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Vertipedia is a product of the Vertical Flight Society. With data on 862 aircraft, 613 historical milestones, 477 people, and 393 organizations, Vertipedia is your "one-stop shop" for all things vertical lift.
On December 11 in the history of vertical flight:
1951 - First helicopter to fly with a gas turbine powered transmission (Kaman K-225 modification)
1985 - First flight of Changhe Z-8 heavy helicopter
1997 - First flight of the Bell 427
Featured aircraft
Our latest featured aircraft for December is the Cierva W.11 Air Horse .
The aircraft was designed to provide viable heavy load lifting capability for commercial operations. It employed 3 main rotors all rotating in the same direction. Torque offset was provided by thrust components from the 3 rotors through built-in shaft tilt. The aircraft had a semi-monoquoque structure, a single engine, and a long-stroke undercarriage (5ft) to cope with high rates of descent. A description of the aircraft and its characteristics can be found in the following references,
Source: "The Cierva W-11 Air Horse", J. Gordon Leishman, VERTIFLITE Spring 2003, Page 52
Source: "Discussing the Helicopter", FLIGHT Staff, FLIGHT, December 2nd 1948, Pages 665-668
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Explore Vertipedia
Vertipedia makes it easy for you to find a range of information on vertical flight, including:
- Targeted searches of documents provided by the Vertical Flight Society, as well as public sources from across the internet
- Important milestones that have helped shape the history of vertical flight
- People who have played a role in vertical flight
- Vertical flight aircraft, such as helicopters, tilt rotors and tilt wings, jet-lift VTOL, and more.
