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Chinese Top
The "first helicopter" was created 2500 years ago in China, commonly know as the "Chinese top", a toy made out of wood that had feathers attached, propellor like, that spun by pulling on a twisted string. -
Giant Model Ornithopter
In the 1800s, Sir George Cayley built a giant model ornithopter that flew as high as 90 feet, and it traveled great distances. It was this event that demonstated the theoretical possibility of vertical flight, which had previously been a foriegn idea. Planes and gliders were built with stationary wings that forced vertical flight of the object to be accompanied by horizontal flight. Where as the helicopter can both begin and end in only vertical motion. -
First Powered Ornithopter Model
In 1878, a Britian by the name of W.H. Phillips applied power to the concept of ornithopter models. It was thrust upward through steam running throught the rotor tips. It was the first mechanically propelled rotorcraft to fly. Another inverntor in Italy, Enrico Forlanini, was able to put a quarter horsepower into his model, and it flew 40 feet into the air and hovered for 20 seconds. -
Rotorcraft and Cyclic Pitch Control
February 4, 1904- Frenchman Charles Renard created independently articulated rotor blades, allowing for the pitch of the blades to twist during flight, making it more controlable.
December 7, 1906- Italian Gaetano A. Crocco patented "cyclic pitch control", allowing the rotor disk to be tilted in flight, for directional control and translation to horizontal flight.
*these two ideas became critical to the modern helicopter -
Larger Aircraft
Louis and Jacques Breguet created a huge "contraption" made up of (what looked like) four windmills with their bases connecting around an engine. On September 19, 1907 the machine, with its 32 wings, hovered for a few seconds in ground effect. But it wouldn't work without the help of men on the ground controlling it, so they gave up on moving parts and moved on to stationary wings, leading Breguet to become one of France's most important plane-makers. -
"Anti-Torque" Tail Rotors
Russian Boris Yuriev built a helicopter that pioneered anti-torque tail rotors to counter the torque of the main rotor and keep the helicopter from spinning out. These anti-torque tail rotors are now a neccesity for most helicopters.
*torque is a twisting force that tends to cause rotation -
Pescara No.3
Spanish Marquis de Pescara created the first helicopter that was actaully "manageable" becasue it incorporated modern flight technology such as:
cyclic pitch control-directional control
collective pitch-readjusting the overall lift (using a control lever mounted on the side)
-"autorotation" landings- riding the free spinning motors until the last minute where the increased collective pitch gives it a sudden lift right before it hits the ground, cushioning the landing. -
The Autogyro
In 1920, Spanish aircraft designer Juan de la Cierva put the rotor of a helicopter into an airplane to create the autogyro.It flew forward like an airplane (with short, fixxed wings) until the air began to drag on the rotor, moving it without the help of an engine. As the inner parts began to move, the outer parts began to spin in quick sircles, generating lift. And it flew. IT was very popular in the 1920-30s and useful for all kinds of things. -
America's First Military Helicopter
Professor George de Bothezat, a Russian immigrant, fled the Communist revolution for the U.S. When he got here, he convinced the U.S. Army to hire him to build a helicopter for them at their experimental flight technology center in Ohio. There, in secrecy, he built America's first military helicopter that was similar to the Breguet model, but he added more propellors for flight-control purposes. -
Becoming a Practical Machine
The autogyro was useful, but it wasn't intended for prolonged vertical flight. In 1938, Heinrich Focke stunned the world with his Focke-Achgelis FA-61 helicopter. It was essentailly a standard airplane, except the wings were replaced with frames sticking out the sides, mounting a matched pair of counter-rotating rotors (the counter rotation canceled out the torque). This machine showed the potential of the helicopter- getting off of ground effect, traveling long distances, and carrying loads. -
Almost There! World War II Helicopters
In May of 1940, Igor Sikorsky pioneered the VS-300, a helicopter that had a single main rotor and was balanced in torque by a small tail rotor, and that could fly smoothly in all directions and that achieved a speed of 60 mph. Then WW II brought the VS-300 into the fully operational REAL helicopter. Sikorsky's R-4 helicopter pioneered the basic design package that has remained the dominant shape of helicopters ever since.
*that shape being main-rotor/tail-rotor -
Modern Helicopters
Modern helicopters have obviously improved since the 1940s, those changes being apart of advancements in technology, such as turbine powered helicopters and new software that enhances the capabilities of the machine. Yet the basic structure has remained relatively the same. Helicopters are now being used mainly in the military, but also for hospitals (for dire emergencies) and the news.
