Bensen Aircraft B-8M Gyro-Copter
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The B-8M is Igor Bensen's single-seat open-frame autogyro, sold as plans and kits from 1957 until the company closed in 1987 and built by amateurs in the thousands. With the design's 72 hp McCulloch two-stroke it cruises at about 39 knots, climbs at 1,000 fpm, carries 6 gallons for under 90 nm and weighs 247 lb empty and 500 lb gross.
This is a rotorcraft, not an aeroplane, and a gyroplane rating is required; with one seat, the instruction has to be taken in a two-seat gyroplane. The design's record is the thing to know: a propeller thrust line above the centre of gravity and no horizontal stabiliser make it prone to pilot-induced oscillation and to power push-over, an unloading of the rotor from which there is normally no recovery once it has begun, and the NTSB recorded 85 fatal Bensen accidents between 1966 and 2001. The McCulloch is a converted target-drone engine out of production since the late 1980s, which is why many examples carry other engines, Volkswagen conversions among them, each changing the weight and the balance. Every B-8M is one builder's work from plans, often decades old, and rotor blade condition, hub hardware and the frame's welds matter more than any figure here. Bensen itself has been gone since 1987, though plans are still sold by others. The owner may maintain it, and an A&P or the builder-repairman signs the annual condition inspection.
Variants of the Bensen B-8 Gyrocopter
- B-8M Gyro-Copter · 1957 · 24 active · this page
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What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | McCulloch 4318AX (2-stroke) |
| Horsepower | 72 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1957 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 39 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 87 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | — |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 253 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 500 lb |
| Empty weight | 247 lb |
| Usable fuel | 6 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 978 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 24 |
| Median year built | 1973.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 1 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 4.17 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 24 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Gyroplane, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | —4 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 21.83 · 1 models in class.
- Severity: class median 0.
- Access: class median —.
- Support: class median 24.
- Liquidity: class median 4.17.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30