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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1675.PDF
15 November 1957 763 After the first flight, Ron Gellatly (left), senior helicopter test pilot of Faireys, with his co-pilot John Morton (right) and Mr. G. W. Hall, chairman and managing director of the company. fins which complete the empennage were also omitted. Thecockpit, which is liberally glazed and the roof panels of which are tinted, is finished on the interior in a fresh pale grey from whichthe black instrument dials stand out extremely well. Gellatly, as captain, is occupying the right-hand seat and all four fixed seatsin the aircraft are fitted for seat-type parachutes. Despite a not inconsiderable quantity of test instrumentation covering strain-gauging, systems and aerodynamic performance, the long fuselage is remarkably airy and unencumbered. For the fourth flight the Rotodyne was "spotted" on a largewhite patch painted on the ground well out on the airfield, as a reference mark for hovering. The two Elands were started andthen everybody withdrew some way as compressed air began to turn the rotor. A dense spray of fuel from each tip preceded thesimultaneous lighting of the tip jets and a graceful vertical take-off with the Eland propellers in fully fine pitch. Some time agoFaireys demonstrated the very effective silencers which have been designed for the Rotodyne tip jets; but, since these are not atpresent fitted, the noise makes White Waltham seem a very small place indeed; the level is formidable—equivalent perhaps to thatof a four-engined aircraft at take-off power. This will be very greatly reduced by the silencers and will in any case last onlyduring the short period required for landing and take-off. The Elands themselves are very quiet. In the air everything seemed to be going smoothly, if cautiously.Gellatly hovered steadily in the strong breeze and control generally seemed to be causing him no difficulty. The control system of theRotodyne is, of course, completely new and there is no com- parable precedent to guide Fairey's pilots and engineers. Thoughnot given to hasty enthusiasm, Gellatly himself was delighted when we spoke to him after the flight. The machine handledsurprisingly easily and such tricky adjustments as the automatic co-ordination between collective-pitch control and tip-jet powercontrol seemed to have come out right first time. The machine is, of course, being flown completely untethered. And so, with a feeling of controlled elation, Faireys are con-tinuing to explore the handling characteristics of this revolutionary aircraft. (A detailed description of the Rotodyne, with cut-away drawing, appeared in "Flight" for August 9 this year.) &. G. S. Hislop, chief designer, and Ron Gellatly congratulate each other after the first flight. Looking on (I. to r.) are Gordon Slade, Wperintendent of flying, Mr. R. L. Lickley, technical director, John Morton, co-pilot, Mr. J. Hillard, experimental flight manager, and Peter Twiss, chief test pilot. Also present, but not seen here, was Mr. F. H. Parker, engineering manager.
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