History

History of Igor Bensen and Bensen Aircraft

In 1953, Dr. Igor Bensen, an immigrant from the Russian Revolution 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 license in the United States. This 100 pound flying machine could be built at home from a kit that an aspiring pilot would purchase from the company or could be purchased already assembled. For a while, even Sears & Roebuck’s annual catalog contained this novel contraption.
His Bensen Gyro-Copter was also designed for home construction. It was first flown on December 6, 1955. The Gyrocopter was a powered version of the Gyro-Glider and could fit in anyone's garage. The Model B-8M could also be transported quickly to different locations by simply locking its blades in place and driving it up on a small trailer.

The most famous Gyro-Copter was the Spirit of Kitty Hawk. It received that name because it exactly duplicated the Wright brothers' first flight on its sixtieth anniversary. The aircraft also set twelve world and national autogyro speed, distance, and altitude records in May 1967 and June 1968. The aircraft held more records than any other nonmilitary rotary aircraft in the world.

Production of the Gyrocopter continued until 1987 when the company went out of business.
Now, this website, www.bensenaircraft.org offers the complete package that Bensen Aircraft once had available. To purchase, please click on the links in the left hand column. We offer this service for informational purposes only.