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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1219.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 20, 1931 Two New Autogiros The Cierva Autogiro Co., Ltd., has been working quietly for many years on the develop- ment of the Autogiro type of aircraft, and a vast amount of experimental work has been carried out in order to bring the combined rotor and fixed-wing system of lift up to an efficiency comparable with that achieved in orthodox aircraft. With such a novel system it was to be expected that development would take considerable time, but the company now feels that the Autogiro type of aircraft has reached a stage in its evolution when it can be put into the hands of the public with the confidence that the performance and general handling are such that the purchaser will get real service from his machine. Two new types, both incorporating mechanical starting of the rotor, are to be placed on the market at once. The new machines are described and illustrated below. , OR the first time in its history the Autogiro inventedby Senor de la Cierva is being put on the market in direct competition with existing orthodox typesof aircrait. Hitherto the Cierva Autogiro Co. Ltd. has regarded its machines as experimental, but with theintroduction of mechanical (engine-driven) rotor starters, three-bladed cantilever rotors, and folding rotor blades,the Cierva system of lift is considered to have put behind it the purely experimental stage and to have reached apoint where it can compare reasonably with normal air- craft, both in performance and in general handling, moreespecially on the ground. Two new types of Autogiro were to be demonstrated at Hanworth yesterday,November 19, and form the subjects of the following notes. The two new types are the C.24, a cabin two-seater, and the C.19, Mark IV open two-seater. The former is equipped with the De Havilland " Gipsy III "inverted engine of 120 h.p., and the latter has an Armstrong Siddeley " Genet Major " of 100 h.p. The twomachines have this in common that they are provided with the new three-bladed cantilever rotor, and that rotor-starting is accomplished not by deflecting the airscrew slipstream on to the rotor, as in earlier machines, but bymeans of a mechanical starter driven by the engine via a clutch mechanism. Very quick starting is achievedwith this system, and the new Autogiros get away from standing start at least as quickly as a normal aircraft,while the length of run is very much shorter than that of any but the most powerful orthodox aeroplanes. Bothtypes, it should be noted, are of a size and power to place them in the light plane class, suitable for the privateowner. The production of larger machines will, it is to be expected, be the next step in the evolution of theAutogiro. The Autogiro Type C.24 Much confusion has been caused in the mind of thegeneral public by the fact that the C.24 was built by the De Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. The machine has beenreferred to as a sort of " Puss Moth " with a rotor in place of the normal wing, and with a small lower wingadded. This is, as our photographs will clearly show, quite a misconception. There is, in point of fact, nosimilarity between the " Puss Moth " and the Autogiro "FORMATING": The two new Autogiros are here seen taking off at Stag Lane aerodrome, the C.24 pilotedby Senor de la Cierva and the C.19 Mark IV by Captain Rawson. (PLIGHT Photo.) 1145 B 2
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