Bensen B-12 "Sky-Way"
The Bensen B-12, variously dubbed the Sky-Way or Sky-Mat was an unconventional VTOL aircraft developed by IgorBensen in the United States in the late 1950s. Extremely unorthodox, the design sprang from Bensen's thinking about the engine redundancy necessary to ensure the safe operation of small, personal rotorcraft operating at low altitudes and slow speeds. The result was a broad aluminum framework supporting an array of ten engines and rotors that Bensen likened to a "magic carpet"<SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference> t</SUP>he design was later refined to include eight rotors, each driven by two engines for a total of sixteen.
Manned, somewhat precariously, research vehicle for possible agricultural operations. Aluminum framework with 10 McCulloch M75 two-cycle engines and 2.1m rotors; first flown 2 November 1961. Hovered at 6m, flew sideways and backwards with success.
Johannes