Igor Vasilevich Bensen (; April 1, 1917 – February 10, 2000) was a Russian-American engineer. He founded Bensen Aircraft, a US company which produced a successful line of gyrogliders (rotor kites) and autogyros.

Early life and education

He was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and eventually reached the United States in 1937. He began studies at age 17 while in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, won a scholarship to study in the US three years later. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in mechanical engineering from

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

in 1940, later becoming a Registered Professional Engineer.

Career

Bensen flew his first towed gyroglider in 1954. He founded the Popular Rotorcraft Association (PRA) in 1962, a non-profit interest group for owners and homebuilders of autogyros and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s, based in Mentone, Indiana. He was the group's president from 1962 to 1971.

Honors and awards

He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Indiana University in 1968.

Personal life and death

Bensen died from Parkinson's disease at age 82.

References

External links

Biography of Igor Bensen
at gyroplanepassion.com Aircraft designers Russian inventors 1917 births 2000 deaths People from Mentone, Indiana Soviet emigrants to the United States 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors Stevens Institute of Technology alumni {{US-inventor-stub