SALT LAKE CITY - When he was 16 years old, David Groen bought plans for building a flying machine from Popular Mechanics magazine.

Thirty-seven years later, as the chief executive officer of Groen Brothers Aviation, he and his staff build pilots' dreams.

They're called gyroplanes, and they're built in Salt Lake City.

Groen Brothers Aviation considered moving their gyroplane production facility to Arizona but decided against it because their business is going through a turbulent time, said Hank Parry, the marketing liaison for Groen Brothers Aviation.

Parry said falling tech stock prices and the World Trade Center disaster hurt their business in 2001.

"With the tech stock slide and then the terrorist attacks of 9-11, everything came to a grinding halt," Parry said.

Utah politicians, including Sen. Orin Hatch, give political support to Groen Brothers Aviation, encouraging them to cancel their move, he said.

"They understand what we're trying to do," Perry said. "We're trying to provide jobs and become a viable contributing part of the local economy."

Groen Brothers Aviation currently tests their gyroplane in Buckeye, Ariz.

Like a helicopter, said gyroplane pilot Scott Tinnesand, the gyroplane does not need an airport.

Unlike a helicopter, he said, the pilot doesn't need to make special maneuvers to land the aircraft during a power failure.

"He picks his landing site and just heads towards it, and basically, performs a normal landing," Tinnesand said.

A gyroplane cannot hover, but can fly at speeds slower than 50 mph. Airplanes tend to stall at slow speeds.

Jim Mayfield, vice president of Groen Brothers Aviation, and a Federal Aviation Administration certified gyroplane pilot examiner, said the gyroplane is less complex than a helicopter and operates at about 50 percent of the cost.

Groen Brothers Aviation is certifying their gyroplane, Hawk 4, with the FAA bringing Groen's dream closer to reality.

Groen's passion for aircraft started in his childhood.

He grew up under the traffic pattern for Salt Lake City International Airport, where he and his father would run outside when they heard aircraft flying over.

In 1966, he bought his first plans for a gyroplane.

"I didn't have the money for a kit. I bought plans, Groen said. "I believed I could build it in high school shop class."

Despite his motivation, Groen said, his shop teacher was concerned for his safety.

"He said, 'I think you're going to kill yourself,'" Groen said.

Ironically, Groen gained his first flight experience in a helicopter at Army flight training. He said he was terrified everyday.

"People were dying in these things," Groen said. "I had plenty of motivation to bust my butt and stay in the program, but it was terrifying."

"A helicopter is constantly trying to commit suicide," Groen said. "It's the pilot's job to talk it out of it."

After they returned from the Vietnam War, Groen and his brother built their first gyroplane.

"We built our first aircraft on the office floor of our recycling business," Groen said. "If they hadn't torn that building down, there would still be aluminum filings in the carpet. It's the old Henry Ford story. That's where he built his first car basically, in his house. We had to disassemble it [the gyroplane] to get it through the door."

Groen said there have been high points and low points at Groen Brothers Aviation.

"The lowest point was having to lay-off 2/3 of our work force," Groen said. "We couldn't pay them. It's not because we wanted to cut costs."

"The high point is every day, particularly now. We have this team here that is assembled to reach my dream of all dreams. This group is highly motivated, highly talented, highly skilled and highly dedicated to a cause that is greater than all of us put together."

Groen said his team comes to work each day because they can see the big picture.

"It isn't the financial rewards that are motivating, Groen said. "It's the rightness of it."



Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Apr 2003