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In 1953, Dr. Igor Bensen, an immigrant from the USSR where he had been chief research engineer of the Kaman Aircraft Corporation, established the Bensen Aircraft Corporation in Raleigh, North Carolina. He initially planned to produce commercial helicopters, but switched to the private market when he realized that the relative safety of rotary craft would be attractive to private pilots. His first aircraft was the Bensen B-8 Gyro-Glider, which was unpowered and could be flown without a pilot's license in the United States. It could be built at home from a kit that an aspiring pilot would purchase from the company or could be purchased already assembled.

 Identifier

NASM.2006.0029

Creator

Bensen, Igor.

Date

bulk 1978

Provenance

Dave Spriggs, Gift, Year received

Extent

Enter vol amt Cubic feet ((1 box))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the Bensen B-8 Gyro-Glider documentation: Building and Operating Manual; plan drawings; Rotorcraft Dictionary; Bensen-related brochures; list of tools needed to build a gyrocopter; Building and Operating Material Specifications for Bensen Models B-8 and B-8M; Catalog No. 81 and order form; Installment Purchase Plan documents and price list; and a "I'd Rather be flying a Bensen Gyrocopter" bumper sticker.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Citation

Bensen B-8 Gyro-Glider Collection, Accession number 2006-0029, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Autogiros

Airplanes, Home-built

Aeronautics

Aeronautics

Bensen B-8 Gyro-Glider

Gliders (Aeronautics)

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Plans (drawings)

Manuals

Brochures