Norman is in Crete today Saturday and will be flying to Alexandria, Egypt Monday (5 April 2010). Some people have asked questions about flying an autogyro over water and the related issues. I have rationalised the water flying in a number of ways - yesterdays flight for example was a straight run from Kithera Island to Sitia in Crete. I looked at the route and considered (as anyone would, the overland route down the whole length of Crete) however on the day, the seabreeze(!) was a good 20-25knt tailwind (I am happy to report!) it mean't I was achieving 126mph at times for an IAS of 90-95 mph.
Over the sea, this air was stable and smooth - only the white wave caps below gave an indication of the wind strength - Force 4-5 (and the Groundspeed on the GPS of course!) - the same wind conditions over the undulating landmass of Crete would have been a far bumpier prospect with wind rotor over the backs of hills and general turbulence mixed in with a good dose of thermals from the hot afternoon surfaces.
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