I have been following your TTC project from the time you started working
on it. It is apparent that the machine is ready for the pilot to begin
practicing for this record attempt. As of yet the pilot hasn't even
pulled the nose up and tried a moderate climb. This attempt requires
flight and power management on the edge of the envelope. It would seem
to me that getting the pilot ready for an attempt would take some actual
flight time on the edge of the envelope. Your pilot has demonstrated
beyond any doubt that he is unwilling to do that.

Not enough headwind to fly a demonstration flight is not an excuse I
would expect to hear from the caliber of pilot required for this
mission. In my opinion this record attempt is not going to happen. To
bad, this has the ability to change the worlds conception of aircraft
rotary engines. Sorry to be so blunt but this project needs another
pilot if it is going to be anything other than a pipe dream.

Paul Shamlian

I totally agree with what you are saying. The rotary movement really
needs a test pilot familiar with the rotary installation to inspect new installation and do
one or two first  test flight. My guess it would be worth a $1000 plus expenses
to the builders.

People are very reluctant to fly their brand new creations for the first
time.

We are going to move the TTC to another airport close by that is surrounded
by large farm fields.

Paul Lamar


Here is the only TTC  flight we have so far.

For those of you with cell phones and tablets. You must save the file first.
Tablet and cell phone email programs do not tell you what folder it is in so you then
need ES File explorer to list all the movies and try to find it.

If you find it, ES Explorer will give you choice of movie players. So you need to install
half a dozen different ones to find one that will work with mpeg format. Some that work
well for my 4.4.2 version of Android are MX and Video Player. Other versions of
Android may require other movie player versions.


Paul Lamar


I once was trained as a volunteer fireman.An old house was donated for a "Burn to Learn".  The neophytes were gathered in the house, and  a State Fire Marshal set the house ablaze around us while calmly explaining the fire science.  One thing was made clear before the blaze was knocked down: as the hot combustion products built down from the ceiling, the dropping oxygen left clouds of incomplete combustion that soon obscured all sight.  You are very nearly blind in a burning structure.  And it was hot enough up there to cook your ears in seconds.

We wore full-face breathing apparatus, and part of the training was to cover these with black plastic while someone scrambled the regulator's controls.  If you wanted to breathe, you had to remember how the controls worked, and while sightless, restore regulator function.The plan was to place an adult sized dummy somewhere in the house, set the house ablaze and send in pairs of trainees to search for and retrieve the "victim".   The heat gradient in the structure made crawling as you pulled a heavy fire hose essential.  Even outside the house, the temperature was in the mid 80s. Mulit-layered turn-out gear wrapped you head to toe in canvas, water proof membrane and insulating blanket.  Closed and with boots, gloves, helmet and air tank, it would only be a short time before you would baste in your own juices--even without a fire.

I hung back wanting to see a few trials before committing.  Not a good plan as it was discovered that the house construction lacked fire barriers permitting the fire to spread from floor to floor--control was difficult even for our professional instructors.

Just before we entered the building, a wise old fireman made a quick review of our task.  He paused at the end and then added, with very direct eye contact, "Keep talking to each other in there--even if you have nothing to say."In I went.  I had tried to memorize the floor plan of the house, but discovered immediately that pallets had been nailed in place to add "walls" where there had been none.  I just had to crawl a few feet, swing out arms and legs, searching under beds and exploring closets (people in panic will try to hide from fire).  My team mate, with the hose on the floor between us, did the same.  Nothing on the main floor.  Damn.  We would have to go deep into the second floor bedrooms.

Somewhere, confused if we had explored one of the rooms yet,  I began to feel despair, would I ever find the body?  Was the fire still in some control?  My mind followed the hose across the floor, down the stairs and out the engine sparkling in the clear sunny afternoon.  I don't want to do this anymore!Then I remembered."...keep talking..."  "Did we do this room yet?," I asked.  "I don't think so," came the reassuring voice in the darkness.  We chattered our through that room until we found our unconscious victim.  If I hadn't had to drag the dummy, I would have had a hard time remembering to stay on hands and knees on the way out.

Pealed out of the gear, I sat catching my breath and trying to get a frame around my experience.   Personal discovery: people are social creatures.  Alone, we are less than.


Faced with the daunting task of doing something never before done in an a new craft that has already required design corrections, with the world watching, I am certain I would find reluctance hard to move.

I would be wondering if David Leonard, a pioneer in small turbo-charged rotary aircraft with the courage to go racing and the presents of mind to twice land disabled aircraft off airport, would come talk to me.  As we cleared a path through doubts and replaced uncertainties with contingencies, it wouldn't hurt my confidence at all that he is a medical doctor sworn to preserving life.

It is simply true that we can do more together than we can alone.  I think the pilot is as brave as he is ambitious, but sanity is heavier than air.

However he does it, he will get there before anyone else.

Grant Johnson

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