The Hinchman H-1 Racer: An Indiana Family Builds an Autogyro That Takes Flight

The Hinchman family's contributions to American history span law, medicine, baseball, football, art, and commerce. But few family members have done something quite as remarkable as Hank Hinchman, who in 1987 became the first person to fly an aircraft of his own design — a single-seat autogyro called the Hinchman H-1 Racer.

What Is an Autogyro?

An autogyro (sometimes spelled autogiro) is one of the most distinctive types of aircraft ever invented — often described as something between a helicopter and a conventional airplane. Unlike a helicopter, whose rotor is powered by the engine, an autogyro's main rotor spins freely in response to the forward movement of the aircraft through the air — a phenomenon called autorotation. The engine drives a conventional propeller that provides forward thrust, while the spinning rotor generates lift.

The practical result is an aircraft with some remarkable characteristics: it cannot stall like a fixed-wing airplane, it can fly very slowly (even hovering in strong headwinds), and it can land almost vertically — in just a few feet, or even in place. Autogyros have never been mainstream aircraft, but they have attracted devoted builders and pilots for nearly a century.

The H-1 Racer: Design and Specifications

Hank Hinchman designed the H-1 Racer to comply with the FAA's Experimental – Amateur-built category, which allows individuals to build their own aircraft from plans or kits without the same certification requirements as production aircraft. The design was elegant in its simplicity:

• A single-seat enclosed cockpit with a full aerodynamic bullet-shaped composite fairing
• Tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and hydraulic disc brakes
• A 25-foot two-bladed rotor with an optional pre-rotator
• Standard powerplant: a 50 hp Rotax 503 twin-cylinder, two-stroke engine in pusher configuration
• Power range of 47 to 120 hp, giving builders flexibility
• Aluminum tubing fuselage construction, bolted together for easier assembly

The performance figures are impressive for such a small, light aircraft:

• Maximum speed: 85 mph
• Cruise speed: 65 mph
• Service ceiling: 10,000 feet
• Rate of climb: 1,200 feet per minute
• Takeoff run at sea level: 500 feet
• Landing roll: 10 feet — practically nothing

The cabin width of 22 inches and useful load of 250 pounds made it practical as well as exciting. The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit at approximately 150 hours — a significant commitment, but achievable for a dedicated amateur builder over a few months of weekends.

From Indiana to the Registry

By 1998, the Hinchman Aircraft Company — and later Winners Circle Engineering Inc. of Monrovia, Indiana — had sold 100 plans and kits, with three completed aircraft flying. In April 2015, one H-1 Racer was formally registered with the Federal Aviation Administration to the designer — a testament to the aircraft's continued airworthiness nearly three decades after its first flight.

The H-1 Racer stands as a remarkable example of the American tradition of the backyard inventor — an individual who designs, builds, and flies an aircraft of their own creation. That the designer bears the Hinchman name places this achievement within a long tradition of Hinchman family ingenuity, from the merchants of colonial London to the coal-country pitcher who taught himself to throw a baseball without a glove.