No job security? Didn't you end up in UPT, with a slot at the 151st?
I don't know about job security with Groen Brothers..."job security" in aviation is generally accompanied by laughing hysterics, followed by loud, wet, sobbing. It has never existed, and never will.
The Homeland Defender gyro offered by Groen Brothers flew during the Olympics in SLC. It was quite successful too. I'm surprised that they haven't found a market and started production yet...it's certainly not for lack of trying on their part, or for lack of a good product.
Their aircraft is capable of zero landing speed and jump takeoffs, but not hover. It's less expensive than a helicopter, offers more advantages for it's mission in many respects, and offers several points of safety that make it a very attractive package.
At a recent homeland defense expo, out of several thousand applicants, theirs was chosen to be one of the presentations and displays. Their product is taken seriously, and to my mind, represents some very forward thinking in aviation. The gyro would have been a lot more prominent in aviation had it not been for the untimely death of the main proponents and developers of the early gyroplane many years ago, and the timing in concert with other major historical events. Today, the use of the Groen Brothers products makes a lot of sense.
Will the company survive in the future? I have no idea, but I certainly hope so. When they first publically unveiled their product years ago, I tried desperately to make it, and was stuck flying somewhere. I was very disappointed. I considered their work to be an important part of aviation development and history, and I still do.
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uke:
