Bensen Aircraft Corporation Papers, 1966 - 1973, PC.1931
Abstract
Igor B. Bensen, a Russian immigrant to the United States, realized in 1953 his dream
of establishing his own aircraft company. At the invitation of North Carolina state
officials, Bensen formed the Bensen Aircraft Corporation near the Raleigh-Durham Airport
with the goals of developing safe, light-weight, rotary-wing aircraft for both construction
and use by private individuals. By April of 1954, Bensen had completed the first gyro-glider
and was making towed flights with this prototype. The gyro-copter, a powered version
of the glider, was first flown on December 6, 1955.
This collection, dating from 1966-1973, includes promotional material relating to
the gyro-copter, a manual for building and operating the gyro-glider, and 6 double
oversize technical drawings for Model B-8 of the Bensen Gyro-glider.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Bensen Aircraft Corporation Papers
- Call Number
- PC.1931
- Creator
- Bensen Aircraft Corporation
- Date
- 1966 - 1973
- Extent
- 23.00 items
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.1931, Bensen Aircraft Corporation Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Biographical and Historical No
, located near the Raleigh-Durham Airport, was incorporated in 1953 by Igor B. Bensen, at the invitation of North Carolina state officials. Bensen, son of an agricultural scientist who fled Russia shortly after the 1917 revolution, was educated in the University of Louvain, Belgium (1934-1937), the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. (1937-1940), and Indiana University (Ph.D., 1968). After some years in the employ of the General Electric Corporation, Bensen resigned to study helicopter design under Igor I. Sikorsky (1889-1972), father of the multi-engine airplane and of the modern helicopter.
Bensen invented and manufactured at his Raleigh plant both the gyro-glider andthe gyro-copter. Both were small, light-framed, single-passenger craftthat were furnished with rotary blades that were kept in motion by airrather than by engine power. The gyro-copter, as opposed to the gyro-glider, was furnished with an additional propeller driven by a 60 or a90-horsepower engine. Bensen Aircraft Corporation manufactured both kindsof aircraft and sold them in inexpensive kit form. In 1963, Bensen, usingone of his gyro-copters, duplicated the first flight of the Wright brothersby taking off and flying at the same speed and height as the celebrated 1903flight and using the same spots among the Kitty Hawk dunes for his flight.He dubbed the gyro-copter used for this feat, and subsequently, in 1969, gave it to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum.
Contents of the Collection
1. Technical Drawings For Model B-8
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Gift, Kenneth Brokamp, Missouri, to North Carolina Museum of History; transferred from Museum to State Archives of North Carolina, 1999.