Members

Richard gained his fixed wing pilots license in 2001, however, the opportunities to fly were few and far between. Realizing that so many years had passed, and that to satisfy his yearning to fly again, fixed wing was no longer an option, Richard started to research Gyro flying. Amazed to find Chapter 62 located so close in Anahuac, after one visit he was hooked and joined the Chapter then and there! Meeting with the Chapter members every week and then twice a week, Richard eagerly purchased his own Gyro, an ELA Eclipse.  Richard started his training with Desmon Butts out of Hooks Airport, and is currently training with Tony, the Chapter’s CFI. Richard hopes to be signed off very soon and looks forward to his solo flights.  Richard is the current President of the club.

Introducing our soon to be “newest” resident hanger member! Jeff first came to the Chapter during the 2020 Fly In. After an invitational flight with Tony- the Chapter had another member! In addition to taking his on-going lessons with Tony, Jeff is always on hand to help the other Chapter members with the repairs and improvements to their Gyros. This hands on experience together with the advice of the other Chapter members is helping Jeff to decide which Gyro he should purchase to best suit his needs. We can’t wait to see it!  Also, Jeff is currently Vice President of the club.

Bobby started his pilot training in September of 2010 learning to fly Cessna 152s and 172s at Weiser Airpark in NW Houston. Soon after getting his Private Pilot’s certificate he realized if he wanted to spend more time in the air he would have to buy his own aircraft but his budget wouldn’t allow it. A few months later he stumbled across a website about gyroplanes. The more he read about them the more interesting they became. He found the Lonestar Rotorcraft club and became immersed in building and learning about gyroplanes. A few months later he bought an Air Command Elite and started flight training again. A few years after that he was elected as the club president. Bobby continues to build, train and fly and is one of the first people to greet new visitors and give them a tour of the hangars. Bobby has been with the Chapter for over 8 years.  Bobby is the Immediate Past President of the club.

Danny has been flying Gyros for forty-two years! During that time Danny has flown almost every make of Gyros. He started off all those years ago when he constructed a bolt together Bensen Gyro kit and flew that for about twelve years. He also obtained a set of plans for a Sky Dancer Gyro. To construct the Sky Dancer he had to take a welding course at the local community college, and was then able to complete the construction of the Sky Dancer which he still flies today, along with his AR1.

Danny was instrumental in petitioning the PRA (Popular Rotorcraft Association) headquarters for a local chapter, and with that, the Local PRA Lone Star Rotorcraft Chapter 62 was born!  Danny is currently the Safety Officer for the club.

Chapter 62 is very fortunate to have a resident CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) Having Tony in the Chapter is a tremendous asset! His experiences are vast and wide. Flying helicopters for the Indian Army since 1979. Immigrated to USA in 1991 and obtained his Commercial Helicopter and Instrument rating. Transitioned to Gyroplanes as Sport Pilot in 2011 and obtained Flight instructor in 2017. Currently have over 500 hours in Gyroplanes and over 3,500 hours of flight time. Tony provides training in tandem two seat gyroplanes and modern side by side gyroplanes on a case by case basis. He presently trains in an AR1 Tandem with a “Rotax 915is” engine at Anahuac on most Saturdays, and also trains in a MTO Sport with “Rotax 912ULS” on some week days at Brookshire.

Always the James Bond 007 fan, Chauncey first became interested in Gyro copters after seeing the 5^th James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice” in 1967 and he has been hooked ever since! After training and learning to fly with CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) Ron Menzie, Chauncey actually built his own Gyro, (The Griffin) from scratch in 2011.

Gregory has been flying since 2017, and currently owns and flies a Tango2, built by Alex Vagner in Georgia in 2018. The Tango has a Yamaha Nytro engine, 3 cyl, FI, 130hp.

Gregory took his training from Instructors Desmon Butts (Hooks Airport), Tony Thomas (Anahuac Airport) and Jon (Georgia Airport).  Gregory is stacking up his flying hours which currently amount to 130 hours!

After thirty-eight years flying the commercial airlines Aziz retired from his “day job” however, he continued to fly fixed wing aircraft and started to look for something interesting to fly.

Aziz attended a Fly-In at the Lonestar Rotorcraft Club and went flying with Tony Thomas, the Chapter’s CFI.  Aziz enjoyed his flight so much that in less than three months he bought a two seater Gyro and set about getting trained to fly the Gyro and being checked out and having this particular type of Gyro added to his certification. Aziz has been happy ever since and is positive that the help of the Lonestar Rotorcraft Club members had a lot to do with where he is at now.