Gyro Idiot!

[LarryEWaiex121]

I hope I'm not the only one offended by the idiot in the gyro that choose this method to protest his dissatisfaction with the gov't?
I go out of my way to at least make a serious effort to abide by the rule or at least the "spirit" of the rule when flying.
Why someone would elect to fly their gyro onto the Capital yard just to protest their displeasure with Congress is mystifying to me.
I certainly hope in this time of great hope for the modification to the 3rd class medical rules, this incident doesn't throw up red flags
at DOT and FAA. These incidents are likely to come up now and then no matter how many rules or screening is in place. Personally, I hope they throw the book at him.
Most individuals with fervent opinions have their moments of insanity but, most of us manage to get it all together before doing something that injures a sport/hobby that so many of us enjoy responsibly.
Honestly, for me this is much like some idiot plowing into the local Subway sandwich shop in his Grand Cherokee and the crowd rising up and demanding Jeep dealers quit selling Grand Cherokee's because they injure people and property. I'm not suggesting this is anything more than an isolated incident but it does paint a pretty ugly picture of our sport.
Lets hope for all of General Aviation in this country, stupid doesn't become infectious. We already have enough rules to abide by.

Larry
Waiex 121

[fastj22]

Remember when the nut job flew his Cherokee into the IRS building in Texas to protest his treatment?

[MichaelFarley56]

I couldn't agree more Larry. I'm certainly not holding my breath, but I keep hoping that the Pilot Bill of Rights 2.0 has at least a chance of passing into law (assuming our "wonderful" POTUS doesn't veto it) and stuff like this idiot landing his gyrocopter on the Capital Building lawn doesn't help our case. There are so may pilots out there (not as many as before but still) trying every day to do the right thing, follow regs, be safe and then something like this happens. Like you said, hopefully they throw the book at him and then everything is forgotten quickly.

[vigilant104]

I'm not sure the FAA would need to fine or imprison him for long--just hold him for a few months, publish his picture, make it known he was being released at the grandstands during Airventure. The crowd of aviators there would do an effective job of "communicating" with this nut job.

[Courage1st]

In 10 years he will be working with the FAA talking at FAAST/WINGS on flying the SFRA. :)

[fastj22]

Turns out he didn't have a pilot's license and the gyro was unregistered. That's a felony I guess. Flying in restricted airspace, not so much.

[radfordc]

Turns out he didn't have a pilot's license and the gyro was unregistered. That's a felony I guess. Flying in restricted airspace, not so much.

It it proven that the gyro wasn't an ultralight?

[LarryEWaiex121]

Kind of a moot point really. The guy is still an idiot and what he did was a black eye to every self respecting pilot whether licensed or ultralight.
Personally, I could care less if he is violated by the FAA or doesn't have anything to take away. I would be willing to purchase new rope.
Well that might be a bit drastic.
My frustration is with people who blatantly don't give a damn about their fellow man. They make it all about them and they use or trash anything in the way of "their" cause.
Obviously, $220 worth of postage was more than he could afford, so landing on the lawn of the Capital Building seemed a better plan?
Go figure.

[fastj22]

Turns out he didn't have a pilot's license and the gyro was unregistered. That's a felony I guess. Flying in restricted airspace, not so much.

It it proven that the gyro wasn't an ultralight?

I read it weighed 330lbs and carried 10 gallons of gas. That would not make it Part 103. He flew from Gettysburg PA in about an hour.

Its just interesting that the most severe charge he faces is an unregistered autogyro.

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
Just watching GMA , Good Morning America, George Stephanopouls just interviewed the gyro idiot Doug Hughes around 7am. Mr Hughes is not the brightest bulb in the box. I hope his stunt does not have some fallout. Same for the drone crash into the White House lawn , alledegedly at 3 am and had been drinking. Seems to be there is no personal responsibility in today's society. We are finishing up our 40 hr test phase 1 period in our waiex. Some personal obeservations, we like using a 6 inch tailwheel vs a 4 in, seems to ride much better, a lot less banging and noise coming up the fuselage. We like our rotec TBI , remember when priming , open up the throttle to expose the spray bar , prime 3-5 seconds. Run the jabiriu a little less than full on the oil level, otherwise higher oil temps and will blow out the breather. We installed some gear leg stiffeners, wood, from flyboyaccessories.com . Helps to keep the gear legs stiffer and less wheel pant shaking. We used drilled head cap screws and safety wired on the screws that hold the pants to the backing plate on the hyd brake kit. The simple vans little vents aluminum work well , we also put vents in the lexan windscreen. The fuel vent line we redid , using a steel brake line routed to the bottom of plane. We were concerned about fuel vent spray on the lexan windscreen. Keep building, fly safe, watch your fuel and the weather.

WaiexN143NM
Michael RADTKE
Jab330
Dynon glass, back up steam guages
Rotec TBI