Berliner Helicopter

Last updated
Berliner Helicopter
Bundesarchiv Bild 102-08944, Schraubenflugzeug mit drei Tragflachen.jpg
Berliner Helicopter No. 5
RoleHelicopter
National originUnited States of America
Designer Henry Berliner
Adams-Farwell rotary engine Adams-Farwell Gyro Motor Rotary 5.jpg
Adams-Farwell rotary engine

The Berliner Helicopter is a series of experimental helicopters built by Henry Berliner between 1922 and 1925. The helicopters had only limited controllability but were the most significant step forward in helicopter design in the US, until the production of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter in 1940. [1] The 1922 flights of the Berliner and the de Bothezat H1 were the first by manned helicopters. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Development

Emile Berliner, an inventor famous for his invention of the flat gramophone record, had experimented with intermeshing helicopters as early as 1907. [1] The initial design was underpowered, and called for a lighter engine. Berliner developed a 36 hp five cylinder rotary engine with the Adams-Farwell Company from Dubuque, Iowa, producing the first rotary engine used for aircraft. Berliner later spun off the Gyro Motor Company from this work. [1] A test rig was flown in 1908, followed by two other upgrades before Berliner focused on his other businesses. [1]

In 1919, Emile Berliner's son, Henry Berliner, left the Army Air Service as an aerial photographer to work with his father on helicopter designs. [1]

By 1922, Henry Berliner founded the Berliner Aircraft Company, with a focus on conventional aircraft. The Berliner Helicopter was successfully demonstrated throughout the 1920s, but interest was lost due to its limited controllability and engine-out abilities compared to the autogyro and conventional aircraft. [5]

Design

Emile Berliner named all his counter-rotating helicopters "gyrocopters" (gyrocopter was later used to describe a rotary-winged vehicle that operated on different principles). The first test rig was powered by two 30 hp Adams-Farwell rotary engines. The second example capable of lifting a person was powered by a single 60 hp engine. Emile initially intended his helicopter to have floats and to be used at low levels over water in case of an engine failure that would cause a forced landing. [6] A Popular Mechanics article of the time supposed that his invention would be used as a "flying torpedo" more capable than an aeroplane at holding rich cities for ransom. [7]

In 1918, Henry and Emile patented a single-rotor helicopter design that was not built. [8] Henry Berliner's first effort was updating a new unmanned coaxial test rig. He followed on with a 570 lb, 80 hp Le Rhône engine powered, test rig that required assistants for stabilization. The rig could lift 900 lb. His test rig, with two wheels and handlebars, resembled a wheelbarrow with an engine mounted in it, with a tall vertical shaft driving two counter-rotating propellers. [9]

In 1922, Henry Berliner developed a helicopter based on a surplus Nieuport 23 fuselage with a 220 hp radial engine driving two wing mounted counter-rotating rotors. The rotorshafts could tilt slightly forward and backward relative to each other to control yaw. The pitch of the aircraft was controlled by a small tail-mounted propeller with a variable pitch mechanism. Roll control was from a small set of adjustable wing-mounted louvers in the rotor slipstream. High-speed forward flight was also stabilized by a conventional rudder and elevator control at the rear of the aircraft. In 1923, the Helicopter incorporated triplane wings to allow for gliding in case of an engine failure. The last example built in 1924 featured a biplane configuration with 20 ft (6.1 m) rotors and a 1,850 lb gross weight. [1]

Operational history

In 1908, a test rig designed by John Newton Williams with coaxial propellers reached heights of 3 feet. [2] Berliner used the historic College Park Airport in Maryland for most of his flight testing. A 1922 model with a single wing was able to hover at about 10 feet. [10] The 1923 model was demonstrated at speeds up to 40 mph with poor roll control. On February 23, 1924 a test flight reached 15 feet (4.6 m) in altitude and 40 mph in forward speed. The next day, it was demonstrated in front of Navy officials and the press. [2] That same year, testing of the Berliner Helicopter was moved to McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio. [11] McCook Field was the U.S. Army Signal Corps.' experimental test and development field. There it was flown by Air Service test pilot Harold R. Harris among others, achieving stable hovers of up to 15 feet. [11] A helicopter hangar was constructed at the field for the craft, and is believed to be the world's first dedicated helicopter hangar. [11]

Survivors

1924 Berliner Helicopter on display Berliner Helicopter in College Park Aviation Museum.jpg
1924 Berliner Helicopter on display

Variants

Specifications (Berliner Helicopter No.5)

Data from Smithsonian

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VTOL</span> Aircraft takeoff and landing done vertically

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.

The CarterCopter is an experimental compound autogyro developed by Carter Aviation Technologies in the United States to demonstrate slowed rotor technology. On 17 June 2005, the CarterCopter became the first rotorcraft to achieve mu-1 (μ=1), an equal ratio of airspeed to rotor tip speed, but crashed on the next flight and has been inoperable since. It is being replaced by the Carter Personal Air Vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Rotodyne</span> 1950s British compound gyroplane

The Fairey Rotodyne was a 1950s British compound gyroplane designed and built by Fairey Aviation and intended for commercial and military uses. A development of the earlier Fairey Jet Gyrodyne, which had established a world helicopter speed record, the Rotodyne featured a tip-jet-powered rotor that burned a mixture of fuel and compressed air bled from two wing-mounted Napier Eland turboprops. The rotor was driven for vertical takeoffs, landings and hovering, as well as low-speed translational flight, but autorotated during cruise flight with all engine power applied to two propellers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell XV-15</span> American experimental tiltrotor aircraft

The Bell XV-15 is an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mil Mi-34</span> Russian light helicopter

The Mil Mi-34 is a light helicopter designed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant in either a two or four seat configuration for utility and training. It was first flown on 17 November 1986 and introduced at the Paris Air Show in 1987. The Mi-34 entered production in 1993, and is capable of performing aerobatic manoeuvres, including rolls and loops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamov Ka-15</span>

The Kamov Ka-15 was a Soviet two-seat utility helicopter with coaxial rotors, which first flew on 14 April 1952 at the hands of test pilot D. K. Yefremov. It was the world's first mass-produced coaxial helicopter. State acceptance trials were completed in 1955, and the helicopter entered production the following year at aircraft factory No. 99 in Ulan-Ude. It was a precursor to the Ka-18 and was fitted with the M-14 engine. It was primarily used for bush patrol, agricultural purposes and fishery control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bensen B-8</span> Small, single-seat autogyro

The Bensen B-8 is a small, single-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the 1950s. Although the original manufacturer stopped production in 1987, plans for homebuilders are still available as of 2019. Its design was a refinement of the Bensen B-7, and like that aircraft, the B-8 was initially built as an unpowered rotor-kite. It first flew in this form in 1955, and on 6 December a powered version, designated B-8M first flew. The design proved to be extremely popular and long-lasting, with thousands of sets of plans sold over the next thirty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Berliner</span> American aviation pioneer (1895-1970)

Henry Adler Berliner was a United States aircraft and helicopter pioneer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadcopter</span> Helicopter with four rotors

A quadcopter, also called quadrocopter, or quadrotor is a type of helicopter or multicopter that has four rotors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotorcraft</span> Heavier-than-air aircraft with rotating wings

A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift. The assembly of several rotor blades mounted on a single mast is referred to as a rotor. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines a rotorcraft as "supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Type 173</span> 1950s British helicopter

The Bristol Type 173 was a British twin-engine, tandem rotor transport helicopter built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was designed by Raoul Hafner as a civil transport helicopter but evoked interest from the military. It did not enter production but was developed into the Bristol Belvedere which was operated by the Royal Air Force from 1961 to 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cierva W.11 Air Horse</span>

The Cierva W.11 Air Horse was a helicopter developed by the Cierva Autogiro Company in the United Kingdom during the mid-1940s. The largest helicopter in the world at the time of its debut, the Air Horse was unusual for using three rotors mounted on outriggers, and driven by a single engine mounted inside the fuselage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne</span>

The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne is an experimental British rotorcraft that used single lifting rotor and a tractor propeller mounted on the tip of the starboard stub wing to provide both propulsion and anti-torque reaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breguet-Richet Gyroplane</span>

The Breguet-Richet Gyroplane was an early French experimental quadcopter rotary-wing aircraft developed by Breguet Aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonnell XV-1</span> American experimental gyrodyne

The McDonnell XV-1 is an experimental Convertiplane developed by McDonnell Aircraft for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army to explore technologies to develop an aircraft that could take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional airplane. The XV-1 would reach a speed of 200 mph, faster than any previous rotorcraft, but the program was terminated due to the tip-jet noise and complexity of the technology which gave only a modest gain in performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellett XR-8</span> Type of aircraft

The Kellett XR-8 was a helicopter built in the United States during World War II. It was a two-seat machine intended to demonstrate the feasibility of a twin-rotor system and, while it accomplished this, it also demonstrated a number of problems that prevented further development of this particular design.

de Bothezat helicopter Type of aircraft

The de Bothezat helicopter, also known as the Jerome-de Bothezat Flying Octopus, was an experimental quadrotor helicopter built for the United States Army Air Service by George de Bothezat in the early 1920s, and was said at the time to be the first successful helicopter. Although its four massive six-bladed rotors allowed the craft to fly successfully, it suffered from complexity, control difficulties, and high pilot workload, and was reportedly only capable of forward flight in a favorable wind. The Army canceled the program in 1924, and the aircraft was scrapped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikorsky S-97 Raider</span> American high-speed scout and attack compound helicopter

The Sikorsky S-97 Raider is a high-speed scout and attack compound helicopter based on the Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) with a coaxial rotor system under development by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky planned to offer it for the United States Army's Armed Aerial Scout program, along with other possible uses. The S-97 made its maiden flight on 22 May 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pescara Model 3 Helicopter</span> Type of aircraft

The Pescara Model 3 was the first of several coaxial helicopter designs by Raúl Pateras Pescara to demonstrate sustained controlled helicopter flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brennan Helicopter</span> Experimental British helicopter

The Brennan Helicopter was a British rotary wing aircraft, developed by the Irish engineer and inventor Louis Brennan between the late 1910s and the mid-1920s. The helicopter was powered by a central engine through shafts to propellers mounted on two of the rotor blades.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Berliner Helicopter, Model 1924 Archived 2010-04-08 at the Wayback Machine . National Air and Space Museum. Accessed 2010-11-07.
  2. 1 2 3 Lemos, Robert (December 12, 2007). "The Helicopter: A Hundred Years of Hovering". Wired. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  3. ↑ Aerofiles, "D"
  4. ↑ Proceedings, Volume 48, Issues 7–12. United States Naval Institute.
  5. ↑ "Why don't we fly straight up?" Popular Science , February 1928, p.43.
  6. ↑ Stullich, Stephanie and Katharine D. Bryant. Images of America: College Park. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-7385-4153-2.
  7. ↑ "Developments in Aerial Torpedoes". Popular Mechanics, December 1909, p. 726.
  8. ↑ Leishman, J. Gordon. Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics. Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-521-85860-1
  9. ↑ Bellamy, Francis Rufus. The Outlook, Volume 127. January–April 1921. New York: The Outlook Company. p. 183.
  10. ↑ "Man-carrying Helicopter Makes Short Flight" Popular Mechanics, August 1922. p.181.
  11. 1 2 3 Cornelisse, Diana G. Splendid Vision, Unswerving Purpose: Developing Air Power for the United States Air Force During the First Century of Powered Flight. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: U.S. Air Force Publications, 2002. ISBN   0-16-067599-5.
  12. ↑ Cyclopedia of Automobile Engineering. Chicago, IL: American School of Correspondence, 1909.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.