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.
In 1926, Pitcairn started Pitcairn Aircraft Company initially to build aircraft for his growing airmail service. He purchased a field in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and built Pitcairn Field no. 2.[2]
PCA-2
The first aircraft, a Pitcairn PA-1 Fleetwing, was built at the Bryn Athyn field.[3] In 1927, Pitcairn brought aboard a friend and designer from his apprenticeship days at Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Agnew E. Larsen. Larsen left the Thomas-Morse Aircraft company to join Pitcairn.[1] In June 1927, the state of the art Wright Whirlwind powered Pitcairn PA-5 Mailwing was introduced for airmail service. The plane proved popular and was bought by 13 other companies.[3] In 1928, Pitcairn purchased a Cierva C.8W and the American manufacturing rights from Juan de la Cierva for his autogiro designs[4][5] for $300,000.[6] In 1929, Pitcairn formed a separate patent holding company to build autogiros, the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company,[7] which was later renamed the Autogiro Company of America. Kellett autogyros competed with, and eventually licensed production rights from, Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company for $300,000.[citation needed] As a part of the licensing agreement, Pitcairn used Cierva's copyrighted variant of the name Autogiro (capitalized and spelled with an i) as opposed to the currently more common spelling of autogyro which was initially used to bypass his copyright.
Licensed Kellett K-2A restored PA-18
In 1929, three prototypes were built, and one was demonstrated in the 1929 Cleveland Air Races. Following a fire in November 1929, The first PCA-1 was built and tested the same month.[8] In June 1929, Clement Keys personally bought all the shares of Pitcairn Aviation (the airline and flying school) for $2.5 million and resold them two weeks later to North American Aviation, which renamed the company Eastern Air Transport, and finally Eastern Airlines.[9] From this point on, Pitcairn focused on autogiros.
In 1931, the company was renamed to the Autogiro Company of America (ACA).[8] In 1931, The Detroit News made history when they bought the first Pitcairn PCA-2 for use as a news aircraft due to it ability to fly well at low altitude and speed, land and take off from restricted spaces, and semihover for better camera shots. This PCA-2 was the ancestor of today's news helicopters.[10] Also in 1931, pilot James G. Ray landed an autogiro on the south lawn of the White House. Harold F. Pitcairn, the pilot, and three other company members of the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company were present to receive the Collier Trophy for their development of the autogyro.[11]
In 1932, autogyro inventor Cierva was greeted by U.S. President Herbert Hoover, who predicted in the future we would have large transport autogyros.[12]Amelia Earhart borrowed a company Pitcairn PCA-2 model. She arranged for the National Aeronautics Association to monitor the flight. Members of the New York press and Movietone News were invited to watch. On her second flight, she remained airborne for about three hours and set a woman's autogiro altitude record of 18,415 feet. Later, she toured the country for Beech-Nut Packing Company in a bright green autogiro. On the return trip, she crash landed in Abilene, Texas, earning her a reprimand from the United States Department of Commerce. A second crash at the Michigan state fair, caused an unintended injury of her husband's ankle as he ran to the scene.[13]
In 1933, the parent company and conventional aircraft manufacturing arm, Pitcairn Aircraft Company, merged with the autogiro arm, following the end of Mailwing production, and contract air-mail flights.
On December 9, 1936, Juan de la Cierva died in a crash of a KLMDC-2.[6] The Cierva Autogiro Company, Ltd., largely financed by the Scottish marine engineering firm of G & J Weir, Ltd., was then engaged in development of the "autodynamic" rotor, unworkable features of which were abandoned to produce the C.40 jump-takeoff autogiro for the British Air Ministry. Pitcairn's engineering staff used a different and more practical means of providing jump-takeoff performance, which was applied to the PA-36, PA-39, and XO-60 autogiros. The C.40 was the last autogiro produced by the British company, the activities of which were suspended with the outbreak of World War II.
Pitcairn was kept apprised of the activities of the Cierva Autogiro Company, which proposed the Gyrodyne to the Royal Navy in 1938 in response to a requirement for a ship-borne rotorcraft capable of hovering. Pitcairn's staff was similarly engaged in the design of such an aircraft, modifying the AC-35 Autogiro for the purpose. The G & J Weir Ltd. aircraft department was engaged in the development of the Weir W-5 helicopter, which was similar in configuration to that of the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61. Though holding a construction license for the Cierva C.19 and C.30 Autogiros, which did not include access to any theoretical information or patented technology, Focke-Wulf engaged in a systematic study of publicly available documents, as well as original research to develop the Fa 61. The British government attempted, both through its own offices and those of G & J Weir, Ltd., to license Fa 61 technology, but were presented with onerous terms, which were rejected. Though urged to abandon the autogiro and instead pursue helicopter development, Pitcairn considered the former aircraft to offer more utility to the private flyer and largely ignored the latter. This decision was to consign Pitcairn's rotary-wing activities to the sidelines as new companies appeared that took advantage of his pioneering work with the autogiro that was readily applied to helicopter development.
In 1938, the company was renamed to the Pitcairn-Larsen Autogiro Company, and again in 1940 to the AGA Aviation Corporation.[3]
In 1942, Pitcairn's airfield and facilities at Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, were condemned by the US government for which he received $480,000, forming the Naval Air Station - Willow Grove. AGA Aviation was now renamed to G and A Aviation, and became part of Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Under threat by the US government of receiving no payment for his proprietary rotary-wing technology, Pitcairn reduced royalties for 19 in-house patents and 145 licensed patents to subcontractors of the government during wartime. After 1946, other manufacturers continued to produce helicopters under contracts with the US government which the latter assumed all indemnification for payment of royalties. The Pitcairn Autogiro Company was dissolved in 1948. Pitcairn continued to pursue litigation for use of the patents by other firms in 1951 that stretched into a 1977 Supreme Court case awarding Pitcairn's estate $32 million.[14][6]
Military operations
The US Navy evaluated a PCA-2 in 1931, designated as Pitcairn OP on the aircraft carrier USSLangley(CV-1), to become the first rotary-wing craft to land on a ship at sea.[15] Piloted by then Lieutenant Melville Pride, the autogiro landed four times and taxied about the deck without the aid of a landing crew. On one of these take off and landings, Captain Kenneth Whiting was a passenger.[16]
In 1940, six Pitcairn PA-18 autogyros were converted to Pitcairn PA-39 models for convoy escorts for the Fleet Air Arm. Three of these aircraft were lost at sea whilst being delivered to the UK with the remaining three being received by the Fleet Air Arm but were not used operationally.[17]
An autogyro, or gyroplane, is a class 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 Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva 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.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1931:
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide forward thrust during cruising flight. During forward flight the rotor is unpowered and free-spinning, like an autogyro, and lift is provided by a combination of the rotor and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are 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".
The Buhl Aircraft Company was a US aircraft manufacturer founded in Detroit in 1925 which remained in operation until 1933. Buhl designed and manufactured the Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster, the first aircraft to receive a US civil aviation type Certificate in March 1927. Several utility and sport aircraft models were developed from 1925 to 1931, both fixed wings and rotary wing aircraft. Their greatest successes were with the Airsedan and Bull Pup, with approximately 185 aircraft of all types built from 1925 to 1932.
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 Kellett Autogiro Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from 1929 based in Philadelphia, named after founder W. Wallace Kellett.
The Kellett K-2 was a two-seat autogyro developed in the United States in the early 1930s. Later examples were designated K-3 and K-4 when equipped with more powerful engines. K-3 NC 12691 is seen in the 1934 movie, It Happened One Night.
The Pitcairn PA-34 and Pitcairn PA-33, given the United States Navy (USN) designation Pitcairn OP-2 and United States Army designation Pitcairn YG-2 respectively were reconnaissance autogyros designed and built in 1936 for evaluation.
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 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.
Reginald Alfred Charles Brie MBE AFRAeS AFIAeS was a British rotorcraft test and demonstration pilot.
Henry Alan Marsh AFC AFRAeS was a British rotorcraft instructor and test pilot.
John MacDonald Miller was a barnstorming pilot, the first person to make a US transcontinental flight in a rotorcraft, the first to land a rotorcraft on the roof of a building, and the first to fly a scheduled US mail rotorcraft service. He was also a test pilot and airline captain. He became the oldest active pilot in the US, making his first flight on his 18th birthday and ending at the age of 101. He died aged 102.
References
1 2 Donald M. Pattillo. A history in the making: 80 turbulent years in the American general aviation ...
↑ Old York Road Historical Society. The Morelands and Bryn Athyn.
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