An autogyro, or gyroplane, is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate.
Juan de la Ciera y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Ciera was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and a self-taught aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of a rotorcraft 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 is 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.
On a helicopter, the main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that counteracts aerodynamic drag in forward flight. Each main rotor is mounted on a vertical mast over the top of the helicopter, as opposed to a helicopter tail rotor, which connects through a combination of drive shaft(s) and gearboxes along the tail boom. The blade pitch is typically controlled by the pilot using the helicopter flight controls. Helicopters are one example of rotary-wing aircraft (rotorcraft). The name is derived from the Greek words helix, helik-, meaning spiral; and pteron meaning wing.
Cyril Pullin was a British inventor, engineer and motorcycle race driver. His inventions contributed to the rotary engine and the helicopter. His son was the pilot for the first successful British helicopter flight in 1938. Cyril Pullin died in 1973 aged 80.
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 Pitcairn OP-1 was the first rotary-wing aircraft to be seriously evaluated by any of the world's major air forces. The machine was not a helicopter, nor an airplane, but an autogyro. Pitcairn's model was never put into production for any military.
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.
Harold Frederick Pitcairn was an American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of innovations relating to rotary wing aircraft.
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.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 Kellett KD-1 was a 1930s American autogyro built by the Kellett Autogiro Company. It had the distinction of being the first practical rotary-wing aircraft used by the United States Army and inaugurated the first scheduled air-mail service using a rotary-wing aircraft.
The Pitcairn PCA-2 was an autogyro developed in the United States in the early 1930s. It was Harold F. Pitcairn's first autogyro design to be sold in quantity. It had a conventional design for its day – an airplane-like fuselage with two open cockpits in tandem, and an engine mounted tractor-fashion in the nose. The lift by the four-blade main rotor was augmented by stubby, low-set monoplane wings that also carried the control surfaces. The wingtips featured considerable dihedral that acted as winglets for added stability.
The Cierva C.40 was a British autogyro designed by G.B.L. Ellis, Otto Reder, and Dr. J.A.J Bennett and was assembled by the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company at London Air Park, Hanworth.
The Autogiro Company of America AC-35 was an early attempt to make a roadable aircraft in the United States during the 1930s. Although it was successfully tested, it did not enter production; a 1960s attempt to revive the aircraft in a non-roadable version also failed to achieve success.
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.
The Hafner H.8 Rotachute was a British 1940s experimental one-man rotor kite designed by Raoul Hafner.
The Westland CL.20 was a two-seat autogyro designed and built by Westland Aircraft between 1934 and 1938. One flying prototype and six airframes were built, which had control problems and insufficient lift. Before these problems could be solved the programme was abandoned and the prototype was scrapped in 1938.
The Cierva C.7 was an experimental autogiro designed by Juan de la Cierva and built in the late 1920s.
The 1933 experimental Pitcairn PA-22 was one of the first wingless autogyros. It was controlled by movement of the rotor plane rather than the usual control surfaces, though initially the much modified lone example retained rudders as a precaution.
