He was born in Murcia, Spain, and moved to England in 1925. He was involved with the British Cierva Autogyro Company.
His craft used a tractor-mounted forward propeller and engine, a rotor mounted on a mast, and a vertical stabilizer. His first three designs -- the C.1, C.2, and C.3, constructed by Parnall -- were unstable. His fourth design, the C.4, was successful.
During the Spanish Civil War, he supported Francisco Franco's side. He died in a fixed-wing plane accident near London, England at the age of 41. Many say that if he had not died so young, he would have invented the helicopter, because his creation the autogyro is the direct predecessor of the helicopter.
Juan de la Cierva, born on September 21, 1895, in Murcia, Spain, was an aeronautical engineer who invented the autogiro, an aircraft that combined the capabilities of a conventional airplane and the helicopter.
His aircraft were further developed by the Cierva Autogiro Company of Great Britain, as well as by U.S. and various continental companies.
Cierva died in an airplane crash on December 19, 1936, near London, England.
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