Bensen Gyrocopters

I so wanted one of these as a kid!

Imagine getting really good on one (loops, barrel rolls, etc.), taking it back to 1850, and hooking up with P. T. Barnum!

Gyros are good!

Oh, wait.... I got excited... y'all are talking about those flying machines.

This chopper was soon eclipsed by the jetpack, which, by the way, we were all supposed to be flying around on something like 40 years ago – right after James Bond had his. What the heck happened with that? A conspiracy, no doubt.

All is well until you get stiff during your flight and try to stretch!

I looked into gyrocopters some years ago. I decided against me being at the controls of a flying machine in general though.

From what I remember you pretty much want to avoid looping, etc. It's possible, but not recommended.

The other thing I remembered was talking to a guy that flew gyrocopters. I said something about them being able to glide if they lost power. (The overhead rotor is unpowered. Only the pusher prop is connected to the engine.) He told me that they do indeed glide. But he said you won't be landing out there - he pointed more or less off to the horizon where a plane would glide to. He said you'd be landing down there - he pointed down at about a forty five degree angle towards the ground. It made a very good impression of how they glide more like a stone than a feather.

Way too many moving parts to break, come loose, hit something or fall off. I will stick with solid wings. As my helicopter pilot friends say, when the engine unexpectedly stops the remaining ride is straight down.

@Robb -- I'ts called having the glide ration of a brick.

I think that's "glide ratio"

@Expat -- You're right of course, but it really isn't my fault -- I've found that my keyboard makes more mistakes when I've been drinking! I suspect it's because electronic connections are calibrated for the capacitance/resistance of normal air, and even traces of alcohol fumes skew the reliability of data transfers.

Could bee your write.