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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0097.PDF
23 January 1953 In 1933 the name Hafner first became known in helicopter development; the occasion was the appearance of the Hafner- Nagler design. Club, and it was not long before he was a soloist on the Autogiro. On September 30th he carried out the first-ever cross-country flight with a rotary-wing aircraft—one of 33 miles between Hamble and Farnborough. Features of this particular Lynx- Avro Autogiro were the introduction of stub wings, a more robust undercarriage with wider track, and dual controls. An interesting commentary in an article by Oliver Stewart in March 1928, indicated the intense activity behind Cierva's efforts: "Autogiros have now been built with both water-cooled and air- cooled engines of high and low powers. They have been tried with two-bladed, three-bladed and four-bladed windmills and with blades of different shapes. They are gradually ridding them selves of aeroplane influence and developing individuality." Mr. A. H. C. A. ("Dizzy") Rawson had now become a test pilot with the Cierva Company, and in August he set out on a tour of England and Scotland with the object of demonstrating that the Autogiro had now reached a functional stage. His itinerary, which included visits to Leeds, Newcastle, Renfrew, Blackpool, Liver pool, and Bristol, covered 3,000 miles without mishap. On September 18th, with the same Lynx-engined machine, Cierva, accompanied by M. Bouche (the editor of L'Aeronautique), left Croydon via St. Inglevert on the first cross-channel flight to Paris. On the previous day, the late Maj. C. C. Turner, aviation correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, accompanied Cierva as passenger on the flight from Hamble to Croydon. Progress in Britain had by now aroused interest in America, and a visit to this country by Harold Pitcairn, a wealthy indus trialist and president of Pitcairn Aviation, Inc., resulted in his acquiring the American rights in Cierva's inventions. The agree ment included the shipment of a British model and the temporary loan of Rawson for initial demonstration and pilot training at Pitcairn Field, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Early in 1929 the Pitcairn Cierva Autogiro Company of America came into being. Later in the year one of the best-known of the many Cierva types produced, the C.19 Mk 1, made its initial appearance. Par ticularly interesting because it was the first Autogiro to be designed from scratch, it had an unusual feature in the adjustable biplane- tail which deflected the airscrew slipstream during the initial stages of starting the four-bladed rotor and appreciably reduced the time to take-off. A two-seater powered with an Armstrong Siddeley 80 h.p. Genet II engine, it required a take-off distance of but 30 yards. With offices at Bush House, and in order to be able to demon strate and give flights to prospective purchasers with more facility than hitherto, the Cierva Company located a demonstra tion C.19 with Airwork, Ltd., at Heston. It was here, on August 6th, 1930, that I had my first Autogiro flight—and some dual— with Val Baker. On the 20th, after a 30 minutes' check-up with Rawson, I went solo. On the afternoon of November 20th, while I was waiting on the tarmac with Geoffrey Dorman, for a refresher flight, news came through that Rawson, with E. H. Alliott as passenger, had been involved in a mishap near Hounslow. Rawson's broken ankle precluded his undertaking an important demonstration near Paris the following month. As a result, I was invited by Jimmy Weir to join the Cierva Company on a temporary basis to under take this assignment. With a total of 3 hours solo flying on the C.19 Mk II behind me, I arrived at Orly on December 18th, successfully completed the programme, and continued with the Cierva Company until its shut-down in 1940. During the summer of 1931, and as part of the Cierva sales and publicity campaign, a C.19 Mk III and myself became temporary members of an aerial circus operated by C. D. Barnard, in which William Courtenay, representing the Daily Mail, played an active part. By the end of the tour we had visited some 150 towns and I had accumulated an additional 400 flying hours. Meanwhile Cierva was active at Hamble, where experiments with "direct control" were well under way. Additionally, a tandem-two-seater cabin Autogiro with a Gipsy Major engine was under construction by de Havillands at Stag Lane, and a general cleaning-up of the C.19 was in progress. The curtain was lifted at a Press demonstration at Hanworth during November 1931, when the D.H.-built C.24 and the Avro-built C.19 Mk IV were demonstrated by Rawson and Cierva respectively. This latter machine, an open two-seater with a Genet Major engine of 103 h.p., was characterized by a three-bladed cantilever main rotor (gone for ever were the blade-suspension and inter-bracing cables of all earlier models) a conventional tail unit, and a mechanical clutch for rotor-starting. A dozen or so were produced by Avro's, of which four were exported to Spain and Japan. In addition to being easy to fly, the Autogiro had already earned a reputation for being easy to mishandle, so an Autogiro Flying School and service depot was established in 1932, at Han worth, the headquarters of National Flying Services, Ltd. Here Alan Marsh joined me as chief instructor, with Charlie Ashton and "Chick" Stone in charge of maintenance. Cierva had a terrific personality and boundless energy. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he not only inspired those already associated with him but also others who foresaw a future for rotating wings. During 1932 a small single-seater prototype, the C.25, with a Pobjoy engine constructed by Comper Aircraft at Hooton, made its appearance. The principal event, however, was the development at Hamble of the C.19 Mk V experimental prototype, which, with Cierva as test pilot, proved the feasibility of "direct control." Gone were the stub wings, ailerons and elevators, and with this "flying mock-up" Cierva was able to demonstrate the soundness of his earlier theory that he could produce adequate stability and control at zero speed. The closing-down of the Avro factory at Hamble resulted in the transfer to Hanworth of the experimental and development activities of the Cierva Company. Concurrently, and with the object of developing a low-powered single-seater model, a licence to construct was acquired by G. and J. Weir, Ltd., Cathcart, Glasgow, with Cyril Pullin as chief engineer. Dr. James A. J. Bennett had already become technical assistant to Juan de la Cierva, thus facilitating a close liaison on technical aspects between licencees and the parent company. With the arrival of an Austrian-constructed helicopter at Heston (i.eft) Cierva C19MkV Autogiro—the "direct control" experimental prototype of 1932. Juan de la Cierva is seen flying the machine at low speed. The rudder was eventually suppressed and ••hanging-stick" control-column introduced. (Right) The Kay gyroplane of 1934.
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