Gyro For Sale At Bensen Days

Rick Martin

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2004
Messages
2,162
Location
BRADENTON, FLORIDA & FL10
Aircraft
Everglades Kite Gyro, Tandem Dominator
Total Flight Time
900 hours
Here are the pictures I promised. $1500.00 for this almost finished gyro. I tried to find out the name of the builder but couldn't. I do know he is recently deceased and the gyro is being sold by his widow. I understand he had been around gyros for a long time and had built 3 or 4 from scratch.
I was so intent on getting close ups, I for got to get a full shot - sorry.

Negatives: Dick Degraw said that the control ratio is a little off, meaning that the head travels too fast in relation to the stick. The "strap" holding the axle strut to the keel needs to be beefed up. And the seat probably needs to be raised. And in my opinion, the spreader bar needs to be stronger.

Positives: Control system is very different but has absolutely no slop. Has a Bensen/Brock head. Tail is nicely made from aluminum. Great paint job. Has hydraulic main brakes (but needs a master cylinder). The front end is really strong (would be great on grass). I love the main suspension. Nice pod.

Basically it just needs a motor, blades and prop. It sure would speed things up for someone looking to get in fast.
 
Somebody put alot of work into this machine.Very different design.This won`t last long at BD`s.This would be a good machine for Gyro Ron but it`s probably out of his price range!
 
I plan to give it a inspection when I get there. I got my checkbook ready to go if I like what I see.
 
This sure is a creative design and looks good on the surface. I just hope the happy buyer doesn't forget this is somebody's experimental and un-tested design. ;)

Udi
 
Bill Keckler's scratch built gyro??

Bill Keckler's scratch built gyro??

If the widow lives in a mobile home park in Ft, Meyers, FL., then it is highly likely she is Marilyn Keckler. Her husband was Bill K. He passed away about two years ago during emergency heart surgery with no prior warnings

His scratch-built gyros were all a work of art and he flew the ones he completed until he passed away with two unfinished, one in Florida where they wintered, and one here in Portland, Oregon, where they summered. He utilized a bungee cord suspension in many of them. Some had Subaru engines, some Rotaxes. At least one had bicycle wheels.

I helped her find a buyer for his partially completed gyro frame here in Portland a year or so ago, and she told me that there was another in Fl. that she needed to sell...
 
Last edited:
That was a great buy, I dont know why Mike G did not bid on it for me.
No I really do . He wants me airborne and not a collector. Passing up a good gyro deal is harder than quitting cigarettes.
 
Back
Top