Vertipedia is a product of the Vertical Flight Society. With data on 867 aircraft, 620 historical milestones, 569 people, and 395 organizations, Vertipedia is your "one-stop shop" for all things vertical lift.
1958 - First flight of Harbin Z-5, the Chinese 1st generation helicopter
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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Gyrodynes versus compound/hybrid helicopters
A gyrodyne is strictly a rotorcraft that can be powered for take-off and landing with the rotor disk being level to the flight path in cruising flight, which is similar to how a compound/hybrid helicopter works (differences are primarily in the rotor disk angle in cruise) . To avoid difficulties for users in classifying the two types, Gyrodynes are classed as compound helicopters (with thrust compounding, possibly lift compounding) in Vertipedia.
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