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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0477.PDF
MARCH 17TH, 1949 O 305 With the blades of its over- lapping tandem rotors folded, the Piasecki H/P-l will go down any carrier lift. It has been built for the U.S. Navy. (Right) Hoisting a stretcher case into the periods. The machine did not "fall away" suddenly, as one would rather have expected. Evidently the-use of an" orthodox aircraft tail has been well worth while. The view from the cockpit is remark- able, and it would be difficult to imagine a more pleasant way of "seeing the coun- -^ • • : . tijf-l. try." If a spot appears particularly attractive, one can "stop" to watch it at leisure, and if one has some way to go in order to reach interesting scenery, the Gyrodyne takes one there at a very useful cruising speed. Moreover, the thought that the rotor of this machine is always in the autorotative range adds con- siderably to peace of mind. In case of an engine stoppage, the Gyrodyne behaves, or can be made to behave, just like a Tiger Moth. At some 60 m.p.h. forward speed it has about the same rate of descent, and a normal flare-out landing can be made from the glide. The writer stepped out of the Gyrodyne with a feeling that ive have come a very long way since he first flew in the old Sikorsky R-4, which made a noise like that of a threshing machine, vibrated so that flying in it was like rid- ing on a camel which had St. Vitus's Dance, and the cyclic- pitch stick of which shook as if with palsy. Those respon- sible for the policy of the Fairey Aviation Company are to be congratulated on their courage in launching this entirely private venture. The Gyrodyne can obviously be improved still further, but already there is proof that it represents a very important contribution to helicopter development. American News The almost feverish activity which characterized the American helicopter scene shows signs of slowing down somewhat. The tendency now seems rather towards steady development by the more firmly established designing con- cerns. News has just reached us that the Doman Helicop- ter Corporation of Danbury, Connecticut, has decided to go into production with a helicopter of its own design. It may be recalled that in his lecture to the Helicopter Asso- ciation of Great Britain Major Siltanen referred to experi- ments being made with a Doman-Frasier hub mounted on a Sikorsky R-6 for test purposes. A feature of the Doman four-blade hub is that the blades have neither flapping nor drag hinges but are mounted on a constant-velocity gimbal joint. The blade thrust bearings can be '' unloaded '' by hydraulic pressure so that operating forces can be made very light. The controls are hydraulically operated and there is 110 feed-back into the stick. The blades are of wood, with a stainless-steel leading edge, and are very flexible, so as to bring the natural bending frequencies well below the exciting frequencies which occur in flight. Preliminary estimates quoted by the firm indicate a loaded weight of 3,200 lb, with a disposable load of 1,400 lb. The engine is of 245 h.p., so that the power loading is about 13 lb/h.p. The disc loading has been kept low, which helps to account for the high useful load, although it will result in some loss of top speed. "The simplicity of the rotor-head mechanism results in lower manufacturing costs, and it is expected that the LZ-2A will sell at $20,000. In the last two issues we referred to the new Piasecki HJP-i helicopter for the U.S. Navy. This machine is unusual in that it has overlapping tandem rotors, an arrangement which saves space on carriers. In addition, the blades are made to fold, so that this fairly large heli- copter can be stowed in a relatively small space. The HJP-i will carry five passengers, but is also equipped for carrying stretcher cases, and there is a power-driven winch by means of which ditched pilots, for instance, can be picked up from the sea. Three of these machines have been ordered, and two are now undergoing tests at the Naval Air Test Centre, Patuxent, Md. Of other American news, mention may be made of the fact that the Hiller 360 is now in full production at the Palo Alto plant in California. The first commercial model was delivered recently to a Californian rancher, who will use it for crop spraying and similar work. The C.A.A. authorized maximum loaded weight is 2,248 lb, which leaves available 800 lb of disposable load. The Hiller 360, it will be,remembered, has a small servo rotor which is controlled by the pildt and in turn controls the main rotor. A BIG DAY AT WOODFORD AS briefly rewarded on page 330, the Avro ShackJeton G.R.xlong-range reconnaissance aircraft for Coastal Command made its first flight on March gth at Avro's Woodford airfield. The Shackleton is the fourth Avro prototype to l>e flown initially by Mr. J. H. -Osrell, th'e previous three being the Tudor "VIII, Athena r and Athena/2. Mr. S. E. Esler was co-pilot and Mr. A. Blake the flight frnyneer. The flight— of 33 minutes duration—was witnessed b'y Mr. \V. S. Farren (technical director); Mr. S. D. Davies (chief designer); Mr. W. M. Taylor ."(project designer concerned with the Shackleton); and Mr. .j. Rimmington (project engineer). Design of the Shackleton was initially undertaken by the late Mr. Roy Chad- wick, whose work was completed by Mr. Taylor. The Shackleton'is the twelfth Avro prototype to be built during the past ten years, and tlie assembly and preparation of all these machines have been under the supervision of Mr. A Bowers, manager of Avro's experimental department. Weather for the Shackleton's baptism was hazy, visibility varying between ij and 3 miles. A 15-knot north-easterly wind blew straight down the long runway. After one pre- liminary taxying test, which had been preceded by three or four others earlier, Mr. Orrell checked all four Griffons indi- vidually and the Shackleton was airborne after a 14-sec run.
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