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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0074.PDF
4 » FLIGHT JANUARY IITH, HELICOPTERS Bell auxiliary tail rotor for torque counteraction. (A) Re-duction gear, 2:1; (B) Tubular shaft housing torque drive from transmission ; (C) Pitch controlled by chainand sprocket at opposite end of shaft through hollow axle. of 220 lb. which may be dead weight or a passenger. A "free-wheeling" device is used in the Bell helicopterso that it can descend safely in event of engine failure or fuel exhaustion. In fuselage coasfruction, strong longi-tudinal beams provide a " cradle" which supports the engine mounting and the cabin. The engine, clutch, trans-mission, drive shaft and rotor assembly form an integral unit which is attached to the engine mounting by meansof four rubber mounts; these absorb much of the vibration often found in other helicopters. Inside the cabin are asimple instrument panel and three controls: the stick for tilting control of the main rotor; the, rudder pedals for con-trolling direction of the fuselage; and the lever at the left of the pilot's seat for pitch control of the main rotor blades. The helicopter developed by Aeronautical Products, Inc.,has its engine in the nose of the machine- (unlike most of the other designs). A chain drive transmits power to therotor and the rotor shaft. This hejieopter resembles the Sikorsky conception more than the Bell, having a singlethree-bladed main rotor. The shaft of the main rotor is rigid with respect to the fuselage, and when the main rotoris, tilted the entire craft tilts. The controls consist of stick, rudder pedals and a lever which controls pitch of theblades of the main rotor and the throttle. Details of the control system have not been released by the company,but it is said to be simplified in comparison with other similar designs. In other models now under constructionby Aeronautical Products, Inc., flight control is obtained by a wheel, eliminating the stick-and-rudder combinationemployed in the prototype. The cabin of the Bell Helicopter, showing dual controls.(A) Grip controls throttle ; raising and lowering the lever at the left of the pilot's seat controls main rotorpitch for climbing or descending. Another two-seater helicopter venture has been backedby Andrew Jackson Higgins, shipbuilder and manufacturer of cargo aircraft. Plans for the Higgins helicopter may becredited to the Italian pilot and designer, Enea Bossi, who came to America shortly after World War I. The body ofthis craft resembles that of a small two-seater light plane, except that there is no engine in the nose, and instead oftail surfaces the rear part is tapered and curved upward to support a small tail rotor. Chief distinguishing characteristic of the Higgins heli-copter is the four-bladed main rotor which, like that of the Bell helicopter, tilts as a unit in the direction of' flightwhile the fuselage remains level. Its rnaximrtm speed is about 125 m.p.h. The Higgins helicopter is powered by a180 h.p. Warner radial engine, mounted horizontally on the floor of the fuselage with its crankshaft connectedthe rotor mast through a clutch, transmission and free- wheeling unit. A control stick between the pilot's legsgoverns the direction of flight. Rotor control differs from the Bell method. Test flights on the Higgins two-seaterhelicopter were interrupted this spring by minor damage to the rotor, but when the vehicle is properly developed itshould sell for about $1,500—in peacetime. Contra-rotating Rotors A clever little job is the helicopter designed and built by 19-year-old Stanley Hill^r, jun., of Berkeley, California. Killer's helicopter is one of the first successful co-axial contra-rotating jobs, eliminating the need for a tail rotor. Much secrecy still surrounds this newly developed vehicle, which incorporates a number of radical devices. The machine will be financed bv Hiller Indus- tries, a die-casting firm with which Stanley and his father are associated. Tptt production model is expected to have a 45P*foile range. The heli- copter has a 12ft. steel-and-fabric fuselage and is powered by a 90 h.p. Franklin engine. Its two-bladed rotors are 25ft. in diameter. Maxi- mum forward speed is said to be about 100 m.p.h. The Civil Aeronautics Administration issued to Hiller the first experimental licence ever given for a helicopter in California, and Army and Navy officials have watched a num- ber of flight demon- The Hiller helicopter strations. has contra-rotating ^^ in 1(->43 a single- rotors of 25ft. dia- seater 1,000-poundmeter. model was put through
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