Fairey Rotodyne

The Fairey Rotodyne was a flight screwdrivers from the British manufacturer Fairey. The unusual design which has been used in any other aircraft combined the concept of a vertical take-off ( VTOL) transport helicopter with wings and a tip drive to achieve higher speeds.

The primary purpose of the passenger transport between closely spaced cities was provided. Due to its central location in the cities starting places you would not need external airfields. The development contract was awarded by the British Ministry of Supply in August 1953. The first flight of the prototype took place only on 6 November 1957.

Essential features of the Rotodyne were the box-shaped hull with an almost square cross section, a four-blade rotor, which was driven by a hot blade tip drive at startup and during landing, short wings in wing monoplane design, where the turboprop engines were attached, and a double tail at the rear.

To start the propeller turbines were coupled with compressors which supplied compressed air for the hot tip drive. The air is thereby forced through the hollow rotor shaft and the rotor blades prior to being mixed and burned in a nozzle at the tip with fuel. In this construction can on a torque balance, how otherwise waived by a tail rotor.

After lift-off was accelerated forward by the conventional propeller turbines. At a sufficient speed of the blade tip was then driving off, and the lift is generated only on the freely rotating on the principle autogyro rotor and the support surfaces. Landing the procedure was carried out in the reverse manner.

The prototype has been repeatedly demonstrated in Farnborough and at the Paris Air Show. On January 5, 1959, he won the world record for the 100 km route closed for rotor aircraft with 307 km / h The flight behavior was good. The British European Airways ( BEA now British Airways) ordered first 6 and the Royal Air Force 12 machines. The New York Airlines and the U.S. Army showed interest.

The main point of criticism, however, was the enormous noise development of the blade tip drive. An air traffic and landings within a big city, between office towers, so was not practical. They tried to solve the problem through specially designed muffler, but without much success. Furthermore, new operational concepts should the project still to lead to success, such as helipads on the roofs of tall buildings.

Fairey was taken over by Westland in 1960. The BEA canceled their orders because of the lack of applications; the British Air Force canceled for cost reasons. The program was subsequently discontinued in February 1962.

Specifications

• Crew: 2
• Passengers: 57-75
• Length: 17,90 m
• Rotor diameter: 27.40 m
• Height: 6.76 m
• Rotor area: 591 m²
• Takeoff weight 15,000 kg
• Maximum takeoff weight: 17,000 kg
• Drive: 2 Napier Eland NEL3 each 2100 kW
• Maximum speed: 343 km / h
• Range: 830 km