When White Guys Protest

thirteenbyseven

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Five years ago Doug Hughes, a postman living in Ruskin, Florida, flew his Bensen B-8M gyrocopter powered by a Rotax engine-- and equipped significantly with a 10-gallon long-range fuel tank-- from Gettysburg airport in Pennsylvania, 70-miles to the lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. Onboard Hughes carried 535 letters addressed to each United States congressman and woman, eloquently stating his mind regarding big money, deep pocket lobbyists and their disproportionate political influence. It made him an instant folk hero for ignored citizens everywhere who's cries for campaign finance reform fall on deaf ears, except briefly during election season. But to the military and folks in-charge of securing airspace around the White House and Capitol Building, it was an acute embarrassment.

Doug's contraption was invented in 1955 by Russian Igor Bensen. Although it looks like a helicopter the rotor blade is unpowered. If built according to plans, a gyrocopter has an empty weight under the magic FAA Part-103 limit of 254 pounds, above which it must be registered as a microlight aircraft with an (N) November designation. A gyrocopter's maximum legal fuel tank carries 5 gallons. However for Doug Hughes' mission to be accomplished successfully, a flight planned over two-years as carefully as Charles A. Lindbergh's historic trip from Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget in Paris back in 1927, he needed a minimum of 10-gallons. Bensen B-8 - Wikipedia

For all the restricted and prohibited airspace intrusions he accumulated on his flight, what convicted Doug Hughes in court were groan-worthy FAA Part-103 violations regarding the definition of a powered ultralight. He received a 120-day prison sentence for violations regarding his overweight gyrocopter equipped with a 10-gallon fuel tank. Hey, it's America.
 
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