Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne
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The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne is an experimental
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
rotorcraft A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotor wing, rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift (force), lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapt ...
that used single lifting rotor and a
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propeller mounted on the tip of the starboard stub wing to provide both propulsion and anti-torque reaction.


Design and development

In April 1946, Fairey announced a private-venture project for a rotary-wing aircraft, to be built to a design developed by Dr. J.A.J. Bennett while he was chief technical officer at the
Cierva Autogiro Company The Cierva Autogiro Company was a British firm established in 1926 to develop the autogyro. The company was set up to further the designs of Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish engineer and pilot, with the financial backing of James George Weir, a Scot ...
in 1936–1939. The Gyrodyne, constituting a third distinct type of rotorcraft and designated C.41 by the Cierva Autogiro Company, was in 1938 successfully tendered to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in response to Specification S.22/38 for a naval helicopter. Though preliminary work started on the project, it was abandoned with the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and G & J Weir, Ltd., the financiers of the Cierva Autogiro Company, declined to undertake further development in addition to their successful experiments with the W.5 and W.6 lateral twin-rotor
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s. After the Second World War, the Cierva Autogiro Company was engaged with the development of the
Cierva W.9 The Cierva W.9 was a British 1940s experimental helicopter with a three-blade tilting-hub controlled main rotor, and torque compensation achieved using a jet of air discharged from the rear port side of the fuselage. The design was not further d ...
"Drainpipe" and the W.11 Air Horse helicopters under the direction of Cyril Pullin, and Bennett joined Fairey in late 1945 as head of the newly established rotary wing aircraft division. The Gyrodyne was a compact, streamlined rotorcraft weighing just over 4,410 lb (2,000 kg) and powered by a Alvis Leonides 522/2
radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...
, the power from which could be transmitted in variable ratios to the fixed-shaft/swashplate-actuated tilting hub-controlled rotor and the wing tip mounted propeller. The Gyrodyne possessed the hovering capability of a helicopter, while its propeller provided the necessary thrust for forward flight to enable its rotor, driven at low torque in cruise flight, to operate at low collective pitch with the tip-path plane parallel to the flight path to minimise vibration at high airspeed. Collective pitch was an automatic function of throttle setting and power loading of the propeller, which to maintain rpm diverted torque away from the rotor as airspeed increased. A government contract to Specification E.4/46 was awarded for two prototypes with the first Fairey Gyrodyne exhibited as an almost complete airframe at
White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roads c ...
on 7 December 1946.


Testing and evaluation

On 4 December 1947, the first of the two prototypes took off from White Waltham airfield, and continued to build up flying time until March 1948 when it was dismantled for a thorough examination. The second prototype, basically similar to the first but with more comfortable interior furnishings befitting its role as a passenger demonstrator, was flying by the time of the next SBAC
Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire. Since its first show in ...
, in September 1948. The first prototype was reassembled and, following further test flying, took part in an attempt to set a new world helicopter speed record in a straight line. On 28 June 1948, flown by test pilot Basil Arkell, the Gyrodyne made two flights in each direction over a low-altitude course at White Waltham, achieving 124 mph (200 km/h), enough to secure the record.FAI Record ID #13128 - Piston engine helicopters - Speed over a 3 km course
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Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...
'' Record date 28 June 1948. Accessed: 11 December 2013. A maximum airspeed of was achieved during the flight, keeping seven inches of boost in reserve in the event a rapid climb became necessary as the flight was conducted at an altitude of less than above the ground. An attempt was to be made in April 1949 to set a 62 mi (100 km) closed-circuit record, but two days before the date selected a poorly machined flapping link in the rotor hub failed during flight and resulted in the crash of the aircraft at Ufton, near
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, killing the pilot, Foster H. Dixon and observer, Derek Garraway. The Gyrodyne had been selected for use by the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
for use in Malaya, beating both the Westland S.51 Dragonfly (a licence-built Sikorsky design) and the Bristol 171 Sycamore, with an order for six approved by the Treasury at the time of the accident. Though the Gyrodyne's projected performance was significantly better than that of the Dragonfly, and was expected to be in service earlier than the Sycamore, the crash of the first prototype delayed the development programme, and the Army, having no other choice, acquired three S.51 Dragonflies, followed by Sycamores at a later date.


Second prototype

The second Gyrodyne was grounded during the accident investigation which determined flapping hinge retaining nut failure due to poor machining as the cause. The extensively modified second prototype, renamed Jet Gyrodyne, flew in January 1954. Though retaining the name "Gyrodyne", the Jet Gyrodyne was a compound gyroplane, and did not operate on the same principle as the original aircraft. It had a two-blade rotor manually controlled with cyclic and collective pitch mechanisms that acted directly on each rotor blade and was driven by tip jets fed with air from two compressors driven by the Alvis Leonides radial engine. Pusher propellers, one mounted at the tip of each stub wing, provided yaw control through differential collective pitch and thrust for forward flight. The Jet Gyrodyne was constructed to provide rotor drive and operational data for the Fairey Rotodyne compound gyroplane. The Jet Gyrodyne is on display at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation, Woodley, Reading.


Specifications (Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne)


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Apostolo, Giorgio. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters.'' New York: Bonanza Books, 1984. . * Charnov, Dr. Bruce H
''The Fairey Rotodyne: An Idea Whose Time Has Come – Again?''
(Based on Charnov, Dr. Bruce H. ''From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Amazing Survival of an Aviation Technology''. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003. .) Retrieved: 18 May 2007. * Green, William and Gerald Pollinger. ''The Observer's Book of Aircraft, 1958 edition''. London: Fredrick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1958. * Taylor, H.A. ''Fairey Aircraft since 1915''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1974. . * Taylor, John W.R. ''Jane's Pocket Book of Research and Experimental Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd, 1976. . * Winchester, Jim, ed. "Fairey Rotodyne." ''Concept Aircraft (The Aviation Factfile)''. Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books plc, 2005. . {{Gyrodyne
Gyrodyne A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that needs to be driven by its engine only for takeoff and landing, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide thrust during cruising flig ...
Gyrodynes 1950s British experimental aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1947 Asymmetrical aircraft Aviation accidents and incidents in England