Bensen Days 2022

But 'trunk' has such an arboreal ring to it.
 
Or even elephantine

 
A bit more thread drift.
Raul Salazar has organized a full 2 day Rotor Track and Balance training session with me for the weekend before BDs. I understand that it may already be fully booked but there is usually someone who cancels at the last minute so perhaps Raul has a standby list.
Mike G
 
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NetPilot,
Where are you Georgia guys at ?
How many of the Cedartown ga. group will we see at Bensen Days ??
How many gyros y’all bringing?
Inquiring minds want to know!! 😂
 
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I still can't believe that those Barnstormer slackers decided to make Bensen Days a 'thing' in their oh-so-busy schedules! It's about time! :p

Annnyyyyway, it's been on my to-do list to start pinging the guys to do a straw poll but jus' ain't got' round to it yet. Maybe this week...

At the moment Tom D (shootthrees) who's back in Texas... but is still a Peach State member... is registered to be there.

Also, Wayne P. (proud new owner of Jake's last and most recent gyro creation!) and myself are planning to be there.

There will be others, but don't know for sure yet.

Bensen Days... it's all about THA PEOPLE... so not likely many GA gyros in tow... or flown down.

I think I heard AirScooter mention "Challenge" ??? Maybe we need to dust off the ole' Event Attendance Challenge plaque?

Cheers,
Mark


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Oh…. You Georgia Boyz🙄
Barnstormers Rule!!
Peachtree Drools!!!😁
 
Raul Salazar tells me that the 2 day autogyro rotor track and balance training program that I will be giving in Florida has been accepted for the FAA Wings program and is worth 2 points. I'm not sure what that actually implies and I thank Raul for setting it up.
Mike G
 
ITS GETTING CLOSER!
Im too excited to sleep! 😎
 
Mike Goodrich's upcoming visit to Florida

Here's a recap of events prior to and during Bensen Days with Mike Goodrich.
Mike rarely visit's the US, so if anyone has any vibration questions, concerns or issues this is the time to have a chat with Mike in person.
Also be sure to attend his seminars while you're visiting Bensen Days!

3/21 thru 3/25
Mike will be @ Silverlight Aviation for the initial setup & testing of his GWS system. If all goes well, Abid will have a GWS equipped AR-1 at Bensen Days.

3/26 and 3/27
Both Mike and I will possibly be available if anyone needs a full rotor track & balance in the central Florida area.
Contact Mike or myself if interested.

3/28 and 3/29
Raul Salazar will be hosting Mike's full RTB course @ Valkaria airport.
Raul has worked to get this course approved for FAA "Wings" credit, see the link below for details.
www.faasafety.gov

3/30 thru 4/2
Mike will be at Bensen Days where he will be offering the following:
  • Free GWS presentation where Mike will discuss the operation as well as the scenarios this device is designed to help pilots avoid.
  • Understanding rotor vibrations & basic dynamic balancing seminar ($50 with half of the proceeds going to Bensen Days).
  • Mike will also be assisting me with Gyroplane vibration evaluations. (This is an evaluation only, the fee is $100)
We hope to see you there!

Chris Buchanan
 
Barnstormers Short Bus departing runway 16 for Wauchula Thursday 3/31 ! 😆
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The 570 lb (DW) 145 hp MAC YG4 Gunslinger (f.k.a. the Wicked) will terrorize Whoville this year.

Lock your doors, hide your wives & daughters.

Wait a minute... Peach State Rotorcraft Club or Barnstormers??? Dangit. Decisions, decisions.

Well, since Barnstormers is not a legitimate gyrocopter club with actual, legitimate members of record - no club records at all, actually since it doesn't exist - and since I'm still the treasurer of Peachstate after all these years holding thousands of dollars of club cash...

Peachstate Rotorcraft Club. PRC.

I have decided to rename our group Peach State Rotorcraft Unit. PSRU.
 
Carolina BarnStormers will be “In da House” !!!!!
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Mike Goodrich is here and we have installed GWS on our trainer. We also did some testing with flap angle measuring system installed.
GWS is in Beta test with us. So far what I have seen from the data (10 data points of airspeed, G loading, rotor RPM, Outside Air Temp and altitude every second) is that I have gone in very gusty conditions today (15 gusting to 25 knots) and flown legs at 35 knots, 55 knots and 75 knots and in these flights I have gone as low as 0.62 G and got a bunting risk alert. I was in below 1 G for about 7 seconds total with lowest being 0.62 G for 0.3 seconds and I did nothing except hold the stick in place and let it recover and it did. I can see if I was ham fisted and abrupt and took actions that worsen the situation that I would have gotten bunting risk warning to bunting red alarm warning. Of course I did not do that because I know better. I had various 0.7 or 0.6 G transient hits due to turbulence and they came and went without any issue or alarms. This simulates the real weather flying and how gyroplane handles the normal transient low Gs. Basically without any real issue. The rotor RPM decays at the fastest rate at around 0.6 G, even faster than 0 G according to Jean Claude calculations as unintuitive as it sounds.

I have induced flapping alarms by going on takeoff roll with stick forward, starting at 140 rotor RPM trying to bring the stick more than half way but not all the way back and moving forward (this one was actually quite difficult to induce flapping warning, I really had to push stick well forward and really try and increase the throttle or the rotor RPM would pick back up. I induced a flapping warning from 80 rotor RPM, but it went away fairly quickly by nursing the rotor RPMs up.

All this data is recorded and can be graphed and specific points can be zoomed in on. No matter what I think happened or say happened, the data tells the real story. All this time the flap angle measuring device shows the flap angle via blue tooth on a phone app.
Its a great tool to simulate what a pilot may tell was the story and see if it actually creates the flapping danger the pilot said happened without actually being in danger. All I have learned so far, its difficult to flap the rotor. You really have to plug up multiple things badly. I guess if you have really lost the plot that bad, you can do it and you probably need more training or practice in handling situations like the tower. You have to remain pilot in command no matter what a tower tells you to do. You are ultimately responsible for the decisions you are making and accepting. As an engineer this data is great to see and it tells the real true story of what is going on.

If you are at Bensen Days definitely attend the GWS presentation by Mike Goodrich and Chris Buchanan. Chris was surprised at how accurate GWS has been so far. He flew in the back seat as the data collector with me. Mike is trying to make the presentation as simple as he can taking out the math bits so it should appeal to everyone.
 
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The rotor RPM decays at the fastest rate at around 0.6 G, even faster than 0 G according to Jean Claude calculations as unintuitive as it sounds.
I recall some years ago Chuck Beaty calculated that the maximum Rrpm decay rate occurs at +0.25 G. It might depend on forward speed. Chuck, where are you?
 
I recall some years ago Chuck Beaty calculated that the maximum Rrpm decay rate occurs at +0.25 G. It might depend on forward speed. Chuck, where are you?

I'd like to see that calculation and a good explanation of it.
 
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2/3rds of the 3 days driving down to Wauchula is done ...been taking lots of new secondary roads on a very different route .(..seeing lots of new country ) than I normally go pulling my trailer ...overnighting in a old-style but clean, freshly renovated & inexpensive motel in a little town in GA ...Dawson ( stopped here as it looks nice & quiet & also same name as my maternal grandpa's family!)
Seeya all soon!
 
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