Highbrow Helicopterfest: #5 Fairey Rotodyne

Hardly an obscure subject, but worth a look:

Period aesthetics: an exuberant image

A startling yet respectable image before the public

6 November 1957: XE521 made its first flight at White Waltham with Squadron Leader Wilfred Ronald Gellatly, AFC, and Lieutenant Commander John George Peter Morton in the cockpit.

Dynamic image of Rotodyne in a steep bank to port

Source

General Characteristics (wikipedia) 

·         Crew: two

·         Capacity: 40–48 passengers

·         Length: 58 ft 8 in (17.88 m) of fuselage

·         Wingspan: 46 ft 6 in (14.17 m) fixed wings

·         Height: 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m) to top of rotor pylon

·         Wing area: 475 sq ft (44.1 m2)

·         Airfoil: NACA 23015

·         Empty weight: 22,000 lb (9,979 kg)

·         Gross weight: 33,000 lb (14,969 kg)

·         Fuel capacity: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg)

·         Powerplant: 2 × Napier Eland N.El.7 turboprops, 2,800 shp (2,100 kW) each 

·         Powerplant: 4 × rotor tip jet , 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) thrust each

·         Main rotor diameter: 90 ft 0 in (27.43 m)

·         Main rotor area: 6,362 sq ft (591.0 m2) Rotor aerofoil: NACA 0015

·         Blade tip speed: 720 ft/s (220 m/s)

·         Disc loading: 6.14 lb/ft2 (30 kg/m2)

·         Propellers: 4-bladed, 13 ft (4.0 m) diameter Rotol propellers

The production version of the Fairey Rotodyne, dubbed Rotodyne Z, was to have had 10ft greater wingspan, with tapered outer panels, more powerful ailerons and four tailfins. New, more powerful engines would have been fitted, giving the production Rotodyne an even better performance and improved load-carrying capability.

To achieve take-off, engine gases were ducted to the tips of the rotor blades, producing rotation without torque, thus a tail rotor was unnecessary.  Once airborne and moving forward, the rotor reverted to auto-rotate mode, and the craft flew along like a "gyroplane", drawn by the thrust of the conventional turboprops.

A dramatic parting shot

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