ALL That Flies Over Mentone Need Not Always Have Rotors ANN and Aero-TV have had a ball bringing you the very best of the rotary sites, sounds and concepts that literally revolve around Mentone once a year... but we need to mention one of the more intriguing variants that typified this year's event -- as this year, a large contingent of Powered Parachutes joined the fun and added a decided sporty element to the festivities otherwise known as the PRA Fly-In. Every year, the most dedicated fans of sport rotorcraft journey to a sleepy little airport in a small town in Indiana, by the name of Mentone. The town hosts a pretty neat little airport that, among it many claims to fame, is the home of the Popular Rotorcraft Association and a dynamite yearly rotorcraft gathering that gets its buzz on right after Oshkosh. The PRA was founded by the man who created the sport rotorcraft industry, Dr. Igor Bensen as, essentially, a type club for builder/pilots of his Bensen Gyrocopter. When Dr. Bensen found himself older and in declining health, legendary gyro and homebuilt-plane pioneer Ken Brock, a friend and admirer of Bensen, took over the helm of PRA. Nowadays it is run from rural Mentone, Indiana by an elected board, with a very small staff. Like EAA, but on a smaller scale, PRA organizes a rotorcraft fly-in at Mentone every summer. Many rotorcraft manufacturers use it as a chance to hit a narrowly targeted audience and tune up their sales pitch on the way back from Oshkosh <b>...</b>
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