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An autogyro, also known as a gyroplane or gyrocopter, is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's rotor must have air flowing across the rotor disc to generate rotation, and the air flows upwards through the rotor disc rather than down.
Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of the first helicopter called Autogiro, a single-rotor type of aircraft that came to be called autogyro in the English language. In 1923, after four years of experimentation, De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype.
The Cierva C.30 was an autogyro designed by Juan de la Cierva and built under licence from the Cierva Autogiro Company by A V Roe & Co Ltd (Avro), Lioré-et-Olivier and Focke-Wulf.
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing and also includes one or more conventional propellers to provide forward thrust during cruising flight. Lift during forward flight is provided by a combination of the rotor, like an autogyro, and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to provide helicopter-like low-speed performance and conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
The Cierva C.6 was the sixth autogyro designed by engineer Juan de la Cierva, and the first one to travel a "major" distance. Cierva, the engineer responsible for the invention of the autogyro, had spent all his funds on the research and creation of his first five prototypes. Therefore, in 1923, he turned to the Cuatro Vientos Aerodynamics Laboratory chief, Commander Emilio Herrera, who succeeded in persuading General Francisco Echagüe, the director of the Military Aviation Aeronautics Department, to take over the second stage in the research and development of Cierva's autogyros.
The Avro 552 was a British light biplane aircraft produced in the early 1920s. It was another attempt by Avro to sell a derivative of the wartime 504 to the civil market.
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.
The Cierva Autogiro Company was a British firm established in 1926 to develop the autogyro. The company was set up to further the designs of Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish engineer and pilot, with the financial backing of James George Weir, a Scottish industrialist and aviator.
The Cierva C.1 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in Spain in 1920, the forerunner of his successful series of autogyros. The C.1 was created by taking the fuselage from a Deperdussin fixed-wing aircraft and mounting two rotors shaft above it. This shaft carried two coaxial contra-rotating rotors, and atop it a fin for increased lateral stability. When tested, the C.1 refused to take off, which Cierva attributed to interference between the two sets of rotors leading to each set autorotating at a different speed. He considered the possibility of mechanically linking the rotors, but dismissed the idea on the grounds of weight and complexity, and his subsequent efforts would all feature single main rotors. Despite its failure to fly, the C.1 demonstrated the principle of autorotation in a full-sized aircraft for the first time, as it was taxied around the ground.
The Cierva C.3 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in Spain in 1921. It was based on the fuselage of a Sommer monoplane, and was actually completed and tested before that aircraft. The C.3 utilised a single, three-bladed rotor in place of the coaxial double rotor tested on the C.1. A few short hops were achieved in testing and Cierva noted a tendency for the machine to want to roll over, thus alerting him to the problem of dissymmetry of lift that he would have to overcome in order to build a successful rotary-wing aircraft. The C.3 was damaged and rebuilt four times before being abandoned without having flown, la Cierva returning to work on the C.2.
The Cierva C.4 was an experimental autogiro built by Juan de la Cierva in Spain in 1922 which early the following year became the first autogyro to fly successfully. Failures of De la Cierva's attempts to compensate for dissymmetry of lift with the C.1, C.2, and C.3 autogiros, led him to consider alternate means of enabling an autogyro to fly without rolling over. He noted that the problems experienced with his full-size aircraft were not present in the models that he had successfully flown, and considered the difference between the full-size and small-scale rotors. The rotors used on his model were made of bamboo and were thus far more flexible than the ones on his full-size aircraft. While attending an opera he realized that the flexibility eliminated the moments acting on the hub and associated instability. Trained as a civil engineer, Cierva was aware that a cantilever structure hinged to its attachment point generated no moment, and he designed a rotor the blades of which were mounted to the hub through hinges to permit their vertical oscillation.
The Cierva C.8 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in England in 1926 in association with Avro. Like Cierva's earlier autogyros, the C.8s were based on existing fixed-wing aircraft fuselages – in this case, the Avro 552.
The Cierva C.9 was an experimental autogyro built by Cierva in England in 1927, in association with Avro. It was the first of Cierva's autogyro designs to feature an original, purpose-built fuselage. Two examples were built - a single-seat machine and a two-seater.
The Cierva C.12 was an experimental autogyro built by Cierva Autogiro Company in England in 1929, in association with Avro.
The Cierva C.17 was a British experimental autogyro built by Cierva Autogiro Company in England in 1928, in association with Avro. It was an attempt to build upon the successful Cierva C.8 design using the smaller, more streamlined fuselage of an Avro Avian IIIA as a starting point. The type was found to be underpowered, and when the first attempt at fitting a more powerful engine still did not result in acceptable performance, the design was abandoned.
The Cierva C.19 was a 1930s British two-seat autogyro, designed by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva. It was built by Avro as the Avro Type 620. It proved to be the most successful and widely produced of the early de la Cierva designs.
The Cierva C.40 was a British autogyro designed by G.B.L. Ellis, Otto Reder, and J.A.J Bennett and assembled by the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company at London Air Park, Hanworth.
The Pitcairn Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light utility aircraft. An early proponent of the autogyro, the company, later known as the Autogiro Company of America among other names, remained in business until 1948.
Talleres Loring was a Spanish aeronautical company founded by engineer and entrepreneur Jorge Loring after moving to Madrid.
References
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 254.
- World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 891 Sheet 28.
- Leishman, J. Gordon (2006). Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 699.