A small helicopter crashed in southern Lincoln County Wednesday morning (May 2nd). The pilot, Timothy Kniess, 56, was the only person on board. He was not injured although his craft caught fire and burned after crashing. Kniess was said to be learning to fly the craft which he had only had a couple of weeks and clipped a tree about 10 to 12 feet off the ground while hovering in his front yard. The craft was what is known as a gyrocopter, a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust.
There was no damage to anything except the gyrocopter itself and Kneiss was seen up and walking around when emergency crews arrived on the scene having suffered only scrapes and bruises.
The crash happened off Every Drive near Leepers Street. That's off Brevard Place Road east of Iron Station and northeast of Alexis.
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