AUSTIN — Gyroplanes are open cockpit aircrafts with a top and rear propellor and they're becoming a hit in Austin.
"When I'm in an aircraft, I feel confident, I feel confident in the technology. I can feel confident in my abilities and then all of that goes away and then I'm just one with the universe," said John Craparo, who flies Gyroplanes.
He lives at Cross Country Marshall field in Georgetown, a neighborhood with many aviation enthusiasts and pilots. With hangars everywhere, the backyards are used as taxi ways for aircraft with a 2,700-foot runway.
"It's a community that brings like-minded people together," said Craparo.
The aircraft, that looks like a helicopter to some, can soar across the sky at more than 100 miles per hour.
Craparo built one himself in 10 days. In May of 2017, he and a few other pilots flew from the Taylor Municipal Airport to Cuba.
They're the first Americans to do it in a gyroplane since the 1950s without instruments like a radar.
"I really wanted to do something that pushed all my fears away and aviation does that," said Craparo.
Craparo and other pilots tell KVUE there are about 20 gyroplanes in the Austin area, but that the aviation community is growing.