Piston

Ben Showers Skytwister

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A single seat open frame helicopter. The frame is 4130 steel main frame and bolt-together aluminium tube. A modern version of the Adams-Wilsom Choppy helicopter. Single-seat open-frame helicopter with a Min Speed Hover speed.
Video covers flight and testing. All new aluminum tube tail design. New replaceable landing gear. Easy build design for the true homebuilder. Scratch build entirely from plans; CAD plans $95 in 2009.
Limited components available.

Engine: 66 hp Rotax 582 or Hirth.
Rotor blades: Fleck all 2706 aluminium extrusion
Main rotor: 21.5 ft / 6.55m
Tail rotor: 36 in
Cruise: 65 mph / 105km/h
Top speed: 85 mph / 137km/h.
Empty wt: 320 lb / 144kg
Useful load: 350 lbs.
Gross wt: 670 lbs.
Width: 5 ft 8 in
Height: 6 ft 8 in / 2.03m
Length: 15 ft 9 in / 4.80m

Bensen B-20 Kopter

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Take-off and flight of the Kopter is under full piston-engine power. Takes off at 30 mph. Cruises at 60 mph, with a high speed of 85+ mph. Climbs at 1,000 fpm and will reach an altitude of 12,000 ft. Engines of as little as 35 hp may be used (with reduction drive), or up to 80 hp. If flown as an ultralight, the B-20 is free of licensing or certification requirements.
The B-19 may easily be converted at any time to the powered B-20, as is fully detailed in the same Construction Plans.

Engine (original): McCulloch 4318
Horsepower Range: 45 to 70
Height: 6 ft
Length: 10½ ft
Width: 5½ ft
Empty Weight (minus engine): 150 lbs
Empty Weight (with engine): 230 lbs
Gross Weight (max): 530 lbs
Payload Weight: 300 lbs
Rotor Diameter: 21 ft
Rotor Chord: 7 in
Disc Loading: 1.53 lbs/sq ft
Maximum Speed: 90 mph
Airframe construction: welded steel tubing
Control System: joystick; rudder pedals
Cruise Speed: 60 mph
Take-off Speed: 30 mph
Rate Of Climb: 1,000 fpm
Maximum Altitude: 12,000 ft

Bensen B-7

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From the B-5 Gyro-Glider factory-built prototype of 1954, Bensen evolved the B-6 and B-7, and from these has come the standard production model the B-8. This has a somewhat more sturdy construction and is available as a factory-built machine or in kit form for amateur construction. Two water-borne versions of the B-8 are also available: the B-8B Gyro-Boat which has a boat-type hull and twin outrigged stabilising floats, and the B-8W Hydro-Glider mounted on twin floats.
In 1955 Bensen placed an engine in the B-7 and renamed it the B-7M (“m” for motorised). The B-7M flew for the first time on 6 December 1955. Two years later, in 1957, the B-7M was upgraded to include, among other refinements, a McCulloch 72-hp pusher engine.

Benoist Type 15

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Benoist Type 15 flying boat under construction in St. Louis Car Co. shops, ca. 1915

Basically an enlarged Type 14 with a four-bay wing layout and upper and lower wings of equal span. The two direct-drive engines were strut mounted beneath the upper wing.

When the onset of World War I prevented any attempt at a transatlantic flight, Benoist sought to interest the British government in purchasing the aircraft for use in antisubmarine patrol and went so far as to make arrangements to have the type mass-produced at a plant owned by the St. Louis Car (rail) Company. By this time the British were already committed to flying boat contracts with Curtiss, and no orders for the Type 15 were forthcoming.

Benoist hoped to mass-produce the Type 15 for the British Royal Naval Air Services, but the company ceased operations soon after Benoist’s death in 1917.

Benoist XIV Air-Boat

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A small biplane flying-boat built in 1914 designed by Thomas W.Benoist and built by Benoist Aircraft Co.

This flying boat conducted the world’s first scheduled airline flight. Designed by Thomas W. Benoist, the Benoist Type XIV first flew from the Florida city of St Petersburg to Tampa in January 1914 and was one of two aircraft belonging to the St Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.

In the United States, the St Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line commenced twice-daily services across Tampa Bay, Florida, using a Benoist flying boat, charging the single passenger US$5 per journey in January 1914.

The aircraft was so small there was space for just one passenger who had to sit next to the pilot, quickly rendering the entire operation an unaffordable venture.

Having carried 1,205 passengers in the space of three months, the airline folded and the Benoist became the plaything of the wealthy. In 1984, a flying replica was built for the 70th anniversary of the flight, which is now on display in the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

Engine: 70 hp Sturtevant or 75 hp Roberts
Propeller: pusher
Span: 45′
Length: 26′
Range: 175 miles