The Curtiss-Bleecker Helicopter was an American prototype
rotary wing aircraft
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 Internati ...
, introduced in 1926. The thrust of the aircraft was distributed from a central mounted engine through shafts to propellers mounted on each rotor blade.
Design and development
The Bleecker Helicopter was designed by
Maitland B. Bleecker, a junior engineer from the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
. The aircraft was constructed by Curtiss Wright for $250,000 over the course of four years at Garden City.
["New Plane May Fly Straight Up in Air."](_blank)
''Popular Science Monthly'', September 1930, pp. 20-21.
The aircraft featured a rotary wing design with a single engine. Each rotor, painted silver and yellow, had an individual propeller for thrust and a trailing control surface called a "stabovator" to change pitch of the rotor. The aircraft was controlled by a stick that operated like a modern helicopter collective control. Yaw was controlled with a "Spin Vane" that used downwash from the rotor to pivot the aircraft with foot pedals.
Operational history
Testing on the Bleecker Helicopter was stopped after the failure of a drive shaft on a test flight in 1929.
By 1933 the project was abandoned following vibrational issues in further tests.
Specifications
See also
References
External links
{{Curtiss-Wright aircraft
1920s United States helicopters
Aircraft first flown in 1926
Single-engined piston helicopters
Curtiss aircraft