The Bensen B-12, variously dubbed the Sky-Way or Sky-Mat was an unconventional

multirotor A multirotor or multicopter is a rotorcraft with more than two lift-generating rotors. An advantage of multirotor aircraft is the simpler rotor mechanics required for flight control. Unlike single- and double-rotor helicopters which use complex ...

developed by

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 ...

in the United States in the late 1950s. Extremely unorthodox, the design sprang from Bensen's thinking about the engine redundancy necessary to ensure the safe operation of small, personal rotorcraft operating at low altitudes and slow speeds. The result was a broad aluminum framework supporting an array of ten engines and rotors that Bensen likened to a "

magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination. In literature One o ...

".Bensen 1992, 110 The design was later refined to include eight rotors, each driven by two engines for a total of sixteen. Successfully flown in 1961 at altitudes up to 20 ft (6 m), Bensen felt that the approach had potential for military heavy-lift or agricultural applications, but nothing further came of it.

Specifications

References

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aerofiles.com

Bensen Aircraft Foundation
1960s United States experimental aircraft 1960s United States helicopters B-12 Multirotor helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1961 {{aero-1960s-stub