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In February 1944, they sent out a request for helicopters. A high-level decision was made to send three YR-4Bs from the Sikorsky factory. Crew chief Jim Phelan remembered the long journey from Connecticut to commando country.
- Cierva C.30A
- Focke-Wulf FW 61
- Focke-Achgelis FA 223 Drache “Dragon”
- Flettner FL 282 Kolibri “Hummingbird”
- Sikorsky R-4 “Hoverfly”
The precursor to the modern helicopters was undoubtedly the autogyro. An autogyro or gyrocopter is a craft that uses a rotor to generate lift. But unlike a modern helicopter, autogyros don’t apply power to the rotor blades. Instead, they rely on the aircraft’s forward motion and air passing through the blade to make them spin. They can get their fo...
The Fw 61 was a technology demonstrator built in Germany before the beginning of WWII. It was an autogyro design, but the company would use the lessons it learned from the program to build true helicopters. The Focke-Wulf looked and flew more like an airplane than a helicopter. It needed some forward speed to fly. It had two large rotors, each moun...
With the lessons that they learned from the Fw 61 gyrocopter, Fock-Wulf became Focke-Achgelis and began focusing more of their design expertise on performance and capability. The company may be best known for the Fw 190 fighter, but they worked hard to develop various rotorcraft as well. The Fa 223 began life as the Fa 226 Hornisse, or “Hornet.” It...
Focke-Achgelis was not alone in their development of rotorcraft for Nazi Germany. During the same period, Anton Flettner was working on similar designs. He started with the single-seat Fl 265 prototype. Six were built starting in 1939. But the resulting Fl 282 “Hummingbird” was definitely more interesting. Flettner built 24, and they were used by b...
Most of the rotorcraft from World War II have more or less become footnotes in history. Gyrocopters are still used today, but they are limited to small enthusiast groups and home-built kits. The companies that designed those German helicopters? Long gone. But in America, a Russian immigrant from Kiev named Igor Sikorsky was polishing a design that ...
Apr 23, 2022 · Delivered from 1942 onwards, these helicopters played a crucial role in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. They acted as scouts,...
Feb 4, 2022 · It is little known that Germany produced helicopters in World War II. Here, Daniel Boustead discussed the successes and failures of the helicopters that Nazi Germany produced – as well as how the Nazis ultimately saw little benefit from them. The Flettner Fl 282 helicopter at trials after World War II. It has the US military star marking.
Hafner Rotachute - one-man rotor-kite for landing assault troops. Not adopted but used instead for testing in support of Rotabuggy project. Sikorsky "Hoverfly" I - service name for Sikorsky R-4 used at RAF Helicopter Training School from 1945.
In the early years of the war, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) controlled the skies above Hitler's armies and served as flying artillery, destroying enemy targets and helping facilitate the German advance across western Europe.
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The first practical helicopters were developed during World War II, and many more designs appeared in the following years. For general use, the configuration developed in the US by Igor Sikorsky quickly came to dominate. Control was achieved by an articulated rotor head with cyclic and collective pitch controls, while rotor torque was ...
