FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1564.PDF
722 FLIGHT (Left and right) Brantly B-2. The Department of Commerce's Air Co-ordinating Committee recently agreed and predicted that convertiplanes should beoperating on inter-city scheduled flight bases in roughly ten years."• Rotor diam., 25ft; max. length, 30ft; max. speed (estimated), 160 m.p.h. at 2,500ft O216 So designated is a project fora 25-passenger commercial helicopter, powered by three gas turbines, and de-picted on page 721. Cruising speed is expected to be at least 120 m.p.h. andmaximum payload would vary between 6,000 and 8,000 lb. A direct operating costin the vicinity of 10 cents per available seat is forecast. BENSEN AIRCRAFT CORP. Box 23'25, Raleigh-Durham Airport,Raleigh, N.C. (Raleigh 8798) B-7M Gyro-copter Newest of the Ben-sen ultra-light series the Gyro-copter is a single-seater, powered by a four-cylinderNelson engine of 40 h.p. On one U.S. gallon of petrol it is stated to have a rangeof 20 miles. The complete machine is to be marketed at about $1,800, or plans forhome construction will be available at $25 a set. For the following details we are indebtedto American Helicopter: "Since the Gyro- copter is still in its infancy, the full extentof its potential accomplishments is not yet known. To date, however [May 1956], itslifting capacity is 250 lb, and its endurance with a six gallon tank is two hours, therange being 120 miles. As yet, the Gyro- copter has not been pushed to its top speed;but it was clocked at 75 m.p.h. at partial power. Although it does not hover in thestrict sense of the word, it can maintain level flight at 19 m.p.h. and can get in andout of a spot some 100 X 100ft. Whenever winds exceed 19 m.p.h., it can make ver-tical take-offs and landings like a regular helicopter. The estimated ceiling of theGyro-copter is 12,000ft. The Gyro-copter has a free-wheeling rotor, which alwaysspins in 'autorotation' independently from the engine, and thus produces no torqueon the fuselage. This eliminates the tail rotor, shafting, gear boxes, clutches andother expensive components, makes the machine lighter and reduces its mainten-ance requirements comparable to those of a motor scooter." • Rotor diam., 20ft; fuselage length, 8ft 7in;empty weight, 185 lb; normal gross weight, 420 1b; cruising speed, 60 m.p.h.; max? speed,75 m.p.h.; min. level speed at s.l., 15 m.p.h.; take-off speed at s.l., 20 m.p.h., landing speedat s.l., 7 m.p.h.; take-off run in calm air, 100 yd; range, 120 miles; service ceiling, 12,500ft; max.rate of climb, 950ft/min. BRANTLY HELICOPTER CORP. 24 Maplewood Avenue, Philadelphia 44,Perm. (Germanwton 8-0114) B-2 Two prototypes of the B-2 havebeen built, and the second will undergo C.A.A. flight evaluation tests for certifica-tion for civil use. The fuselage is of stressed- skin construction. The nose section iswholly transparent and two Plexiglas bubbles on top of the cabin increase head-room for the two occupants. Conventional cyclic-stick and rudder pedals are providedon both sides of the cabin, but there is at present only one collective-pitch lever.Provision is being made for a removable collective-pitch lever on the left side for usein pilot-training. The engine is a modified Lycoming O-340-A1A. In order to elimi-nate the complications of the cooling fan (Left) Convertawings Model E Quadrotor. (Below) Model A Quadrotor. an induction cooling system has been de-veloped utilizing the velocity of the exhaust gases. The drive shaft from the engine isconnected to a clutch, which also serves as the flywheel. The clutch is engaged by theaction of 96 steel balls which are housed in an annular ring sloping outwards anddownwards. As the balls move outward due to centrifugal force, they are forceddownward against the pressure plate, engaging the clutch. A flexible couplingtransmits the torque to the main gear through a conventional free-wheel unit. Amaker's description reads: "The rotor blades have two flapping hinges, with theouter hinge being coincident with the lag hinge. The inboard blade has a symmetri-cal section with a 29 per cent thickness ratio and an effective chord of 8.84in. Itis set at an angle of incidence which is 4 per cent greater than the outboard bladewhich has an NACA 0012 section with an 8in chord. The inboard flapping hinge isoffset a distance of 2.67in from the hub, thereby providing a large hub momentwith cyclic control movement giving excel- lent control response and a large e.g. travel.The second flapping hinge relieves the flap- ping stresses in the blade. Damping in theplane of rotation is provided by the use of synthetic rubber buffers at the blade stops." • Rotor diam., 23ft 8in; fuselage length, 21ft lin; empty weight, 938 lb; gross weight, 1,550 lb; cruising speed at 4,000ft, 100 m.p.h. (indicated); max. speed, over 120 m.p.h.; rate of climb at s.l., over 1,000ft/min; rate of descent in autorotation at s.l., l,400ft/min. CONVERTAWINGS, INC. Zahns Airport, Amityville, N.Y.(Amityville 4-4762) Model A Quadrotor This flying test-bedmade its first free flights in March this year, and the makers claim that its successfulperformance has "provided conclusive proof that the Quadrotor configuration, •S.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
