kco@rabbit.UUCP (04/12/84)
Has anyone on the net had any actual experience with the Benson genre? I've heard them nick named "Widow Makers" ...
tjj@ssc-vax.UUCP (T J Jardine) (04/13/84)
With an FAA Inspector, I observed a flight test for a gyrocopter rating by one of my students in a Benson back in 1970. He passed the flight test, got his temporary certificate, climbed back in and went "once around the pattern" as a victory celebration. Turning base to final, just a little bit late and into a slight cross-wind, the "widow maker" did it's finest and crashed just short of the tarmac. Gyrocopter = totally demolished. Pilot = broken left arm. Don't think that he ever flew a gyro after that. Ted Jardine CFI ASME Instruments -- TJ (with Amazing Grace) The Piper ...uw-beaver!ssc-vax!tjj