From Gyrocopters to Hovercraft: Paul Biggerstaff

Paul Biggerstaff of Woosung, Illinois is a "get it done" kinda guy: "I'm the driven type of individual that gets it done - and I get bored easily."  A skydiver and gyrocopter pilot, he chose hovercraft as his next adventure. In his see-it-through manner, Paul quickly honed in on a unique Neoteric Hovertrek™ with a hand-painted camouflage color scheme:

A week later, Paul brought his craft to Hovercraft Training Centers to undergo the standard pilot and maintenance training course. As he explains, "Training is very important. For instance, gyroplanes are notorious for people building them at home, then they go out and play around and think they can do practice on the runway and do some loops, and it ends up on its side - and there goes ten grand!"

His approach is definitely in accord with HTC founder Chris Fitzgerald's analogy comparing successful hovercraft operation to a three-legged stool. Each leg is equally important and all three are needed to prevent the stool from collapsing:

Leg 1: A hovercraft that is properly engineered and supported technically;

Leg 2: Thorough pilot training;

Leg 3: A comprehensive maintenance training program.

We congratulate Paul on his foresight and follow-through ... and invite you to enjoy watching him "get-it-done" during his day at HTC ...

After a morning of intensive classroom training at HTC headquarters, Chris Fitzgerald treats Paul to lunch at the Clabber Girl Museum, home to an antique Indy race car ... 

At the Wabash River training site, Fitzgerald shows Paul how to easily unload his hovercraft from its custom trailer ... 

 A wireless headset check, and it's thumbs-up for Paul's first flight training session ...

From the preflight inspection to loading the hovercraft back onto its trailer after flight training, all HTC courses provide constant as-you-go instruction to trainees ...

Paul may take a serious approach to training - but as Fitzgerald launches the craft onto the river, it looks like he just might enjoy it, too! ... 

Paul takes the helm for the rest of the afternoon, while Fitzgerald gives him steady instruction ...

Back at HTC headquarters, Fitzgerald presents Paul with his official hovercraft pilot certification, before he heads back home for some river adventures not possible in other vehicles. "I live in a river town and have a pontoon and I've had ski boats. But the hovercraft is very interesting because we have a lot of sand bars and mudflats - it'll be perfect for those!" ...

Feel driven to fly a hovercraft?

Take a test flight or sign up for a flight training course!