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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0907.PDF
1LIGHT International, 7 June 1962 Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Burbank, California CL-475 An article on the development of this remarkable side-by-side two-seat re search helicopter appeared in the March 1, 1962, issue of Flight International. It told how the CL-475 represents a first step on the path that Lockheed believe might lead eventually to a vehicle of low cost and with sufficient utility to reach the mass market. An indication that this is no vain hope is given by the fact that military and civilian personnel with varying degrees of piloting skill have flown the CL-475 with little or no check-out time. Key to this incredible ease of handling is the Lockheed rigid rotor, driven in this case by a 140 h.p. Lycoming engine. The blades are cantilevered from the hub with freedom to rotate only in cyclic pitch; the hub is rigidly attached to the mast and the mast is rigidly attached to the transmission and fuselage. By using the stable gyroscopic effects inherent in a rigid rotor of this type to resist external forces that tend to change the aircraft's attitude, the helicopter will maintain its flight attitude without arti ficial stabilization equipment. In fact, hands-off flying capability at all speeds, with no form of autopilot, is claimed to be a natural feature of the CL-475. • Rotor diam, 32ft; gross weight, approx 2,0001b; max speed, 90 m.p.h. CL-595 Two of these advanced helicop ters are under construction and the first is due to fly in the autumn. Powered by a shaft turbine, the CL-595 will test the rigid-rotor concept at speeds over 200 m.p.h. VZ-10 Hummingbird Lockheed-Georgia are building two small two-seat research aircraft, under the designation VZ-10, to determine the possibilities of a new aug- mented-jet VTOL technique. If successful, such machines would probably meet US Army requirements for a manned VTOL surveillance and target-acquisition aircraft. The VZ-10 has a fairly conventional mid- wing layout, with a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT12A-3 turbojets mounted above the wing-roots. As explained in detail in an article in Flight International on April 5, when the pilot wants to take off vertically, he will first open fuselage doors over and under a large mixing chamber which occu pies the whole of the centre fuselage. He will then activate a simple valve arrangement which will divert the high-velocity exhaust from the turbojets into the chamber and vertically downward via a bank of nozzles. This will induce an accompanying flow of surrounding free air, boosting the aircraft's Lockheed CL-475 905 vertical lift thrust by 40 per cent at no cost in extra fuel consumption. Transition to forward flight will be ini tiated by tilting the aircraft slightly nose- down and accelerating. As wing lift in creases, the turbojets will be switched back one at a time to normal horizontal thrust. The doors will then be closed and the VZ-10 will look a perfectly conventional aircraft in cruising flight. • Span, 25ft 8in; length, 32ft 8in; max VTOL weight, 7,2001b; empty weight, 4,9951b; max speed, 518 m.p.h.; max rate of climb at S.I., 18,000ft/min; normal range with 3001b payload, 335 miles. Monte-Copter, Inc 6805 Perimeter Road South, Boeing Field, Seattle 8, Washington Model 15 Triphibian Development of this miniature three-seat amphibious helicopter has continued throughout the past year, but it does not yet appear to have flown. The powerplant is now a Continental Model 143 turbo-generator, which supplies compressed air to "cold-jet" units at the tips of the two-blade rotor. Taxying on land or water is accomplished by use of jet thrust from the engine, without the need for any drive shafts or propellers and with the rotor stationary. • Rotor diam, 36ft; length of fuselage, 15ft 3in; height, 8ft 3in; gross weight, 2,0001b; empty weight, 1,2321b; max speed, 95 m.p.h.; cruising speed, 75 m.p.h.; range, 100 miles. Omega Aircraft Corporation Municipal Airport, New Bedford, Massachussetts BS-12D1 When the prototype BS-12 flew for the first time, on December 29,1956, it gave us our first glimpse of a genuine flying crane helicopter. Instead of the usual passenger cabin, it had simply a small cab at the front for up to five persons. Aft of the cab, under the steel-tube backbone and between the undercarriage legs, was a clear space large enough to accommodate really bulky and awkward-shaped freight. Nor was this all, for the BS-12 offered all the usual advantages of a twin-engined air craft, plus the fact that its engines were completely accessible for quick servicing. Certification of the improved BS-12D1, with two 260 h.p. Lycoming O-540-F1A5 engines, came in April 1961 and deliveries have now begun. • Rotor diam, 39ft; length of fuselage, 24ft llin; height, 13ft; max gross weight, 4,8801b; empty weight, 3,5121b; max speed, 95 m.p.h.; econ cruising speed, 85 m.p.h.; max rate of climb at s.L, l,210ft/min; range with max fuel, 190 miles; range with max payload, 50 miles. Piasecki Aircraft Corporation Island Road, International Airport, Philadelphia 42, Pennsylvania Model 16H This new five-seat high-speed helicopter has been designed and built by Piasecki as a private venture. Its 500 s.h.p. Canadian Pratt and Whitney PT6 shaft turbine drives a three-blade main rotor and a ducted propeller at the tail. Vanes inside the duct provide the necessary directional control and torque correction. The short- span wings unload the main rotor in cruising flight, giving the rotor system a considerably increased life and reducing maintenance and Lockheed CL-595 mock-up Lockheed VZ-10 artist's impression Omega BS- / 2D I Piasecki 16H artist's impression operating costs compared with conventional helicopters of similar size. The prototype Model 16H has exceeded 117 m.p.h. during early test flights, with its undercarriage down, cockpit unfaired and stub wings removed, using only 64 per cent of the available engine power. In its final form, with wings fitted and under the thrust of the ducted propeller, the aircraft is expected to cruise at over 150 m.p.h. Seageep I Piasecki's original Sky Car I, also known as the Airgeep I, has been fitted with pontoons under a US Navy contract and has recently operated extensively over both land and water in its new form as the Seageep I. Powered by a 425 s.h.p. Tur- bomeca Artouste IIB shaft turbine, driving two horizontal rigid three-blade ducted rotors, it has demonstrated that it is an aircraft rather than a ground-effect vehicle
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