who makes or did make this gyro????

robert mckenny

jackleg
Joined
Nov 9, 2011
Messages
40
Location
wicksburg, ALA.
Aircraft
bensen, parson 2 place
Total Flight Time
15
I have acquired a new gyro that I bought here in Alabama but I have no information on it .Does anybody know or have any pictures of it flying.?
 
Do you have a picture of it? Have no idea what gyro your talking about.
 
Here it is Robert

Here it is Robert

The forward portion looks like a standard Air Command,

The rear portion,,

STAR SHIP GALACTICA
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    129.2 KB · Views: 79
Looks like they left excess pieces of the mold on there !
 
gyro?

gyro?

It has a top half and bottom half jointed correctly .not pieced together from different parts (or home made)
Owned by a man named Gary Meradeth (sp?)
 
Looks like someone made that body for a Bensen type frame . Is that all you have of the
Gyro ?
 
Youmer Copter

Youmer Copter

Hello,
My name is Gerald and my father John Young and Bill Farmer were the ones to design and build the Youmer. They had great hopes of being able to build a complete aircraft able to be sod as a registered flyable gyro. They came close but didn't quite make it. I believe the gamble my father designed was registered or copyrighted? I still have the skymatic for the craft. The shell was made from a fibreglass body of a scuba diving submarine.
 
Last edited:
The first person I actually saw flying a gyro was Bob Farmer flying his Youmercopter; -not the version pictured above but a Bensen more or less, with a pod. The only recollection I have of Bob flying the amphib version was a flight or two straight down the runway without turns.

Here’s a picture of Bob Farmer standing next to the hydrogen peroxide tip jet helicopter he was testing.

This version used the pilot’s legs for landing gear.

http://www.neatorama.com/2014/03/14...ocket-Powered-One-Person-Helicopter-Backpack/
 

Attachments

  • Bob Farmer.JPG
    Bob Farmer.JPG
    12.3 KB · Views: 41
Last edited:
Mchale's Navy

Mchale's Navy

Chuck,
That navy officer on the left looks like Capt. Binghampton from McHale's Navy. You used to hang with quite a group.
Larry
 
Bob Farmer had some interesting tales, Larry, but he never said anything about McHales Navy.

Bob claimed that shortly after WWII, he purchased an ex-military Sikorsky R-4 without an engine.

Using sandbag ballast to get the CG right, he and a friend towed the thing behind a truck on back roads in the Everglades, beating Bensen in the Gyroglider game by several years.
 
I have to agree with you Larry that in the photo, Bob Farmer does sort of resemble Capt. Wallace Binghamton (Old Leadbottom) from McHale's Navy. I can never get enough of that old TV show. Joe Flynn was excellent in that part.

Chuck,

I wonder how Bob was able to pre-rotate the rotor of the Sikorsky R-4, and how well it flew as a "towed gyroglider?"

Wayne
 

Attachments

  • Joe_Flynn_1963.JPG
    Joe_Flynn_1963.JPG
    19.5 KB · Views: 12
  • Sikorsky_R4B.jpg
    Sikorsky_R4B.jpg
    91 KB · Views: 12
Last edited:
Bob didn’t say how he started the rotor on his R-4 Wayne; I’m only repeating snatches of conversation that I recall from many years ago; nor do I vouch for his veracity. I will say that he was an exceptionally skilled pilot.

However, with the collective bottomed out, rotor start wouldn’t have been very difficult.
 
Very interesting Arnie. Thanks for sharing!
 
Very interesting Arnie. Thanks for sharing!

You are welcome John , some day I should do a history article on the Sikorsky R-4 ... I have an original autographed 1944 book by Colonel Hollingsworth Franklin Gregory on the history of the helicopter

He was a Sikorsky Helicopter test pilot of sorts , and was one of the first licensed helicopter pilots , his official job was with the army as an evaluation and procurement officer for army equipment.

Smart guy and great pilot who had many valuable suggestion for Sikorsky to implement on the R-4 and it turned out so good the Army ordered 100 of them , it was the first helicopter production run in history , much credit was given to Sikorsky's use of the reliable Warner Scarab 7 cyl radial engine.
 
Youmer Copter

Youmer Copter

Hello,
My name is Gerald and my father John Young and Bill Farmer were the ones to design and build the Youmer. They had great hopes of being able to build a complete aircraft able to be sod as a registered flyable gyro. They came close but didn't quite make it. I believe the gamble my father designed was registered or copyrighted? I still have the skymatic for the craft. The shell was made from a fibreglass body of a scuba diving submarine.
Hi I just came across these threads, your dads partner was my dad Bob Farmer not Bill😊
I wish that I still had the business card he sent me as a child that had his picture flying it on the card.
 
Bob Farmer had some interesting tales, Larry, but he never said anything about McHales Navy.

Bob claimed that shortly after WWII, he purchased an ex-military Sikorsky R-4 without an engine.

Using sandbag ballast to get the CG right, he and a friend towed the thing behind a truck on back roads in the Everglades, beating Bensen in the Gyroglider game by several years.
Hello C. Beaty, I can't tell you how much you made me smile tonight when I came across these threads of you talking about my dad
Bob Farmer. Where did you meet him , if I may ask ty
Pamela Farmer
 
Top