Wayne's Hybrid Subaru Bensen Rebuild

jcarleto

Aluminum Supporter
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
Messages
3,571
Location
Taylorsville, GA
Aircraft
Beech Bonanza G-35 N4638D/"The Bulldozer" 2-Place Gyroplane N575EE
Total Flight Time
Several
Wayne Stargell sent me this picture last evening to post of his machine. It is a Bensen-like gyro with Hughes rotors and a Subaru engine. He has nearly completed his rebuild. The machine will begin to make appearances, including this weekend's Fort Payne, Alabama air show.

Congratulations, Wayne. I know it was a lot of work.

*JC*
 

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Right on Wayne! I will be intrested to hear more about your progress as you go.
 
Yeah Wayne's has given me some pointer on the EA-82 also,and had sent me some good close up pics of his Engine.

he said the Hughes blades fly well and the EA-82 is cheap on gas.

will be cool to see him flying it again.

good luck wayne, keep us posted.
 
As you all know,,, Wayne has done alot of parts on my rebuild, i know his is right.......congrats BIG WAYNE....:first:
 
Another Picture

Another Picture

Wayne sent me this update yesterday. He has done additional work on the tail. Notice the horizontal stabilizer raised into the prop-wash.

*JC*
 

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looking good,,,,,,,, when you going to fly it Wayne????
 
still lot of work yet, redo the brakes,make braces for the tail.the lights,rudder cable.about a week befor i can fly it, thanks jon for the post an allthe replys,i hope it gives other somthing think about but it not much it will fly an that what count,an have fun with it.billy can't wait to see your fly or crow hops have fun.wayne thanks for the support from you'll.
 
More Progress

More Progress

Wayne sent me this picture last night. I think he's down to the last few fiddly-bits. There is talk of a pending hang test Thursday evening at 4A4.

*JC*
 

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Wayne came over to my hangar last evening and we did the hang test. 2 degrees on the mast. The "target" for his setup was 0-4 on the mast. He spent some time on control setup and assembling the Hughes rotors. All that remains is mounting the rotors and adjusting one seat brace.

I took some detailed pictures, but left my camera in the hangar due to a senior moment upon departure. They will be posted by the weekend after I retrieve my camera.

*JC*
 
More Pictures

More Pictures

Here are some pictures from the day we did the hang test:
 

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More Pictures

More Pictures

More from the hang test:
 

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More Pictures

More Pictures

The aluminum material used in the HS is a waffle core used in race car firewalls. It is remarkably strong and light.

This is a toyota starter. Wayne has an electric "soft-start" setup that works well and typically gets 150 RRPM on pre-rotation.

*JC*
 

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This is video of Wayne's trial of Hughes rotors. He had previously flown with Hughes blades, but this set had a significant twist (leading edge up at end). This video is a record of testing with different pitch settings. Unfortunately, despited multiple settings and tests, these Hughes rotors could not be set in a position to create enough lift to fly.

During points in the video one hears a very rough-running engine. That is the fuel truck, not Wayne's Subaru engine. I have no idea why, but it seems that the fuel truck is frequently the loudest and worst running engine at a given airport.

http://miservice.net/gyro/waynehughestrial.html

*JC*
 
Jon
here we go again, i cant view the vid ! can you send it to my e-mail like last time ? thanks Jon.
Big Wayne is hard at it... it wont be long now !!!
thanks Jon for posting for Wayne for all to see.:rapture:
 
They are spinning fast but no lift. Maybe needs more pitch.
I hear the price is good on them.
 
Wayne it looks like it wont's to fly,,, maybe you should think on another set of blades, i bet you could find some good used blades here on the forum.

someone should maybe get you to make some parts for trade on a good set of blades !!!:peace:
 
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