So, Bensen Days has moved to NC? (As per the title @ the beginning of video)
Very enjoyable flight video, Denis!
Ron's takeoff roll surprised me...I have seen him fly in person @ Mentone previously*, & wondered why his roll wasn't straight (as I would expect) down the runway. I also noticed he didn't try to correct his angle back into alignment w/ the runway heading as he accelerated, as a beginner might.
Then I saw the windsock a-blowin' off to the right! Ron knew the correct angle to better utilize the wind's direction & sensed the amount of power, rotorblade speed, & space on the tarmac to lift off nicely @ an angle more into the breeze, before running out of pavement into the grass.
"Stick" still has the touch even after being away from flying rotorcraft, having totally gone over to the "Dark Side Of Aviation", where the wings are stuck in one position.
*For Mentone 2012, I drove across most of the US to attend, towing my gyro so I could finally fly during the convention. Picked up Chuck S., who lives in Boise, Idaho, along the way. He used to fly a Dominator, & states it was the most enjoyable gyro to fly that he had owned!
We approached Ron Awad @ the 2012 PRA Convention, asking him to take Chuck up for a ride in his tandem Yamaha-powered Dominator, telling Ron that Chuck used to fly a Dominator in the past. Ron gladly took him up for about 20 minutes. I'm sure Ron gave him his usual Dominator routine.
Chuck came back from that ride w/ a HUGE smile on his face. Said it was the BEST TIME, having that thrill once again. He made sure to donate plenty to Ron's fuel expenses. Chuck served in the Idaho Nat'l Guard in the helicopter unit for decades, getting lots of stick time in them even though he wasn't officially a pilot. Whatever the military designation, it was the Hughes 500 that he flew in most of the time.
He started out w/ a Bensen gyroglider back in the 1960's, utilizing the great "runways" the state of Idaho provided when they closed off long stretches of US Hwy. 30 after I-80 (now I-84) was completed next to it. I-80N was to differentiate from I-80S that goes on west from Utah to Sacramento, CA.
Chuck relates that their gang had ooddles of fun towing each other for miles, becoming adapt @ controlling the engine-less gyro. They then progressed to adding the Mac engine & towing w/ that extra weight on the air frame, getting used to the difference. Then they went tow-less.
He said the saddest day of his life was when he could no longer climb up into his Dominator, due to pain from hips & knees, which have all since been replaced w/ artificial ones. He sold it figuring his time in the sun was over.
Chuck is still kicking along @ some 87 yrs. of age. Still has a gyro project in his shop behind his home, a Barnett J4B, I believe, w/ a Continental for it's power plant. He realizes he'll not get to finishing it & would like to sell it to someone who would be able to finish it & get it up into the air.