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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0038.PDF
• 20 FLIGHT. JANUARY 5, 1939 AMERICA "SOLD" on HELICOPTERS First Rotating-Wing Meeting Discloses Great Interest to Spend Two Million Dollars By RAOUL HAFNER U.S. Government 7 0WARDS the end of last year Mr. Raoul Hafner, designer of the Hafner gyroplane and head of the A.R- HI Construction Co., visited the United States in connection with the First Rotating-Wing Meeting, sponsored by the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, partly to read a paper and partly to study the general situation in America in connection with rotary-wing aircraft. During the last session of Congress a Bill was passed which authorised the expenditure of two million dollars on the development of rotary-wing aircraft, the measure being introduced by Frank J. G. Dorsey, Pennsylvanian Congressman, and known after him as the Dorsey Bill. Mr. Hafner, who has just returned to this country, has written for "Flight" this account of his impressions and experiences while in America, where he was received with that friendliness and hospitality for whieh American aviation circles have long been famous. MY first impression, gained after arriving in New York, was, rightly or wrongly, that the Rotating-Wing Meeting as a whole owed its existence mainly to the Dorsey Bill. My second day in the States gave me the clue to the American picture. I met Mr. T. P. Wright, director of the Curtiss-Wright Corpora tion, and found what was confirmed later, on many occa sions, that not only the few and relatively small gyroplane manufacturers, such as the Pitcairn and the Kellett Com panies, were interested in rotating-wing aircraft, but also large aircraft firms, general engineering concerns, and even large bankers. The difference between the United States and this country lies mainly in the fact that, whereas the industry here is fully preoccupied with a rearmament programme for the immediate future, this is not the case to the same extent in America, and as the market for civil aviation over there, especially private-owner flying, has reached saturation point, the manufacturers are obliged to look out for new possibilities. I understand that after the first boom, when Pitcairn had introduced the Autogiro in the States, the situation deteriorated into a kind of slump, mainly owing to the slow progress made by the Autogiro and the failure of this type of aircraft to achieve a performance comparable with that of the fixed-wing aeroplane. From a reliable source I have this information, however, that the latest product of this firm is a two-seater side-by-side cabin gyroplane of metal- monocoque construction, powered by a 160 h.p. engine. The craft is capable of jump-starts and is "roadable." The prototype is expected to be ready for test flights in the very near future. Meanwhile, the Kellett Autogiro Corporation, which operates under licence from the Autogiro Corporation of An established British rotary-winged aircraft—the C.30 Autogiro. In the "roadable" Autogiro the American designers seek to increase the utility of aircraft in a new direction. America, of which Mr. Pitcairn is president, have managed to produce a direct-control, open-cockpit, two-seater gyro plane, powered with a 220 h.p. Jacobs engine with increased compression ratio. This gyroplane, in my opinion, has a very fine performance, and one feels definitely more com- j fortable in it than, for instance, in the established type. The control loads, too, seem to me a good deal smaller, although their nature leaves no doubt of the fact that the joystick is still linked to a tilting hub. Seven of these ships have been purchased by the U.S. Air Corps for service and similar tests. In a very interest ing discussion with service people at Wright Field, particu larly with Lt. H. F. Gregory (who is, I understand, chief instructor for the Autogiio in the service), I heard that they are now very pleased with this new type of craft once they learnt (and paid for the experience), that it is a dif ferent kind of animal from the fixed-wing machine and requires different treatment if one wants to be kind to it. I may mention he»e that whereas the Army is actively interested in rotary-wing aircraft, this type in its present state of development is not as yet sufficiently attractive to the U.S. Navy. On the other hand, there are many official bodies in America, such as the Coastguards, the Depart ment of Agriculture, the Postal and Police Authorities, and, of course, the Research Establishments, including the N.A.C.A., which are in very close touch with the rotating wing, and which are already (or may in the near future be considered) potential customers. The rising tide of interest in rotary-wing aircraft in the States lately, apart from the improved performance of the latest American Autogiros, was mainly due to reports which came from abroad. There was news of successful flights with the little Hafner gyroplane which, with a basically new rotor control, had achieved a new standard 1 f manoeuvrability and performance. A little later similar
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