Ever since the inception of the Mid-Michigan Gyro Fly-in, a joint effort of Chapters 63, 70, and 77, we have played the weather lottery. We have tried late August and even early September, all to no avail. We have never been totally weathered-out, but we have come pretty close. This years event, hosted for the second year in a row by Chapter 63 at Maple Grove airport north of Fowlerville, Michigan, was scheduled for August 8th in yet another attempt to catch the weather gods off-balance. It was an exercise in futility, as Saturday dawned with overcast skies, a strong wind from the south, and a forecast for intermittent rain! Trusting, I suppose, in our "never quite weathered-out" track record, gyronauts from one side of the state to the other loaded their trailers and hit the road for Fowlerville.

A few of us even took to the air. Merv Read, Chapter 63's President, flew his 532 Air Command in from Livingston County airport in Howell, about 10 miles. Merv always flies in and I am not even sure he owns a trailer! Over in Mason, about 27 miles from Maple Grove, Don Chubb and I were calculating our options as the morning gradually ticked off toward the 12 Noon starting time. We had a trailer, but it was badly in need of some repairs which, with our usual flawless timing, we hadn't made! We had only two choices - fly the Gyrobee over or arrive by car with no flying machine! By decision-time at 11:00 AM, the sky was actually quite a bit brighter and conditions were certainly VFR so it seemed worth the effort to see what conditions were like aloft. I had an uneventful takeoff (the best kind!) with our new electric model engine prerotator, despite the strong cross-wind. The air, while a little bumpy, was well within limits, so I headed off to the ENE to try and find Fowlerville, leaving Don to pack up our gear and lock up the hangar. Visibility up ahead was really pretty crummy, so I went ultralight IFR (I Follow Roads), hooking up with I96 to the NE and following the highway until I spotted the Fowlerville water tower up ahead. At that point I diverted to the north where I was successful in spotting the airport. The entire 27 mile flight took 35 minutes and used up slightly less than half our allotted 5 gallons of fuel.

The 1998 Mid-Michigan Gyro Fly-in flight line. Working from the foreground back (right to left), there was Sid Moseler's 503 Air Command, Merv Read's 532 Air Command, Steve Lathrop's Subaru-powered Bensen, Thurman Barrett's custon enclosed-Bensen, and Don Chubb and Ralph Taggart's Gyrobee.

Considering the weather forecast, there was a nice crowd that included the Michigan regulars and even a few out-of-state visitors. We had five flying gyros on the flight line, with Steve Lathrop's Subaru-powered Bensen, Sid Moseler's 503 Air Command, and Thurman Barrett's tried-and-true Bensen with its unique enclosure and vintage overhead stick, as well as Merv Read's Air Command and our Gyrobee. In addition, there was at least one other Bensen that stayed on its trailer. Usually, flying doesn't start until after the lunch-time feed, but this time everyone started early, not knowing what the afternoon would bring. Thurman Barrett (Chapter 77) had been saddled with some health problems but was now back in business, boring holes through the sky, just like the "younger" crowd!

Steve Lathrop's direct-drive Subaru (E81) Bensen is a strong flyer that puts on a good demonstration.

Just as lunch got underway, a few raindrops started to fall, sending everyone scrambling for tarps and plastic bags. Fortunately it was a false alarm and real rain held off for the entire afternoon. Lunch was fully up to past standards, with Chapter 63 providing the burgers and franks. Everyone brought a dish to pass so the real decisions involved the problem of what, exactly, to load onto your plate!

Michigan PRA'ers take a break from flying to enjoy great food and good conversation.

Maple Grove is the normal site for the Chapter 63 meetings and Dennis Bowdein, the airport manager (and a helicopter CFI) provided a safety update and interacted with all the pilots in a friendly and professional manner. Flying continued into the early afternoon and Don demonstrated the electric model engine prerotator to help answer all the questions generated by the strange collection of hardware on the Gyrobee's hub bar.

By 2:30 or so the wind was picking up and it was hard to predict what the weather would do. Playing it safe, Don took the Gyrobee up and headed home, requiring almost 45 minutes and just over half a tank of fuel quartering against the freshening wind. When things finally broke up by late afternoon, there had been plenty of flying for both pilots and spectators and lots of opportunity to get caught up on what was happening in neighboring chapters. Thanks were due to the pilots who brought their machines some considerable distance and the many family members and friends who are essential to any successful fly-in. An unpredicted break in the weather was thoroughly appreciated by all and the Michigan gyro fraternity is already looking forward to next year!