#7.0: Flying a gyroplane across the USA

October, 2026

For over 30 years, ever since I first came to the USA to learn how to fly, I have wanted to fly a small aircraft across the whole country. When you grow up somewhere like the UK, where you can cross the country in a day by car, the USA is just so large it’s hard to grasp. I never had any interest in driving across it - too boring - but flying a light aircraft seemed like a great way to experience the vastness of the country that is now my home. In 2026, I finally got the opportunity. Below is my journal about the experience.

Day Minus-2: Sunday, October 18

Back in April 2026, I built a new gyroplane at the Magni factory in Italy and test flew it briefly while there. After that, it was put in a container (along with several others in a kind of advanced 3D form of Tetris), shipped across the Atlantic, imported into Mobile, Alabama, reassembled, tested and inspected, and finally moved to a small hangar in Foley, Alabama, where six long months later it’s now ready to make the journey to its new home in California. The photo below was taken a few days before my planned arrival at the hangar where it’s been stored. So now there’s just the small matter of going to pick it up and flying it a few thousand miles home. People have been asking why I’m not having it trucked over, but it’s a flying machine - of course I want to fly it here!

My adventure starts early on Sunday October 18^th, when I board a plane from San Francisco with a one-way ticket to Pensacola, Florida (the nearest major airport to Foley, which is just east of the Alabama/Florida state line). I always feel there’s something special about one-way tickets. I’ve had a few over the years - like when I moved from England to Germany, and back from Germany some years later, and then to the USA 22 years ago when I moved there. This is another very special one for me. In fact, today is all about traveling commercial; my plan is to arrive in time to help with the later stages of the extensive flight test program that all new aircraft go through, before setting off home to California in a few days time.

Day Minus-1: Monday, October 19

I start by reacquainting myself with the shiny new M24X gyro I put together in Italy six months earlier. She’s looking beautiful in the Alabama sunshine, with sparkling paintwork and an air of expectancy about her. After due consideration (and a number of possible discarded names), I have decided to call her Bluebird. Runners-up were Bluenose (she does have a large, wide nose) and Bluebottle, which, though I love the homage to The Goons (the famous radio show of the 1950s, much loved in the UK), sends the wrong message - bluebottles are just too annoying. So Bluebird it is - Bluesy for short. 

I spend some time flying my new gyro around the Alabama area, which seems particularly full of military bases and training aircraft. But it does have some very pretty beaches. 

Flying east of Gulf Shores

After flying for a while to get the hang of the new machine and become more familiar with some of the complex new electronics and displays, I return to the base airfield to make some adjustments and then fly again just as the sun is setting.

The plan for tomorrow morning is to finish the so-called “Phase 1 testing” which requires 25 hours of flying, followed by a full inspection to check if any bits have shifted / fallen off / broken / been forgotten. With the help of Shannon, the local importer who has already done most of the phase 1 testing, my hope is to complete the flying and the inspection by the end of the day.

Day 0: Tuesday, October 20

Well, that was a close one! No, not in the flying sense - that’s all going fine. Let me explain…

Today was the day that we wanted to complete the “Phase 1 testing” and the 25-hour thorough inspection. To hit the 25-hour mark required before completing the inspection, I fly this morning from Foley into Florida – the first time I’ve flown a gyro in that state. I land at Milton airport where Hurricane Isaias (which nearly prevented my trip altogether) caused a lot of damage just a few days previously. Although they have obviously cleared up a lot, there is still plenty of evidence of the hurricane, including damaged hangars and the planes that were in them. I feel very fortunate that Isaias did not wreak the same havoc at Foley, where multiple gyros were stored, including mine. 

Hurricane damage at Milton airport, FL

I then fly back to Foley for the inspection, which begins with me peeling the cowling off the gyro to expose the engine and mechanics fully. 

Bluebird stripped to her undies

Having Shannon there makes a huge difference. He’s already completed the majority of the test flight tasks and even though he keeps getting phone calls, they don’t seem to slow him down much. In fact, Shannon has done an exceptional job to get me to this point. The hurricane didn’t hit Foley too hard, but Shannon’s property was significantly affected, with multiple trees down and damage to his house, plus he had a plane at the hangars shown in the picture above.

On top of that, Shannon’s wife is expecting their second child. And when I say “expecting”, I mean “any minute now.” Sure enough, the last phone call he gets is the one saying that she’s in labor and heading to the hospital. I assume this is it and we’ll have to resume work some days later, but no! He says we still have an hour and, in that time, (or maybe a little beyond it, but we won’t mention that to his wife), we finish everything that needs his expertise. Shannon sets off hotfoot for the hospital, and I carry on with the last items. Then I test fly Bluebird one last time and get her fully fueled for an early start tomorrow.

My plan is to leave from Foley airport and head west to New Orleans where, if I can get permission, I want to fly over the downtown and through the international airport airspace there. I’ll then head northwest, with the intent of overnighting in a place called Tyler.