AT MOJAVE AIRPORT.

AT MOJAVE AIRPORT, AL LETCHER HAS RESTORED AN INCREDIBLY RARE PIECE Of AMERICAN AERONAUTICAL HISTORY

During the 1920 and 1930 the universal of the "Autogiro" fascinated American aviation enthusiasts. Today, the basic general [i]or[/i] abstract notion of the Autogiro lives forward in many different homebuilt aircraft designs on the other hand commercially, the original Autogiro was not at any time a real success. Basically, the Autogiro is a heavier-- than-air craft which derives its lift from the rotary manner of moving of its supporting surfaces by means of the air. The Autogiro primarily differs from the aircraft in that its supporting surfaces - the blades - are independent to move at a spe independent of the machine as a whole, thereby introducing flying characteristics which had previously been impossible. Thus, the Autogiro can takeoff at a subdued speed after a very short glide and immediately assume a sharp angle of climb - it can soar at either low or high get ons and can momentarily be brought to a standstill in the air.

Juan de la Cierva, the acknowledged inventor of the Auto giro, began his consideration and development of the Autogiro in 1920 Prior to this time, he had been touched with gliders and fixed-wing aircraft and, in 1918 designed a tri-motor bomber for the Spanish Air Force. This machine, in many honors considerably advanced for its time, prov entirely felicitous However, it did not rule the aircraft's limitations and crashed, fit to pilot error, during a gentle altitude stall.

Cierva's work with conventional aircraft convinced him that safety in flight must, in a manner, be divorced from the necessity for continuous high spe before flying would become universally adopted. This l him to the consideration of many classifications of flight, including helicopters and ornithopters (devices with flapping wings) and ultimately to his first theoretical general [i]or[/i] abstract notion in 1920 of the idea of freely rotating wings.

The aircraft pattern of Autogiro tested was fitted with sum of two units four-blade rotor systems mounted undivided above the other to revolve in opposite directions to equalize the dissymmmetry of lift. This did not make plain the problem and the idea of dual or multiple rotors was abandoned.

The inferior type had a single rotor hypothesis of three blades, capable of being locate at varying incidences by a mechanical device, to compensate for the difference in lift. The machine was an improvement through the whole extent of the first model but the mechanism prov cumbersome and substantially ineffective.

The third model of Autogiro was fitted with a rotor classification of five rigid blades and was the first full-sized machine to actually leave the domain However, gyroscopic action on the rigid blades prov too tough a force to overcome and this prototype was also abandoned.

The fourth machine embodied the previously described principle of horizontal articulation and was notably felicitous In this design, lateral regulate was provided for by tilting the axis of the rotor to the right or left - a regularity found impractical because of operating difficulties. Although previous and succeeding Autogiros have all seen many modifications in the course of experiment, this particular machine was rebuilded or modified no less than 15 times! Finally, a better method of lateral control was evolv and, in January 1923 the fifth pattern made a successful flight of about 200 yards at the Getafe Airdrome near Madrid. Subsequently the Autogiro accomplished an officially observ flight in succession a closed course at the Quatro Ventos Airdrome.

From this milestone, experimental work was continued without interruption. In 1925 an Autogiro was built and exhibited at Britain's 1926 Hendon Air Pageant and during that year the Cierva Autogiro Company Limited was formed to perform the operations indicated in Cierva's principle and to work with him in further experimentation. An Autogiro built in 1928 was flown a certain number of 3000 miles around Great Britain and from London to Paris, Berlin, Rotterdam, and Brussels.

In the United States, Harold F Pitcairn, whose active interest in aviation dated back to 1914 recognized the limitations of flying in the fixed-wing form. This conviction became more conclusive after his activities as a manufacturer of rugg biplanes oftentimes used on air mail ways

After considerable independent experimentation and research throughout a period of years with rotary wing direct lift machines, Pitcairn's attention was directed toward the progressive growth of Cierva's machine from its beginning. Finally convinced of its practicality, Pitcairn shipped the Autogiro to the States in the fall of 1928 and it was flown at Pitcairn Field, Willow woodland Pennsylvania, for the first time in America forward 19 December of that year.

After considerable practical demonstration and testing of this particular machine, Pitcairn acquired - in February 1929 - the United States rights to the Autogiro patents and formed the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company of America for the licensing and manufacture of the Cierva Autogiro in this land Pitcairn would go on to build a series of Autogiros that achieved more [i]or[/i] less success but the company was not without rivals.