EA81 bensen find

[khallups]

The price was right on this and couldn't turn it down.
It is a Bensen with a direct drive EA81 subaru with 4 hrs on engine. The engine starts on 2nd pull, nice change from the Mac. New 52x28 tenn wood propeller. New Bensen 10' blades with 5' hub bar and wonderlic pre rotor. I haven't had time to check everything out, but what I have checked out looks great. It was a well built machine with alot of attention to detail. All nuts and bolts are aircraft grade, although I haven't put a wrench to any of them yet.

It was supposed to be built by Aaron McLaughlin an airforce officer 3 years ago from Huntsville, Ark. I tried to search for him for more info, but the phone numbers listed are out of service. I don't know if its ever been flown.

I have some reservations about the cabin and tail. I never seen anything like this on a Bensen before. If I remove it all, I will have to find a single tail for it for weight and balance. Of course I will know more when I do the hang test etc.

Anyway, thought I would post it here to get some constructive input. If anyone interested, I can post more pic's.

[Flying_Lab_Rat]

Nice! Hope it all turns out for you.

[khallups]

Yes, I do too. Has anyone seen a setup like this? What are your opinions on how it will fly with the cabin and rudder setup?

[scottessex]

I Think that the direct drive subs were marginal performers at best, I would ditch all the extra weight and put a single stab in the prop wash on it.

[GyroDoug]

I think it is very misleading to call it a Bensen. While it certainly may have several parts in common with a Bensen Gyrocopter, that is a highly modified, one of a kind, machine. (not a Bensen) Who knows how it will fly until you try it, but I would highly recommend you find an very experienced Gyro Pilot to do the test flying until you know what you are dealing with and what it will take to make it a nice machine. If it has never been issued an "Airworthiness Certificate", that would be your next step before you can test fly it. Good luck with the machine, you may have found a diamond in the rough, however you need to be aware you may also have bought a chuck of coal. Time will tell.

[Timchick]

From just looking at the photos, if you want to remove the cabin and go back to a standard single rudder it looks like you can use one of the existing rudders (with a stab of course).

[Minnesota_Mike]

Ditto...ditch the "Pod".
It's far too heavy with that all metal Pod compared to a small Fiberglas "fairing" style (if that's what you want).

Single rudder will work...but w/ HS ...it is a MUST.
Hang and balance when done to dial it in for safety sake.

Direct drive on this engine will perform marginally depending on your personal weight...but it can fly (without that extra Pod weight).
You won't like the performance...but you can get air born.

This setup is begging for a redrive (belt or gear box).

Just my 2 cents worth.
Sorry...I'm being very "frank" and honest here.
These "simple" changes will allow you to get much more from the machine.

(PS...it's still a nice find BTW..!)

M-M.

[gyromike]

Khallups,

You may also find that the Bensen blades may not be the best choice even with the extended hub bar. They are not the most efficient blade out there. 25 foot Skywheels or Dragon Wings would be far better.

[khallups]

Thanks guys for giving your input. Gee wiz Mike, you didn't have to be so frank!!! Just kidding. I have been reading this forum and your posts for quite some time now and highly respect your information and building expierence. I know you have worked with alot of Mac's too and I also have a bensen with a mac and a KB2 with a VW. Other than little hops, I haven't flown any of them. I will try to get someone with alot more expierence to look at this thing, but until I find someone in western Okla., I will have to rely on the great information of this forum. Thanks again.

I plan on flying with Paul Patterson in Okc as soon as he gets things straighted out with the FAA. Been waiting 10 months now.

Kelly

[Dacer]

Hi all I'm living in Argentina and to build Autogiro, I wonder if anyone has plans to build a blueprint for cosntruir especially the blades and the rotor, if someone from this forum can help me I will appreciate it, I leave my mail for any information. danycerda@hotmail.com

[GyroJon]

Anyway, thought I would post it here to get some constructive input. If anyone interested, I can post more pic's.

Looks cool.
Did you you get it in the air?

How much did you pay for it?

[phantom]

I have used this type of rudder set up on three different gyros and they work very well and with a full enclosure you need both of them, as for the cabin you need to change it to something like the skyhook which used a VW and twin tails.
Norm

[mransleben]

I havebough a Benson with aEA81 a it should fly well with the direct drive, just have to keep the weight down to a minimum if possible. I would remove the cabin an change the tail. The cabin offers alot of wind resistance! When you purchased this machine did you get all the paper work with it? I,m looking for a blueprint for a direct drive hub for my EA81 if you do I would like to copy the blueprint for a price. crazypop77866@aol.com

[khallups]

mransleben, thanks for your imput. I did get the paper work for this machine, but nothing on the drive hub. Sorry.

[GyroJon]

mransleben, thanks for your imput. Sorry.

Have you flown it?