening period), the driver quite often has to compromise his controlling view of the road for the sake of carrying more wares and makes do with a lesser, more “approximate” driving stance. One where the driving can “sort of” be accomplished with at least a view of “a bit” of the road ahead. As the whole shebang is tootling along at about 10 miles an hour (to save the ineffective lightweight scooter brakes no doubt) it doesn’t seem to matter that the mobile shop becomes a sort of mobile chicane for the other road traffic to negotiate around. You certainly wouldn’t want to run into one however, for just as some slow moving animals fear no predators - a porcupine with its secret quills or a poisonous toad for example - the motorbike shop would be a fearsome quarry to tackle, as it seems most of them are bedecked with either a fully lit barbeque pit or a gas fired rotary kebab spit working at full tilt as they drive along - why not “throw another 4X4 on the barbie” and see what happens!!

Many thanks for everyone’s continuing patience -

“Chok Dee” (Good Luck - Cheers) Norman

Norman gives an update to the Belfast Newsletter

Speaking to the News Letter, Norman recently said that he is waiting for approval from the Civil Aviation Authority, as well as parts to arrive from Germany, before he can start flying again. "Then we need a special pilot over from the UK for test flights to make sure it is all working correctly," he said. Photo below is an arial shot of the approach to Nong Prue Airfield. You can just about see the power lines near the end of the runway with the palm tress to the right and notorious lake to the left. (Ian Gilks - may be used with permission gyroxgoesglobal@gmail.com)

"We are hoping that I should be away in two weeks, and certainly before the end of June." Norman said it would not be impossible to fly in a monsoon - but it will make the task more difficult. "The autogyro is not adverse to that but visibility is the problem," he said. "I would need to avoid thunder storms."

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New interview with Norman

Here is a link to a new interview with Norman which includes video and photos on LoopTV

A waiting game - engine and bodywork repairs progress

Repairing an aircraft, much like flying one, definitely has its high and low points and the past few weeks have seen several. On the positive side we have seen good progress with John checking over the engine and stripping the airframe back ready for repair. Photo below shows the Rotax engine suspended and detached from the autogyro to facilitate repairs. (May be used with permission gyroxgoesglobal@gmail.com)

We have also sourced a local composite repair shop capable of repairing the carbon fibre enclosure (bodywork) to the required standard and as luck would have it this facility is a manufacturing outpost of a German company. In fact the President of the Thai company knows the German AutoGyro company very well. The penny dropped and the connection made when the Thai operations manager saw online the very same enclosure parked on the forecourt of a Saudi Arabian Garage some weeks back! Sometimes it is a very small world! Photo below shows the bodywork arriving at the Thai factory for repair with John (left) and factory staff looking on. (May be used with permission gyroxgoesglobal@gmail.com)

And so we continue our pleasurable incarceration in Thailand for the time being...

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