FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1512.PDF
Above, bolkow's high-speed rotor with lead-lag blades. Be/ow, the Bolkow Cobra with its deflector plate under the tail. When the tail-cap is removed the spoiler guards spring away The German Industry . . . Klemm 107c, fresh from a Do28 demanstration in Greenland. Fly-ing with a new ski undercarriage, he had made about 150 take- offs and had carried two oil-drums at a time into the high glaciers.Another task was to fly for up to 9hr leading ships through the pack-ice. The tour had obviously been a great success and salesprospects were bright. Do27s and Do28s have now made demon- stration tours in most parts of the world. Bolkow-Entwicklungen ONE of the youngest and fastest-growing of the German aircraftcompanies, the Bblkow group was formed, and is directed by, Dipl. Ing. Ludwig Bolkow. While he himself retains ownership ofthe original nucleus, Ingenieurbiiro Bolkow, the main organization is centred on the Bolkow Entwicklungen KG with head offices atthe formsr Luftwaffe wind-tunnel site at Ottobrunn, a short distance south-east of Munich. The Ingenieurbiiro specializes in design anddevelopment in precision engineering and electronics, while Ottobrunn is engaged on numerous defence ministry contracts inthe missile, VTOL and helicopter field. The two most important among these are undoubtedly the Cobra anti-tank missile pro-gramme and the Bolkow participation with a sizable design team in the Entwicklungsring Sud. The main member-company of the group, Bolkow-ApparatebauGmbH, based at Nabern/Teck, is responsible for Cobra production. A new factory at Schrobenhausen is devoted to Cobra assembly.With large orders in hand for the German army, an evaluation order for 250 from Holland and prospects of orders from Denmark,Italy, Norway and elsewhere, the Cobra programme is moving into top gear. Bolkow at Nabern includes the fixed-wing interests pro-ducing the F.207 four-seater, Phonix high-performance glider and Bolkow Junior. The score of 102 Heli-trainers so far made and adesk-top tape recorder called Conferette are also Nabern products. There is a new factory for fixed-wing aircraft at Laupheim. Finally, Bolkow has a one-third interest in Waggon- undMaschinenbau GmbH at Donauworth, north-west of Munich, which includes full ownership of Siebelwerke ATG, makingNoratlas sub-assemblies, the 222 touring aircraft and 223 trainer, F-104 intakes and rear fuselage and metal honeycomb portions of 616 FLIGHT, 19 October 1961 the tail of the NATO Atlantic under sub-contract from Dornier.The group certainly has exceptionally wide interests and versatile capabilities. In the mock-up stage is a one- or two-stage high-altitude sounding rocket with recovery parachutes for both stages and a system for returning the rocket to the launch site after bum-out. Bolkow are reported to be working on a semi-automatic version of Cobra and on infra-red techniques possibly intended tosupplement defence radar at low altitudes. They will very probably feature prominently in the electronics portion of any new Germanweapon system. In addition Bolkow claim to be the only company in Germanyengaged on basic research in the helicopter field. Their high-speed rotor with pivoted lead-lag blading is quite new and a prototypehelicopter to test the rotor should fly in 1963. The 102 Heli-trainer has been followed by the single-seat 103 helicopter, powered by anAgusta 82 h.p. piston engine, which is being used to investigate the single-blade rotor under government contract. First flights, madeduring this year, have proved encouraging and there is a possibility that the BMW 90 h.p. turboshaft engine might be fitted in a laterversion. Bolkow feel that there are real applications for the one-manhelicopter and that the one-blade rotor—its blade is of a manageably large size for production—turning at speeds above 600 r.p.m. isworth pursuing. They remain relatively unimpressed with the autogyro formula for vehicles of this size. Ability to hover, theysay, is important. Autogyro payload is too small for economical agricultural use. Although they are willing or allowed to release relatively littleinformation concerning their helicopter ventures, Bolkow state that they want to extend their helicopter department and enter theinternational field with new systems and new ideas. They regard rotary-wing development as an important part of the company'swork. During my visit to Ottobrunn I spent some time "flying" thelatest version of the 102 Heli-trainer, which incorporates a special pivoted mounting giving tilting freedom of up to 6° in any direc-tion. Tilt and translation were formerly only possible in the water- borne trainer, but in this device the drag of the float in the watergave an unrealistic response and tended to teach pupils to over- control the cyclic stick. The fixed-base version previously allowedonly vertical and turning freedom without roll and pitch attitude changes. Now, the trainer is mounted on an appropriately con-toured hemispherical casting, with outrigger arms as limit-stops so that, once this portion is unlocked—and this can be done one axisat a time—the pupil must use the cyclic stick to control attitude and keep on an even keel. Bolkow state that the Heli-trainer can takethe pupil right to the stage where he can fly solo in a real helicopter after only 30min dual, with consequent very considerable reductionin training cost and risk. Earlier versions of the Heli-trainer have been supplied to theGerman army, France, Spain, Yugoslavia and Britain. The new land-based tilting system can be and is being retrofitted to existingmachines. The normal Heli-trainer course takes pupils through all the main helicopter routines, including full pre-flight inspections—a dummy pitot head is even fitted and the cover has to be removed before "flight." First, straight lifts and descents are taught with theinstructor sitting in a saddle alongside the pupil. Then turns using only rudder are taught and finally the tilt axes are unlocked oneafter the other. Even auto-rotative touch-downs can be induced by a second master switch controlled by the instructor. I found that torque effects and throttle co-ordination were clearly Bolkow's latest I02B Heli-trainer with tilting base
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
