The Flettner Fl 265 was an experimental

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 ...

Design and development

This helicopter, developed in 1938 with the support of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'', made it possible, for the first time, to transition from powered rotary-wing flight to autorotation and back again, making it the safest helicopter of its time. In contrast to the Fl 185, the Fl 265, believed to be the pioneering example of a synchropter, had two intermeshing rotors 12 m in diameter, powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) BMW-Bramo Sh 14 A radial engine in the nose of the fuselage, fitted with a fan to assist cooling. Six helicopters were constructed, but series production was curtailed in favour of the Flettner Fl 282. In 1939 the helicopter was tested by test pilot Richard Perlia. A second test pilot alongside Perlia unfortunately had a fatal accident during a test flight.Flettner Fl 265 (in German)
/ref>

Operators

; *''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

Specifications (Fl 265)

Flettner_Fl_265_Modell_im_Hubschraubermuseum

Notes

References

* Nowarra, Heinz J.: ''Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945'', Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1993, *

External links