Not so Dannevirke. When asked 25 years ago the Tararua District Council, as owner, was only too pleased to have the airfield used and the Dannevirke Flying Club was delighted to share their facilities.
Members really enjoy the trip to Dannevirke mostly from the north of the North Island, Rusty Russell and several fellow fliers travelling from Whangarei, taking just 7 hours with stops at Matamata and Taupo on the way and really enjoying the Kaimanawa Range as they flew over.
Saturday was just a day for the 20 fliers to catch up with each other. Some flew down to Woodville to view the Motocross National Grand Prix, others flew out to the coast, some took joyrides for a lucky few, others helped each other to tune or modify their machines as there were experienced mechanics among them.
One of them was Neil Hinst, who runs a business building Dominator gyrocopters which were extremely popular until European manufacturers began building side-by-side gyrocopters like the Italian Magni Orion M24 flown in by NZ Autogyro Association president Bruce Anderson.
He said his association is very keen to see more people flying gyrocopters which are among the safest aircraft due to their ability to glide down safely if the motor fails.
A second-hand Dominator could be purchased "for the price of a good quality car" ($50,000) although the side-by-sides are $200-300,000.
One local with historical Eketahuna connections Paul Lee built his own gyrocopter from scratch using techniques learned as a boat builder. His connection to Eketahuna goes back to its early settlement.
After dinner supplied by the Dannevirke Aeroclub, the evening was spent in town at different venues, members meeting next morning to have their AGM in the Aeroclub rooms at 9.30am before flying south to Athbey Farm at Papatawa where Athol Southey laid on morning tea.
The Autogyro Association chooses Auckland Anniversary Weekend for its AGM to allow fliers to return back to work with time to spare.
