Low and Slow in the Sky: Flying Gyros Over Florida | Florida Adventures on the Water

Gretchen and Randy leave the dock and take Florida Adventures on the Water up in the air — flying gyros. Gretchen explains how a gyroplane actually flies: the big rotor on top is not powered by the engine, it spins on its own from the air moving up through it — autorotation — while the engine drives a propeller that pushes the machine forward. No hovering like a helicopter, but a gyro can fly very, very slow, and land in a space about as long as a boat slip. Then the view: the Indian River Lagoon, the Intracoastal, the canals, sandbars and grass flats read like a map from a few hundred feet up — channels you have run a hundred times suddenly make sense, and you spot dolphins, rays and birds differently. The sky teaches you the water, and the water teaches you the sky. And Bensen Days: the big gyroplane fly-in at Wauchula Municipal Airport in central Florida, running since 1973 — one of the oldest fly-ins in the world. Named for Igor Bensen (spelled with an E — yes, Gretchen spelled it wrong for years too), it is camping on the field, machines trailered and flown in, and the friendliest small crowd in aviation. It ran its 52nd year recently. From here on, gyros are part of this show, right alongside the manatees, the canals and the inlets. Low and slow, on the water and in the sky. Photos: real photos — a modern gyroplane in flight, a rotor and engine close-up, a classic open gyro above the clouds, the Indian River Lagoon, the Intracoastal, a Florida manatee, a gyro on the grass at a fly-in, Igor Bensen in his machine, a vintage Pitcairn autogiro, two more gyros, and a Florida sunset. Florida Adventures on the Water is a series from Gretchen on the go.