Gyrocopters Saved at Newark Air Museum

A Campbell-Bensen B.8M gyrocopter which has been on loan at the Newark Air Museum (NAM) for more than 15 years was recently bequeathed to the museum in the will of UK gyrocopter collector, the late Roger Light.

This complete airframe has been displayed in NAM’s Hangar 1 since it arrived in April 2009 — the first gyrocopter to be displayed at the museum. Built by Campbell Aircraft Limited, B.8M G-ASNY was first registered in August 1967 and, after it was de-registered in 1991, the gyrocopter was stored in the north-west of England.

Additional actions by the museum trustees and its volunteers have also safeguarded a significant collection of other gyrocopter airframe structures, engines, parts and assorted spares. During several visits to north-west England, the items have been carefully gathered together and moved into storage at the museum’s site in eastern Nottinghamshire, close to the county border with Lincolnshire.

Work is already underway to sort the items out and to produce an inventory of what has been recovered. All items are in a good condition and early indications suggest that there are at least two nearly complete machines, with three additional main-frame structures.

The NAM trustees have agreed with the executor of the Roger Light Estate that eventually these gyrocopters should be made available for disposal to other suitable aviation collections across the UK.