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A Flettner airplane is a type of rotor airplane which uses a Flettner rotor to provide lift. The rotor comprises a spinning cylinder with circular end plates and, in an aircraft, spins about a spanwise horizontal axis. When the aircraft moves forward, the
A Flettner airplane is a type of rotor airplane which uses a Flettner rotor to provide lift. The rotor comprises a spinning cylinder with circular end plates and, in an aircraft, spins about a spanwise horizontal axis. When the aircraft moves forward, the Magnus effect
The Magnus effect is a phenomenon that occurs when a spin (geometry), spinning Object (physics), object is moving through a fluid. A lift (force), lift force acts on the spinning object and its path may be deflected in a manner not present when ...
creates lift.
Anton Flettner
Anton Flettner (1 November 1885 – 29 December 1961) was a German Aerospace engineering, aviation engineer and inventor. Born in Hattersheim am Main#Eddersheim, Eddersheim (today a district of Hattersheim am Main), Flettner made important contri ...
, after whom the rotor is named, used it successfully as the sails of a rotor ship. He also suggested its use as a wing for a rotor airplane.
The Butler Ames Aerocycle was built in 1910 and tested aboard a warship. There is no record of it having flown.
The Plymouth A-A-2004 was built for Zaparka in 1930 by three anonymous American inventors. It was reported to have made successful flights over Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
.
An inherent safety concern is that if power to the rotating drums were lost—even if thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...
was maintained—the aircraft would lose its ability to generate lift as the drum slowed and it would not be able to sustain flight.
See also
*Cyclogyro
The cyclogyro, or cyclocopter, is an aircraft configuration that uses a horizontal-axis cyclorotor as a rotor wing to provide lift and, sometimes, also propulsion and control. In principle, the cyclogyro is capable of VTOL, vertical take off and ...
* FanWing
The FanWing is a type of aircraft rotor wing in which a horizontal-axis cross-flow fan is used in close conjunction with a fixed wing. The fan forces airflow over the fixed surface to provide both lift and forward thrust.
The concept was initially ...
* Servo tab
A servo tab is a small hinged device installed on an aircraft control surface to assist the movement of the Flight control surfaces, control surfaces. Introduced by the German firm Flettner, servo tabs were formerly known as Flettner tabs. Ser ...
References
External links
* Aircraft configurations {{Aviation-stub