The Bensen B-7 was a small
rotor kite
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 ...
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 1950s and marketed for home building. It was a refined to be a slightly larger version of the
B-6, replacing the skids with a tricycle undercarriage, and adding a single large fin to the rear of the aircraft.
The B-7 was first towed aloft on 17 June 1955, and on 6 December that year, Bensen flew a motorized version designated the B-7M, a fully autonomous
autogyro
An autogyro (from 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. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
. The prototype B-7M crashed three days later with Bensen at the controls. Although the machine was soon repaired and in the air again, the incident set Bensen to work on further refinements to the design that would eventually lead to the
B-8.
Variants
''Data from:'' Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59
[
;B-7:The basic gyro-glider
;B-7B Gyro-boat: A Gyro-glider mounted on a standard sailing dinghy hull.
;B-7W Hydro-glider :The B-7W "Hydroglider" was a gyrocopter designed to be towed from a motorboat at 10-20 mph. The B-7W was tested at ]Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida.
History
Billed as Florida' ...
Florida in 1955. It was marketed to be a sport vehicle, with practical uses in fish or submarine spotting. The floats were modified from a Republic Seabee
The Republic RC-3 Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aircraft Corporation.
Design and development
The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins "Spence" Spence ...
.Nelson H-59
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
4-cylinder 2-stroke horizontally-opposed engine driving a pusher propeller, mounted behind the pilot.
Specifications (B-7M)
References
Further reading
*
External links
Bensen Aircraft Foundation
Bensen Aircraft at Vortechonline.com
{{Bensen aircraft
1950s United States sport aircraft
Rotor kites
Single-engined pusher autogyros
B-07
Homebuilt aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1955