Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Jean Tresfon - Marine Conservation Photographer wrote:
There are several questions that I often get asked when posting aerial images on social media. They include:
- Are these shot with a drone?
- What type of aircraft do you fly?
- What is a gyrocopter?
- What is the difference between a gyrocopter and a helicopter?
- How do you fly and take photos at the same time?
At the same time I often see comments suggesting that I'm somehow brave (and/or stupid!) for trusting my life to such a tiny little machine. Gyrocopters have an undeserved reputation for being unsafe, largely due an era when there were no production built machines or even two-seater training aircraft available. Prospective pilots had to build their own aircraft from kits and training was either self taught or by being towed behind a pick-up with the instructor shouting instructions from the vehicle to the student who was alone in the plane! Unsurprisingly there were quite a few accidents and the reputation has stuck.
The reality is quite different nowadays with these tiny little aircraft being super forgiving and easy to fly, unable to stall like a fixed wing and much easier to handle in an engine-out than an equivalent sized helicopter. That's not to say they are risk free, like all other aircraft they still have their weaknesses and will bite hard when pushed beyond their limits. But these days flying a factory built gyrocopter after receiving proper instruction and training is hardly an extreme sport!
So it was with no small sense of amusement that I was asked to be featured on SABC3's The Insider SA "Living on the Edge" episode! It was however a great opportunity to showcase both these amazing little flying machines and how I use them as a platform for more serious conservation work. Tune in tonight (Monday 10 May) at 5:30pm (SA time) or set your recorder to watch me, together with Morningstar Flying Club flight instructor Len Klopper, flying and talking gyrocopters, photography and conservation...
Jean Tresfon - Marine Conservation Photographer wrote:
There are several questions that I often get asked when posting aerial images on social media. They include:
- Are these shot with a drone?
- What type of aircraft do you fly?
- What is a gyrocopter?
- What is the difference between a gyrocopter and a helicopter?
- How do you fly and take photos at the same time?
At the same time I often see comments suggesting that I'm somehow brave (and/or stupid!) for trusting my life to such a tiny little machine. Gyrocopters have an undeserved reputation for being unsafe, largely due an era when there were no production built machines or even two-seater training aircraft available. Prospective pilots had to build their own aircraft from kits and training was either self taught or by being towed behind a pick-up with the instructor shouting instructions from the vehicle to the student who was alone in the plane! Unsurprisingly there were quite a few accidents and the reputation has stuck.
The reality is quite different nowadays with these tiny little aircraft being super forgiving and easy to fly, unable to stall like a fixed wing and much easier to handle in an engine-out than an equivalent sized helicopter. That's not to say they are risk free, like all other aircraft they still have their weaknesses and will bite hard when pushed beyond their limits. But these days flying a factory built gyrocopter after receiving proper instruction and training is hardly an extreme sport!
So it was with no small sense of amusement that I was asked to be featured on SABC3's The Insider SA "Living on the Edge" episode! It was however a great opportunity to showcase both these amazing little flying machines and how I use them as a platform for more serious conservation work. Tune in tonight (Monday 10 May) at 5:30pm (SA time) or set your recorder to watch me, together with Morningstar Flying Club flight instructor Len Klopper, flying and talking gyrocopters, photography and conservation...
