Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne
| FB-1 Gyrodyne | |
|---|---|
 |
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| The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne prototype in test | |
| Role | Gyrodyne |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Fairey |
| Designer | Dr. J.A.J. Bennett |
| First flight | 4 December 1947 |
| Retired | Cancelled 1949 |
| Number built | 2 |
| Variants | Fairey Jet Gyrodyne |
The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne was an experimental British rotorcraft that used single lifting rotor and a tractor propeller mounted on the tip of the starboard stub wing to provide both propulsion and anti-torque reaction.
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 when chief technical officer at the Cierva Autogiro Company in 1936-1939, realizing the concept by his late colleague Juan de la Cierva. 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 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, 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 helicopters. After the Second World War, the Cierva Autogiro Company was engaged with the development of the Cierva W.9 "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 520–540 hp (390–400 kW) Alvis Leonides 522/2 radial engine, 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 profile drag of the propeller, which to maintain rpm diverted torque away from the rotor as airspeed increased.
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