"What was it like flying The Bensen Gyrocopter"

scandtours

scandtours
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Bensen,Brock, Parsons Tandem
Year 1973. "What was it like to fly a Bensen Gyrocopter"
T.B.C.
 

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Al Cudney, the author of that article was one of a kind.

Al, a Canadian, showed up at Bensen’s place in his VW camper with wife, dog and Gyroglider in tow and asked for a job.

Bensen hired him but Al was so aggravating that Mrs. Bensen fired him but the kindly Dr. B always rehired him.

My first encounter with Al was in the late 1960s at a SRC meeting at the Brooksville, FL airport where he had been sent as a Bensen rep.

Someone asked; “Mr. Cudney, wouldn’t Benesn metal blades fly better with countersunk rivets instead of all those rivet heads sticking out?”

Al replied; “Bensen metal blades use a laminar airfoil and without the drag of exposed rivet heads, would turn so fast that they’d explode.”
 
I met Al Cudnery and his wife and that comment sounds

I met Al Cudnery and his wife and that comment sounds

just like him. He was still working for Bensen at that time.
Marion
 
Al Cudney, was the author of the article "Reason For The Gyrocopter Front Cable" too. This was a year before he wrote "What's it like to fly The Bensen Gyrocopter.
Click second and third time on images for better view.
 

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Note that Cudney's article on the cable is for gyros with the single 2x2 mast tube. The double 1x2 has less flex to the rear.

I still prefer having the cable.
 
Thanks, Scandtours... One learns a lot here in the RWF...
 
Remember that, when thinking about the loads that the rotor imposes on the mast, you must consider the whole picture. It's misleading and dangerous to think of rotor drag pulling straight aft on the masthead, while ignoring the much large force of LIFT (which pulls straight up).

The rotor, in reality, creates just one force, not two. The standard term for this single force is rotor thrust. For discussion purposes, we artificially break this single thrust force into two sub-forces, lift and drag. We must always consider them together.

The rotor's thrust in cruising flight pulls up-and-back at an angle of 10 degrees or so, and the mast is angled so that, in this condition, the mast is subject to pure tension (it's many times stronger in tension than in bending). During flares and slow flight, the rotor disk's aft tilt is greater than ten degrees, and the mast then experiences an aft-bending load.

Bumblebee and Gyrobee gyros were designed around a mast that violates the Bensen aft-raking rule. These gyros' masts are perfectly vertical relative to the gyro's horizontal axis. Therefore, they are loaded in bending continuously. For these light gyros, however, the bending loads are modest compared to the strength of the mast (especially a double 1x2) -- even without the old "forestay" cable.

The cable on my Bensen scratched the top of my shiny new helmet. Aggravating.
 
I feel that the cable is necessary always.....

I feel that the cable is necessary always.....

Note that Cudney's article on the cable is for gyros with the single 2x2 mast tube. The double 1x2 has less flex to the rear.

I still prefer having the cable.

I have flown my Bensen with out the cable and when I did, I felt the Keel flexing under my feet when resting my feet on the rudder tubes,,,,,,,then I reinstalled the cable and it stopped the flexing and believe that the cable should always be used on a powered machine to " Keep" the frame " Taught" so to say.
 
Just like Ron, I too have flown with and without the cable.
On my current Bensen, I fly with the cable. At Bensen Days 2016, I took an early morning flight and used my GoPro camera mounted on my helmet. I prespin using a 18v drill motor and pitch it overboard, once my blades are at about 100 rrpm. During the backtaxi, you can see the cable coming loose and tight from the mast flexing. While in flight, the cable keeps the mast and keel geometry fixed. The noise is the GoPro camera housing touching the cable.
Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/xcHrwuIxVJ8
 
This second video, was taken by Gerald. Sleepy eyed and all. I woke Wachula up that morning.
And Waking everyone up, was my intention.
lol.
https://youtu.be/AD17JeO3LNc
 
I agree I use the cable.

Nice video David, my camera did the same thing with the cable, I moved the camera to the other side of my helmet and it works better.
 
I would like to hear one reason for not using it on a Bensen.
Mine, on the ground the cable was little bit loose but in the in air in tension(half to one inch mast bend.)
With todays Bensen gyros and with Rotax engines and one feet (plus) longer masts a cable will not harm.
 
A photo below.
It was when young and... brave, (stupid) flying over water. It was also the time that could not say NO to anything.
 

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A daring young man in his flying machine; That’s Dave Seace when he was ~18 or so years old. Hughes 269 rotor blades.

The shadow is that of Dr. Bensen who was snapping the picture.
 

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How to compact a gyro so that it will fit in a dumpster:

Top photo: Mike Boyette, Me, Dave Seace and Ernie Boyette.

Bottom 2 photos; Dave appears to be quite pleased with the thorough job he did of compacting the gyro.
 

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David I think the cable in your Bensen seems to be too loose, the one in my copter is much tighter
 
C. Beaty;n929451 said:
A daring young man in his flying machine; That’s Dave Seace when he was ~18 or so years old. Hughes 269 rotor blades.

The shadow is that of Dr. Bensen who was snapping the picture.

OUCH!! 😬😩

Cool bit of history there ..... for us latecomers to the gyro scene!
 
Nice to get the info on the cable. I have a Benson with a Mac 90 . It takes some getting used too. I still wack my head on it. Headed out to El Mirage next weekend for the first time. Hoping to meet some people and make new friends.
 
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