Welcome to Vertipedia!
Vertipedia is a product of the Vertical Flight Society. With data on 863 aircraft, 620 historical milestones, 480 people, and 395 organizations, Vertipedia is your "one-stop shop" for all things vertical lift.
On April 2 in the history of vertical flight:
1918 - First flight of the PKZ 2 unmanned/Tethered Observation Helicopter
1931 - First Type Certificate awarded to a Gyroplane (Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogiro)
Featured aircraft
Our latest featured aircraft for April 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
Vertipedia Notes
Vertipedia notes are brief descriptions of how and why Vertipedia works the way it does. Check back often for the latest note, or view the complete list.
Vertipedia training requirements
Vertipedia has been designed from the outset to minimize the need for any specific training for users to either access or contribute to the database. Contributing to Vertipedia is more demanding but this is related more to the interpretation of external data before adding it to the database rather than any complexity with adding/editing data. A user guide is available from the Vertipedia team on request. We are always grateful for feedback on how to improve the user experience.
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.
