“The frame is new and the engine completely overhauled, all new parts.” Built in the mid 90's Bensen.



Item specifics Condition: Seller Notes:
Used
“The frame is new and the engine completely overhauled, all new parts.”
Model Year: Built in the mid 90's Make: Bensen style Gyrocopter Gyroplane EA-81 engine
This description will be a little long, so please bear with me as I want to tell everything I can and explain the extras I bought. This is a Bensen style Gyrocopter built by a machinist in I believe the mid 90"s. The frame is all new and the engine completely overhauled and never started. It"s the Subaru EA-81 truck model engine that comes stock with 100hp and high torque. In the one picture with the prop hub, you can see the new gaskets under the head and housing, (that"s cut back to mount the prop). You can see new gaskets all over the engine up close. Helps to show the engine has been gone through. I listed it as used, but it"s basically new. I bought this around 2006 and was going to get it going. Here"s the extras I bought. I bought a new Calumet seat tank and cover ($262 and $120) as shown in the pictures.The old exhaust was crappy, so I bought a new stainless one from Stratus 2000(no longer in business). It was either $300 or $400 I paid for it. He told me this exhaust increased power a little and is fairly quiet. Plus it won"t rust!As you can see, it has twin carbs on it and looks really cluttered on top. Stratus also made a twin spigot type carb setup that gets rid of all that and you can use motorcycle carbs on it. The whole setup is in two pictures above. This lightens it by about 10 lbs and increases power by about 10 hp and really cleans up the top of the engine, also simplifies it considerably. This was about $600. I bought some altitude compensating carbs from a BMW motorcycle, I"m still looking for them. They will be included if I find them. I bought a drop keel kit from Neal Carnes (now deceased) that lowers the keel behind the mast 6", also includes nose wheel extension. This was about $300. This allows a larger prop to go with the redrive, explained below.I then bought a tube style tail set that gets covered with silk, which I have. I believe it was $300 for this. The tubes are chromoly. It has a 6" horizontal stab that will be in the prop wash. It will make it very stable. The original Bensen tail goes with it. The last pictures show a planetary re-drive. It was made by Marvin Currie and he is very well known in experimental circles. I don"t know if he is still making these or not. This allows the prop to be mounted in line with the crankshaft. Keeps the thrust line centered on the crank, which makes it easier for adjusting the CG. From what I"ve read about it, its very smooth and trouble free. It has to be hooked up to the engine oil system to get constant lubrication. He cut down the flywheel to lighten and balance it. The rubber damper you see in picture, bolts to the flywheel which bolts to the crank, the re-drive slides into the splines inside it. I have more pictures of it, but I reached my limit in the auction. If you need more, just contact me. Also, with the re-drive, you can mount a lightweight starter, so no hand propping. It has a 54" prop right now and can fly a person up to 180 very easily. I weigh about 240, so for me it would be sluggish, that"s why I bought the re-drive. It turns it into a real hot rod with it. When I ordered it, I told Marvin I had a 54" prop now, but was putting on a 6" drop keel kit. He said I could go either with a 64" or 66" prop. He figured up what the ratio needed to be in order to keep the tips from going super sonic. He really knows Subarus. I paid about $1400 for the re-drive.I watched a guy (he was probably around 170 lbs) at a local fly-in, in the St. Louis area around the time I bought it. His was basically like this one, no re-drive. He had 25" McCutchen Skywheels (which are back in production now) that he hand started. He also hand propped the engine. It started right up and he spun up the blades and took off in a much shorter distance that I thought he would. I watched him level out about maybe 50" in a high speed pass and banked what looked like from my angle, close to 90 degrees. I know when he did this, I could see the top of his rotorhead! He said it was the lower horsepower EA-81 model, but worked fine for him. He said he flew it all over. He had the original tail, but made a horizontal stab out of plywood. This one doesn"t need much to go, you"ll need a rotor head, control rods from cyclic to rotor head and rotors and just going over things. If you put on the accessories I bought, it will be a real hot rod and still very reliable. I"ve read where these engines can get a couple thousand hours with no problems and they are easy to rebuild. When I bought this and then started getting the accessories, I was really excited about getting it going. Then I started having health problems and then when that was over, I wound up taking care of a parent who had Alzheimers. So I just never got to it. Now it"s just not going to happen, so I"m selling it. Here are things I was going still going to do to it. Get wider aluminum wheels and main tires. Put some disc brakes on. Put on a John Deere mower alternator, much smaller and lighter than whats on it. Put on an electronic ignition. I had thought about instead of using the seat tank, mounting some round aluminum gas tanks. Get a lighter aluminum radiator. That"s about it. There are about $3200 in extras. I"m starting the auction at $3000, this will be a great deal and project for someone. I think the 51% rule shouldn"t be a problem, with installing the seat tank and frame, the tail, the drop keel, getting a rotor head and other things I mentioned, etc. Just keep receipts and pictures.I"ve been a member since 1999, check my feedback, only positives. Bid with confidence. This is for local pickup. I can deliver it within 500 or so miles for just expenses (gas, motel, food). $500 PayPal or overnight cashiers check downpayment within the first 24 hours and final payment on pickup or 7 days later, whichever comes first. Good luck bidding
 Current date: 2017-09-09