The Bensen Aircraft Corporation was established by Dr.
Igor Bensen
Igor Vasilevich Bensen (russian: И́горь Васи́льевич Бенсен; April 1, 1917 – February 10, 2000) was a Russian-American engineer. He founded Bensen Aircraft, a US company which produced a successful line of gyrogliders ...
at
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...
in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
in 1952 to develop and market a variety of helicopters and autogyros of Bensen's own design.
History
The most successful product was the
Bensen B-8
The Bensen B-8 is a small, single-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the 1950s. Although the original manufacturer stopped production in 1987, plans for homebuilders are still available as of 2019. Its design was a refinement of t ...
that first flew in 1955 and remained in production until the company closed down in 1987.
Aircraft
See also
*
Gyrocopter
An autogyro (from Ancient Greek, Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift (force), lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an ...
*
Gyroglider
A rotor kite or gyrokite is an unpowered, rotary-wing aircraft. Like an autogyro or helicopter, it relies on lift created by one or more sets of rotors in order to fly. Unlike a helicopter, gyrokites and rotor kites do not have an engine poweri ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
Bensen Aircraft Foundation archives{{Bensen aircraft
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States
Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United States
Defunct manufacturing companies based in North Carolina
Manufacturing companies established in 1952