I had a fun, weird, and very vivid dream about small, single-person flying machines last night, and as a result I now want an autogyro. Actually, I'd like to have a gyrodyne, which is like an autogyro that can take off vertically and hover, but they don't seem to make them in fit-in-your-garage sizes.

The Monarch Butterfly looks to be exactly what I have in mind (tech specs here). The videos are downright dazzling, at least to my easily impressed eyes. Even more cool is that they're working on a mod to make it street legal! They have another machine, called the Super Sky Cycle that's already rated as both a motorcycle and as an experimental aircraft.

Of course, this is all pie-in-the-sky stuff. I don't have a license to fly them, no place to put one, and the $16,995 for the build-it-yourself kit is a bit more than the $6.50 currently set aside for extravagant expenses (I would've had a full 10 bucks, but I bought some more Girl Scout cookies this afternoon). But, if anyone out there has 17 grand burning a hole in their pocket, can provide pilot training for small rotorwing aircraft, and wants to watch me make a crater out of myself, my birthday is less than 10 months away! :-)