Barbecue with a Side of AutoGyro

Connections

Ron in his AutoGyro Cavalon 915 iS over Benton Airport, 19 October 2024

Thanks to past encounters with Denny who flies out of Bloomsburg, PA, I am reminded by him each year about the annual "Fly-In and Pig Out" barbecue at Benton Airport (PA40). Benton is not your average fly-in destination, it is a private 2200 foot long turf strip about 25 miles east of Williamsport, PA. In 2025, the 17th annual event was held Saturday, October 18 on a beautiful fall day perfect for aviating. But my goals for 2025 went beyond merely "flying-in and pigging out". They also included connecting with Ron for a conversation about gyroplanes.

At the 2024 Benton event, I photographed Ron in his AutoGyro Cavalon making a pass over the runway and speculated about why he did not land. When he saw my commentary, Ron (who happens to share a hangar with Denny in Bloomsburg) reached out to explain the technical challenges that impact landing his Cavalon at Benton. The ensuing email exchanges and my curiosity about gyroplanes in general resulted in Ron extending an invitation for a ride in his unusual rotary winged steed.

Part 1: Flight of Two

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
18 Oct 2025	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - PA40 (Benton, PA) - N13 (Bloomsburg, PA) - SDC	3.3	3082.8

Whereas pilots from the Williamson Sodus Airport made a good showing at Benton during the 2024 event with twelve participants arriving in six airplanes, only two airplanes departed Sodus for Benton in 2025. Mark and I were aboard Warrior 481. In the club's Bold Warrior were Gilead, Scott, and Kim. Benton was Scott's first landing on grass without an instructor on board and it is the shortest runway he had ever managed. He was understandably pleased with himself for the achievement.

Benton Airport from 3500 feet.

We arrived over Benton later than planned and a second line of parked airplanes was already forming wingtip to wingtip along the runway. As I touched down on runway 21, I heard Denny's voice in my headset reciting his mantra of the day, "Roll to the end, turn right at the blue barrels."

I did as instructed and was marshalled to parking next to Scott, Gilead, and Kim. My first visit to Benton was in 2019 with Tom as a passenger. Benton was my 200th airport.

Eight One Six at Benton. Photo by Scott.

Lunch is served in a large hangar with outdoor tents providing covered dining. Because we arrived later than planned, the lunch line was already long and seating was hard to find, but we eventually managed to find a spot for the five of us to sit together.

Lunch! Photo by Scott.

Lunch included salt potatoes, barbecued pork, corn casserole, coleslaw, apple sauce, a roll, and a selection from a vast array of donated homemade desserts. I passed on dessert and swapped my dinner roll for Gilead's coleslaw out of deference to my revised diet. Once lunch was finished, Ron and I met up near the main hangar and decided to meet in Bloomsburg after the event to fly the Cavalon.

In the meantime, we explored the flightline.

Spanning Decades

One of the things that is truly great about the Benton fly-in is the variety of aircraft that drop in every year. Due to the short(ish) turf runway, the number of Spam cans like my airplane is minimal. Instead, we saw a diverse variety of certified and experimental aircraft, from the elegant to the absurd, with airworthiness dates ranging from the 1940s to the 2020s with representation from every decade in between.

1947 Stinson 108.

1947 Stinson 108.

Before accelerometer driven digital avionics and even before the use of vacuum pumps to spin up analog instrumentation, gyroscopic instruments were spun by venturi-generated suction.

1947 North American Navion.

1947 Piper J-3 Cub.

1947 Piper J-3 Cub.

This Piper Cub is based in Lock Haven, PA where it was originally built.

A Piper Super Cub executing a massive forward slip on short final caught my eye. Rounding out and lining up just past the approach end of the runway, it was clear that the pilot meant to land as short as possible.

Benton has some undulations in the runway, but even nose draggers wearing wheel pants can comfortably operate from this well-maintained grass runway.

2019 Rans S21.

2019 Rans S21.

A Cessna 172.

2001 American Champion Citabria.

1998 Aviat Husky departing Benton's runway 21.

Cessna 180.

1954 Cessna 170.

1954 Cessna 170.

Cessna 195.

One of the classiest designs to emerge from the design team in Wichita, the Cessna 195 was built as an executive aircraft between 1947 and 1954. It was the "private jet" of its day and looks a lot more at home at Benton than a Citation would.

Cessna 195 on the takeoff roll.

2024 Rans S21.

2006 Aviat Husky.

A number of thoughts occurred to me while watching this amphibious Husky taxi for takeoff.

2006 Aviat Husky.

First, I wondered how the "shopping cart" wheel configuration would handle on grass. I was surprised by how much flex the front gear legs demonstrated as the plane rolled over bumps, but the aircraft otherwise handled well.

2006 Aviat Husky.

I also wondered how the extra weight and drag of those amphibious floats would affect the length of the takeoff roll.

2006 Aviat Husky.

I need not have worried. The Husky pilot got off the ground in less distance than I did in Warrior 481.

1974 Cessna 185.

1984 Cessna 185.

1945 Aeronca Champ.

Tail up and ready to go!

V-tailed Beechcraft Bonanza.

Not all retractable gear "go someplace" airplanes are as at home on turf as the Beechcraft Bonanza.

1989 Piper PA-18 Super Cub.

1967 Cessna 150 with an undeniably contemporary paint job.

1956 Stinson 108.

Beechcraft Bonanza.

Korn's Caper

Finally, we reached the end of the flight line and encountered the most unique aircraft on the field. When I saw that red fuel tank mounted above the wing, my first thought was that it looked like a giant firework that Wile E. Coyote would ride to certain and undoubtedly painful failure.

1965 Korn's Caper.

Truly a one of a kind experimental aircraft from 1965, the registered type is Korn's Caper but the name emblazoned on the side of the fuselage is The Yellow Rat. The airplane is a local legend built by late vintage aviation enthusiast Thomas Huf. As we were puzzling over this unusual aircraft -- it appeared to be a trike or a taildragger depending on how it was loaded -- we met the current owner who provided some history on the aircraft and its creator.

He described how the airplane had a tendency to roll right due to excessive twist in the right wing. "He [Huf] flew it all over the place like that for years," said the owner shaking his head and chuckling. He knew the builder well, but nostalgia did not stop him from removing some of that twist so The Yellow Rat flies straight ahead hands-off now.

The Yellow Rat really leans in to its name.

With The Yellow Rat being the most unusual aircraft on the field that day, we knew that we had to take our group photo with it! From left to right are Gilead, Mark, Kim, Scott, and me.

Part 2: Bloomsburg Municipal

We departed Benton behind Eight One Six, which turned north for Sodus while we hopped over terrain to the south to reach Bloomsburg Municipal Airport (N13, #298). As a bonus, fuel at Bloomsburg was $4.65/gallon and we refueled while we were there.

Set in a bend of the Susquehanna River, the airport was tidy and well-maintained. Mark and I waited for Ron in the comfortable pilot's lounge.

Most of the buildings along the edge of the ramp were home to Columbia Aircraft Services, an engine overhaul shop.

I love an old-school airport beacon. This one reminded me of the beacon at the Three Rivers Municipal Airport (KHAI) where I learned to fly.

Autogyro 101

For the uninitiated, an autogyro or gyroplane is not a helicopter. In a helicopter, the overhead rotor is powered in flight, providing both lift and thrust. A gyroplane, like Ron's Cavalon, uses an unpowered overhead rotor as a wing and a pusher prop for thrust. It is the gyroplane's movement through the air that turns the overhead rotor and keeps the aircraft airborne. 

When Ron arrived, we went directly to his hangar to see the Cavalon. Built by AutoGyro, the Cavalon is available with different engine configurations. Ron's is powered by a fuel injected Rotax 915 iS powerplant rated to deliver 135 horsepower continuously in cruise flight.

Ron's Cavalon uses a Garmin G3X Touch as primary flight display augmented with analog backup instruments. AutoGyro even has models available with the Garmin GFC 500 autopilot installed.

Photo by Mark.

Like a helicopter, the gyroplane is flown from the right seat. For our flight, Ron helped me get settled into the left seat while he took the right.

Photo by Mark.

Visibility out the front and sides is amazing.

Photo by Mark.

We taxied to the end of the runway where Ron engaged a clutch to spin-up the overhead rotor. Once it reached 320 rpm, power was redirected to the pusher prop. The takeoff roll was short. Ron flew the pattern, then pulled the power on base to simulate an engine failure. He deftly pivoted the Cavalon in the yaw axis toward the airport in a way that would have been impossible for a fixed wing aircraft, then autorotated to a smooth power off landing on the runway. Impressive.

Taking off again, Ron demonstrated some maneuvers before turning control over to me. The control feel was natural and conventional, though obviously not achieved through conventional means. There was more stick shake than what I am used to in the Warrior’s controls. A simple yaw string affixed to the windscreen informed coordination. Flying the Cavalon was a blast. We returned to Bloomsburg Municipal for Mark to get his turn.

Mark's Flight in the Cavalon

Ron has given Cavalon rides to some 400 people and is justifiably proud of that statistic. It is clear that he enjoys sharing the experience with others! This made me curious about all of the people I have taken flying over the years. I consulted my logbook and found 286 unique people (not including instructors) have flown with me in various airplanes over the years. While my level of outreach clearly does not match Ron's, that logbook review surfaced many fond memories and great experiences with friends, family, colleagues, and strangers.

Mark clambered into the Cavalon's left seat and went through the same awkward stages of getting settled as me.

Ron repeated a similar flight with Mark, including the simulated engine out and some general maneuvering over terrain south of the field. Mark enjoyed some stick time as well.

The Cavalon was definitely the most unique flying machine that either of us had ever experienced, and I have time in hot air balloons, gliders, and vintage aircraft nearly 100 years old.

When the ride was done, we hung out with Ron a little while longer before I received a text from Kristy. "Dena is wondering if you've kidnapped her husband." Fair, dinnertime was rapidly approaching. Mark and I launched in Warrior 481 for a less novel flight back to Sodus.

Overall, we had a great day between the fly-in barbecue, the variety of airplanes at Benton, and stick time in the Cavalon. Huge thanks to Ron for so generously sharing his time and his unique aircraft with us!