Juan de la Cierva (21 September 1895 – 19 December 1936) was a Spanish aeronautical engineer and pilot. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1919 of the Autogiro. After four years of experimentation, la Cierva developed the articulated rotor which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft in 1923. September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... An autogyro (only an autogiro when made by Cierva (see below)), sometimes called a gyroplane or Gyrocopter™, is an aircraft with an unpowered rotary wing, or rotor, that resembles a helicopter. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

De la Cierva was born in Murcia, Spain to a wealthy family. After several successful experiments with aviation as a boy, he eventually earned a civil engineering degree. He moved to England in 1925 where with the support of Scottish industrialist James G. Weir, established the Cierva Autogiro Company. Murcia (37°59′N 1°8′W) is a city and municipality on the river Segura in southeastern Spain and the capital of the Autonomous Community of Murcia. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During the Spanish Civil War, De la Cierva supported the forces of Francisco Franco's. He died in a fixed-wing airliner accident near London, England, at the age of 41. The Spanish Civil War (July 18th 1936–April 1st 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal dictatorship. ... Francisco Franco Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (pron. ...

Technology developed for the Autogiro was utilized by experimenters in the development of the helicopter, the first fully successful example of which, the FA-61, was flown in 1936 by Cierva Autogiro Company licensee Focke-Achgelis. The Autogiro also led directly the Cierva C.38 Gyrodyne, which utilized a powered rotor for hovering and low speed flight, and a side-mounted propeller for torque correction and propulsion in cruise flight. As airspeed increased, propellor power increased while rotor power automatically decreased which reduced rotor collective pitch to autorotative angle with the rotor remaining parallel to the flightpath. As airspeed reduced, propeller power decreased while rotor power automatically increased which increased rotor collective pitch to non-autorotative angles. The Fairey Gyrodyne, first flown in 1948, established the superiority of this configuration over that of the helicopter, which De la Cierva consistently rejected as too mechanically complicated, even though he agreed with the requirement for hovering performance. An autogyro (only an autogiro when made by Cierva (see below)), sometimes called a gyroplane or Gyrocopter™, is an aircraft with an unpowered rotary wing, or rotor, that resembles a helicopter. ... The Bell 206 of Canadian Helicopters Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22 A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors (propellers). ... The Bell 206 of Canadian Helicopters Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22 A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors (propellers). ...

External links

• U.S. Centennial of Flight - Juan de la Cierva