Bensen B-5
| B-5 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Recreational rotor kite |
| National origin | USA |
| Manufacturer | Bensen Aircraft for homebuilding |
| Designer | Igor Bensen |
| First flight | 1953 |
The Bensen B-5 was a small rotor kite developed by Igor Bensen in the United States and offered and marketed for home building in 1954.[1] Dubbed the "Gyro-Glider", it was the first of several such designs that would be sold by Bensen Aircraft Corporation over the following decades.
The B-5 was built around a cruciform frame of aluminum tube. Landing wheels were fitted to three points of this cross, and a mast was fitted above its centre to support the rotor hub. The fourth arm of the cross provided a mounting for a large, plywood fin and rudder, reminiscent of that of the Raoul Hafner's Rotachute that had shaped Bensen's thinking about rotor kite design.
The aircraft was intended to be towed behind a car, and could be built at home from easily obtained materials in about three to four weeks.
The B-5 was also the model converted to the Bensen Mid-Jet which was powered by two tip mounted ramjets for military use.
References
[edit]- ^ Devon Francis (July 1954). "He Rides a Kite". Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation. p. 98.
- Charnov, Bruce (2003). From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Amazing Survival of an Aviation Technology. Praeger. pp. 225–26.
External links
[edit]- Bensen Aircraft Foundation
- "Front Cover" Popular Science, July 1954.