Discover Germany | Special Theme | HANNOVER MESSE 2017
Cavalon travelling above its hometown of Hildesheim.
Fly like an eagle If you have always dreamed of soaring through lofty heights like the eagle of the famous ‘70s song, you should definitely read the following. If not, you should read it anyway as it may stir the yearning to take off immediately. TEXT: SILKE HENKELE I PHOTOS: AUTOGYRO
Little did Otmar Birkner, founder and CTO of AutoGyro, know of the success story he embarked on when he started manufacturing his first gyroplane (a mix between an ultralight airplane and a helicopter). When his aircraft had officially been certified for public operation in 2003, friends and acquaintances enthusiastically asked Birkner to manufacture additional specimen - a request Birkner complied with great pleasure. Handmade really means handmade This was 14 years ago. Today, Birkner’s company AutoGyro manufactures up to 300 gyroplanes per year and an everincreasing number of customers make sure 82 | Issue 49 | April 2017
that the demand for AutoGyro’s extraordinary aircrafts does not waver. “When I built my first gyro, I never dreamed of the consequences this would have. Yet, even though AutoGyro has changed over the last couple of years, while we have grown considerably and still continue to do so, the manner of manufacture has changed little. The team at AutoGyro shares the vision that the best results can only be achieved by the best components. As we entirely trust the high quality of our work, we manually manufacture all of our gyroplanes on our premises ourselves,” Birkner explains the secret behind the extraordinary quality and appealing design ofAutoGyros’ aircrafts.
“Our customers love to visit our premises in order to configure their own gyroplane,” says Birkner.“They become witness of how our aircrafts are built and they can see for themselves that our gyroplanes really are hand-crafted. They tell us what they want, and together we will configure an aircraft that fulfils even their most extravagant requirements,” Birkner illustrates the design process of each individual gyroplane. This manner of production enables the team at AutoGyro to establish a close relationship with their customer base and to thus use the intimate knowledge of their requirements to present aircrafts that better suit their customers’ tastes. Customers with differing needs “There is no typical AutoGyro user. Our customer base comprises of the air enthusiast who loves the freedom of freely moving through the air but also of the business man who is tired of being stuck in traffic jams