Bensen Days 2022

I’m coming in on Friday and want to be sure to catch Mike G’s presentations, have presentation times been established? Thanks
 
Arrived to see an already well populated campsite ....my little rented camper from a local RVshare family ...was already on site ...all set up & hooked up! The weather for the week ahead looks wonderful for the event! Looks like GREAT gathering ... reconsider if fuel prices are making you think twice ...lots of folks with big rigs made it here! I'll be helping the organizer's ...where needed ... my knee is fragile ...so I will be limited in mobility! Enjoying the social-life ...not crazy-busy with gyro & flying - as usual!
 
I’m coming in on Friday and want to be sure to catch Mike G’s presentations, have presentation times been established? Thanks

Hi AR1 John, We will have sign up sheets at the main gate / registration tent.

Thursday for the GWS Presentation.

Friday for the intro to vibrations seminar and Maxie's tech talk. The GWS may also be presented again on Friday as well. Be sure to register for the seminars when you arrive at the main gate. There will also be more of an informal Q & A session Thursday & Friday.
 
Too late. It’s gusting to 40. Still sone flying going on. Yesterday it was gusting to 30. Tomorrow it’s storms in the afternoon.
 
Well guys. Bensen Days 2022 is over. It was majorly blown out, then washed out and attendance was low. It was however good to see faces I had not seen in a while. I flew 2 gyroplanes there from Zephyrhills on Wednesday. It was 18 gusting to 28 in the morning and later in the afternoon when I flew the second gyroplane there it was 21 gusting to 35 knots.
ELA is back trying the US market again I guess. They had their French dealer with them with new Evo (Eclipse with 915). They put on some good aerobatic shows in it.
Magni was there. AutoGyro showed up Friday with a Cavalon.
Tango gyro was present and also Gyro Fox which is the Russian factory that made the Tango before showed up Friday. Both with Yamaha engine conversions.
Mike Goodrich did the GWS (Gyroplane Warning System) presentation which was well attended. However, no one seem too interested in taking a ride in the AR-1 equipped with GWS in Beta testing to see and hear the alarms for themselves in the routine we had developed to safely demonstrate the warnings to interested parties. Not sure why.

We have continued to tweak and go to lower G's to see what the gyroplane behavior is. Today in a test flight we finally got the "Bunting Bunting Bunting" red alarm that is past the amber alarm warning for the first time. I believe it was because we kept the gyroplane below 0.5 G for over a certain time with an aggressive stick forward movement. However, the gyroplane recovers just fine if you do the right thing. I am at this point fairly confident that gyroplane handles low G situations fairly well unless the pilot actions creates a wrong move like put full power and further push the stick forward that leads to further disaster. Mostly holding the stick neutral alone is enough for gyroplane to start to recover. Cutting power makes that recovery quicker

I am also fairly confident that it takes some time in low G to get to the point where rotor RPM cannot be recovered and rotor hits things like the tail in absence of pilot actions making things worse as described above. We will continue testing and collecting data in Beta testing to make GWS work with AR-1.
Mike also presented the Balancing presentation and clarified some myths with actual data and measurements.
 
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Awesome time at Bensen Days!!
Good friends….. great meeting new ones……. And PERFECT HOSTS!!!!

Carolina BarnStormers are grateful y’all let us hang with you all !!!

And…… never a dull moment on a Carolina BarnStormer Short Bus road-trip !😳
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SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR !!!!
😂🤣😁😎
 
Waiting in Orlando airport returning home after a great Bensen Days. Thanks to all the organisers, helpers and demonstration pilots.
Met some old friends and lots of new people. Gave a seminar on basic rotor vibration and balance and another on my GWS. Only 2 guys fell asleep so couldn't have been too bad.
We offered the chance to fly in Abid's AR1 equipped with the GWS to experience how it worked.
Mike G
 
Good video Abid. That looks like a great system!
 
Despite the high winds and spells of rain Bensen Days had a pretty good attendance. Perhaps not as busy as previous years but there were some excellent demonstrations of gyro flying, of just how agile an aircraft they are in experienced hands, and how sophisticated some machines have become.

There were a number of people who had come to Wauchula from various countries around the world that do realise that Bensen Days is a gyro event of significance.

Great hosts there and with so many like minded friendly folk, it remains well worth a visit, even with the occasional reminder of fickle weather.
 
I missed going to Bensen Days a lot. It turned out to be the right decision as I would have missed a wonderful opportunity that will have a large impact on my future if I had been away. I missed seeing my friends and soaking in the magic of gyroplanes.
 
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