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The Fairey Rotodyne was a British compound autogyro intended for commercial and military applications in the 1950s and early 1960s. A development of the earlier Fairey Gyrodyne prototypes which had established a number of British helicopter records, the Rotodyne featured a jet-tipped powered rotor burning fuel with compressed air bled from two wingtip mounted Napier Eland turboprops. The rotor was used for vertical takeoffs, landings and hovering, while full power was applied to the tractor propellers of the turbo props when engaged in forward flight. Although promising in concept and entirely successful in trials, the Rotodyne program was eventually cancelled when a combination of politics and the lack of commercial orders doomed the project. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...
Modern Autogyro, ELA-07, Casarrubios del Monte Airfield, Spain, 2004. ...
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ...
The Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century, notable for a number of important planes, including the Fairey III family and the Fairey Swordfish. ...
The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ...
is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...
The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne was a British experimental compound aircraft used a propeller set on the end of a stub wing to provide both propulsion and antitorque reaction. ...
The Fairey Jet Gyrodyne was a British experimental gyrodyne aircraft, a form of compound helicopter related to autogyros, built by Fairey Aviation. ...
The Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century, notable for a number of important planes, including the Fairey III family and the Fairey Swordfish. ...
Modern Autogyro, ELA-07, Casarrubios del Monte Airfield, Spain, 2004. ...
Design and development
Fairey had developed the Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne, a unique aircraft in its own right that defined a third type of rotorcraft, including autogyro and helicopter. Having little in common with the later Rotodyne, it was characterized by its inventor, Dr. J.A.J. Bennett, formerly of the Cierva Autogiro Company as an intermediate aircraft designed to combine the safety and simplicity of the autogyro with hovering performance. Its rotor was driven in all phases of flight with collective pitch being an automatic function of shaft torque, with a side-mounted propeller providing both thrust for forward flight and rotor torque correction. The FB-1 set a world airspeed record in 1948, but a fatal accident due to poor machining of a rotor blade flapping link terminated development of the pure gyrodyne. The second FB-1 was modified to investigate a tip-jet driven rotor with propulsion provided by propellers mounted at the tip of each stub wing - this became known as the Jet Gyrodyne, which despite its name, was a compound autogyro. The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne was a British experimental compound aircraft used a propeller set on the end of a stub wing to provide both propulsion and antitorque reaction. ...
Ciervas first successful autogyro Juan de la Cierva (21 September 1895 – 9 December 1936) was a Spanish civil engineer and pilot. ...
Fairey put forward their various designs for the proposed BEA Bus, which were revised over the years, and received government funding. However getting access to engines proved to be difficult with first Rolls Royce then Armstrong Siddeley claiming lack of resources. The Ministry of Supply contracted in 1953 for the building of the prototype (serial XE521). Rolls-Royce Limited was a British car and aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls on 15 March 1906 and was the result of a partnership formed in 1904. ...
The Armstrong-Siddeley automobiles (and later aircraft engines) were an English marque manufactured from 1919 (after the company was formed in 1917 by a merger between two Coventry_based companies, Armstrong-Whitworth and Siddeley-Deasy) to 1960. ...
The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supplying of equipment to the British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. ...
A serial number is a unique number that is one of a series assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value. ...
The Rotodyne had a large, four-blade rotor and two Napier Eland N.E.L.3 turboprops, one mounted under each of the fixed wings. For takeoff and landing the rotor was driven by tip-jets, powered by compressors driven through a clutch by the main engines, and the compressed air produced was mixed with fuel and burned. As a torqueless rotor system, no anti-torque correction system was required, though the propeller pitch was controlled by the rudder pedals for low speed yaw control. The propellers provided thrust for translational flight while the rotor autorotated. The cockpit controls included a cyclic and collective pitch lever, as in a conventional helicopter. [1] A rotor is the rotating part of a helicopter which generates lift, either vertically in the case of a main rotor, or horizontally in the case of a tail rotor. ...
Napier & Son were one of the most important English aircraft engine manufacturers in the early to mid 20th Century. ...
The Napier Eland is a type of turboshaft used to power helicopters, including the Westland Westminster. ...
A schematic diagram showing the operation of a turboprop engine. ...
While the prototype was being built funding was reaching a crisis. Cuts in defence spending led the Ministry of Defence to withdraw interest, pushing the burden of the costs onto any possible civilian interest. The Government agreed to continued funding only if, among other qualifications, Fairey and Napier (through their parent English Electric) contributed to development costs of the Rotodyne and the Eland engine respectively. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ...
English Electric logo English Electric was a 20th-century British industrial manufacturer, initially of electric motors, and expanding to include railway locomotives and aviation, before becoming part of GEC. // 1917: Dick, Kerr & Co. ...
Testing and evaluation Although J.A.J. Bennett had left Fairey to join Hiller Helicopters in California, the prototype, its development assumed by Dr. George S. Hislop, made its first flight on 6 November 1957 piloted by Chief Helicopter Test Pilot Squadron Leader W. Ron Gellatly and Assistant Chief Helicopter Test Pilot Lt. Cmdr. John G. P. Morton as Second Pilot. is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...
The first successful transition from vertical to horizontal and back to vertical flight was achieved on 10 April 1958. The Rotodyne performed to expectations and set a world speed record in the convertiplane category, at 190.9 mph (307.2 km/h) on 5 January 1959, over a 100 km closed circuit[2]. As well as being fast, the craft had a safety feature: it could hover with one engine shut down with its propeller feathered, and the prototype demonstrated several landings as an autogyro. The prototype was demonstrated several times at the Farnborough and Paris air shows, regularly amazing onlookers. The Rotodyne's tip drive and unloaded rotor made its performance far better when compared to pure helicopters and other forms of "convertiplanes." The aircraft could be flown at 175 knots (324 km/h) and pulled into a steep climbing turn without demonstrating any adverse handling characteristics. is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
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Look up feather in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Farnborough 2006 Farnborough 2006 The Red Arrows in formation at Farnborough The Airbus A380, at Farnborough The Farnborough International Airshow is a seven-day international trade fair for the aerospace business which is held biannually in England. ...
A Mirage 2000-5 at the Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (Salon International de lAéronautique et de lEspace, Paris-Le Bourget) is an international trade fair for the aerospace business. ...
Throughout the world, interest was growing in the prospect of direct city-to-city transport. The market for the Rotodyne was that of a medium-haul "flying bus": it would take off vertically from an inner-city heliport, with all lift coming from the tip-jet driven rotor, and then would increase airspeed, eventually with all power from the engines being transferred to the propellors with the rotor autorotating. In this mode, the collective pitch, and hence drag, of the rotor could be reduced, as the wings would be taking as much as half of the craft's weight. The Rotodyne would then cruise at speeds of about 150 knots to another city (e.g. London to Paris) where the rotor tip-jet system would be restarted for landing vertically in the city centre. When the Rotodyne landed and the rotor stopped moving, its blades drooped downward from the hub. To avoid striking the vertical stabilizers on start-up, the tips of these fins were angled down to the horizontal. They were raised once the rotor had spun up. The lift force, lifting force or simply lift is a mechanical force generated by a solid object moving through a fluid. ...
A propeller can be seen as a rotating fin in water or a wing in air. ...
Autorotation is the engineering term for the aerodynamics providing lift in a rotor-driven aircraft such as autogyro or helicopter. ...
Refers to the pitch (or angle) of blades of a helicopter to direct movement. ...
An object falling through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...
A knot is a unit of speed abbreviated kt or kn. ...
British European Airways announced that it was interested in the purchase of six craft, with a possibility of up to 20. The Royal Air Force ordered 12 military transport versions. New York Airways signed a letter of intent for the purchase of five with an option on more albeit with qualifications. The US Army was interested in buying 200 of the Type Y Rotodyne to be manufactured by Fairey's US licensee, Kaman Helicopters in Bloomfield, CT. Government funding was secured again on the proviso that firm orders would be gained from BEA. The civilian orders were dependent on the noise issues being satisfactorily met. For other uses of BEA see Bea British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament. ...
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ...
This article discusses the helicopter airline, which should not be confused with the 1980s startup airline, New York Air. ...
The United States Army is the largest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ...
Cancellation In 1959 the British Government, seeking to cut costs, decreed that the number of aircraft firms be lowered and set forth their expectations for mergers in airframe and aero-engine companies. By delaying or withholding access to defence contracts the British firms could be manoeuvred into mergers. Fairey, then the helicopter division of Bristol, and Saunders-Roe were incorporated with Westland. The larger Rotodyne design could be developed to take from 57 to 75 passengers which with the Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprops (5,250 shp) would have a cruising speed of 370 km/h. It would be able to carry nearly 7 tonnes of freight and British Army vehicles would fit into its fuselage. Government funding of some 5 million pounds was promised. The expected order from the RAF did not appear - they had no particular interest in the design with the issue of nuclear deterrence to the fore at the time. The Tyne engines were starting to appear underpowered for the larger design. Rolls Royce were told that they would have to fund the engine development itself. Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century, notable for a number of important planes, including the Fairey III family and the Fairey Swordfish. ...
Bristol Aeroplane Company logo The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) was a major British aircraft company which, in 1959, merged with several major British aircraft companies, to become the British Aircraft Corporation and later still part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems. ...
Westland is the name of several places: Netherlands: Westland, South Holland New Zealand: Westland, New Zealand United Kingdom: Westland, Shetland United States of America: Westland, Michigan Westland, Ohio Westland, Oregon Westland, Pennsylvania Westland, Texas Westland, Virginia Fiction: Westland (Sword of Truth) Westland Aircraft is a British aircraft manufacturer and part...
The Rolls-Royce Tyne was a 2 shaft turboprop developed in the late 1950s, primarily for the Vickers Vanguard airliner, but also later for the Dassault-Breguet Atlantique long-range reconnaissance aircraft, Canadair CL-44 and Transport Allianz Transall transport aircraft. ...
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...
However the end came when the interest shown by BEA did not provide an order and a request for an order by the military was turned down. The funding for the Rotodyne was cut in early 1962. The corporate management at Westland decided that further Rotodyne development towards production status was not worth the investment required. [1]After the program was terminated, the Rotodyne, which was, after all, government property, was dismantled and largely destroyed in the same way as the Bristol Brabazon. The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a huge airliner designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the UK to the United States. ...
Analysis The one great criticism of the Rotodyne was the noise the tip jets made, however, the jets were only run at full power for a matter of minutes during departure and landing and indeed, the test pilot Ron Gelattly made two flights over central London, and several landings and departures at Battersea Heliport with no complaints being registered. There was also a noise-reduction program in process which had managed to get the noise level down to the desired level of 96 dB from 600 feet (180 m) away, less than the noise made by a London Underground train, and at the time of cancellation, silencers were in the pipeline which would have reduced the noise even farther. In the end though it was funding and not noise that killed the Rotodyne A Sikorsky S-76A landing on London Heliports helipad jetty on the River Thames, Battersea Railway Bridge in the background Helicoptors parked with rotors turning, at the London Heliport The London Heliport at Battersea, London is the capitals main and busiest heliport. ...
The London Underground is a transit system that serves much of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ...
It is only relatively recently that interest has been re-established in direct city-to-city transport, with aircraft such as the Bell/Augusta BA609 and the Carter Copter. Groen Brothers Aviation are developing techniques for converting proven aeroplane designs into gyrodynes[1]. The Bell/Agusta BA609 is a civil twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a configuration similar to the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey. ...
The CarterCopter is an advanced aircraft, a combined fixed wing aeroplane/autogyro currently under development by Carter Aviation Technologies. ...
Popular culture It is an interesting comment on how much people thought at the time that this would be "the next big" thing that plastic kit manufacturers rushed to produce kits of it. At that time making model aircraft was a much more popular hobby. Therefore producing a model kit of it marked it out as an object of great public interest. In 1959 three of the major kit makers - Airfix, Frog and Revell all produced their own kits of the Rotodyne. Curiously, Airfix still continues to re-release it proving that its look must still be somewhat popular. Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Monogram models. ...
Specifications (Rotodyne "Y") General characteristics - Crew: 3
- Capacity: 40 passengers
- Length: 58 ft 8 in (17.9 m)
- Rotor diameter: 90 ft 0 in (27.4 m)
- Height: 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m)
- Disc area: 6,360 ft² (591 m²)
- Empty weight: lb (kg)
- Loaded weight: 33,000 lb (15,000 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 38,000 lb (17,000 kg)
- Powerplant:
Performance Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
In aviation, the Maximum Take-Off Weight (or MTOW) is the maximum weight with which an aircraft is allowed to try to achieve flight. ...
The Napier Eland is a type of turboshaft used to power helicopters, including the Westland Westminster. ...
A schematic diagram showing the operation of a turboprop engine. ...
VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ...
The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft. ...
Power-to-weight ratio is a measure commonly used when comparing various vehicles (or engines), including automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft. ...
References - ^ a b Winchester 2005, p. 97.
- ^ Winchester 2005, p. 96.
- Charnov, Dr. Bruce H. The Fairey Rotodyne: An Idea Whose Time Has Come – Again? (Based on Charnov, Dr. Bruce H. From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Amazing Survival of an Aviation Technology. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003. ISBN 978-1567205039.) Detailed History Access date: 18 May 2007.
- Green, William and Pollinger, Gerald. The Observer's Book of Aircraft, 1958 edition. London: Fredrick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1958.
- Taylor, H.A. Fairey Aircraft since 1915. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1974. ISBN 0-87021-208-7.
- Winchester, Jim, ed. "Fairey Rotodyne." Concept Aircraft (The Aviation Factfile). Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books plc, 2005. ISBN 1-84013-809-2.
is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
External links
Related content Related development Gyrodynes & Heliplanes It has been suggested that Gyrodyne Trademark be merged into this article or section. ...
Comparable aircraft The Kamov Ka-22 Vintokyrl (Cyrillic:Камов Ка-22 Винтокрыл) (Russian:screw-wing) (NATO reporting name: Hoop) was a rotorcraft developed by Kamov for the Soviet Air Force. ...
The Hiller HOE (Hornet) was a helicopter powered by ramjets located on the tips of the rotor produced around 1954. ...
Related lists List of VTOL aircraft This is a list of planes capable of vertical take-off and landing arranged under manufacturer. ...
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