Military autogiros, or autogyros.

[PR19_Kit]

No need to apologise, they're terrific. 

[NARSES2]

Hannants currently have this civilian version in stock and Azure have a C.19 in the pipeline. The C.30 I have in the nearly finished pile comes with Aeronvale, RAF, Spanish and Czech AF markings but isn't in stock.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AZUR10772

[PR19_Kit]

Hannants currently have this civilian version in stock and Azure have a C.19 in the pipeline. The C.30 I have in the nearly finished pile comes with Aeronvale, RAF, Spanish and Czech AF markings but isn't in stock.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AZUR10772

Ooooh, I like that! But do I really need ANOTHER unbuilt kit in the house???

[perttime]

Cierva C.30 Autogiro Ambulance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-T7Ewqt_U

Access for the patient doesn't look too convenient - but I think it could be improved with some modifications. Pretty small fixed wing aircraft have been used as air ambulances.

[maxmwill]

This is true, among them the Luscombes, such as this Luscombe T8F:

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1153698M.jpg

I was working at the Anacortes Airport, and saw one on the ramp that was configured to take a litter behind the pilot.

As to the C30 carrying a patient or two, if the engine was stout enough for the extra weight, wouldn't a litter on each side, with a shield of some sort for the patient, as the Bell 47 in Korea was set up, like this:

http://olive-drab.com/images/helioevac_korea_700.jpg

And, if the Civet(Genet Major) wasn't powerful enough, couldn't something like the Salmson that was on the LeO license built machines be enough(or even something a tad more powerful)?

And, y'know, I'm starting to think about something, and have a kit of the C30 on hand.........................

And now my wife is worried, because when I voice out loud, "I'm a thinkin'", she knows that I've got the gears turning. 

[maxmwill]

There was another flying jeep project, this one in Australia, the project being Project Skywards.

Unlike the Rota Jeep, the Fleep, as it was dubbed, used the rotor head from the Rota, three blades, but the rotor blades were extended a bit. The fairing in the back was more rounded.

I was finally able to record a few shots of the article on this, if you're interested, as it is fascinating(at least to me).

I've been trying to scratch build a scale model of this, originally intending it to be 1/72, because I have a jeep in that scale, as well as a C30, thinking, erroneously, that I could use most of the autogyro, only to find out that I couldn't.

So, I went up to 1/35, and am using a jeep of that scale, with the rest being scratch built, including the rotor blades(ribs, spar, and .010" cover). As I have never been able to find any pictures of the Fleep, the most being that  of the Rotabuggy, and found only a short mention about Project Skywards(more an after thought, actually), I will be trying to keep it scale as far as colors are concerned, but if anyone disputes what I end up with, I'll just have to plead off lack of documentation and used artistic license.

[rickshaw]

Doing a quick Google I found this:

Australian Archives, Victorian Office, file 8/101/1327 on 'Project Skyward' from accession series MP 115/1, 169 pages.

Perhaps one of our Victorian members might like to access it for you?

[maxmwill]

Are there any illustrations?

I got my information from an issue of Air International, July, 1975.

[Weaver]

Hannants currently have this civilian version in stock and Azure have a C.19 in the pipeline. The C.30 I have in the nearly finished pile comes with Aeronvale, RAF, Spanish and Czech AF markings but isn't in stock.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AZUR10772

Ooooh, I like that! But do I really need ANOTHER unbuilt kit in the house???

Posted by: perttime

Cierva C.30 Autogiro Ambulance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-T7Ewqt_U

Access for the patient doesn't look too convenient - but I think it could be improved with some modifications. Pretty small fixed wing aircraft have been used as air ambulances.

Think I'm being set up here: first we get a link to a kit on Hannants whose description specifically says "flew on every continent except Antarctica" (dayglo orange rag to a whiffer) and then we have a video of one landing on snow...... and me with the rest of a British Antarctic Aviation decal sheet to use up......

[Mossie]

I'ver often wondered why autogyros wern't used more for naval recce in the days before the helicopter. You'd think they'd be perfect: the forward motion of the ship would give enough airflow through the rotor to get it spinning and they could then just take off and land "vertically" from a small platform. If they were made a bit bigger and more sophisticated, they could easily incorporate "rotor-kicker" mechanisms that would allow them to take off even when the ship was stationary.

Cierva did plan to develop the Gyrodyne for the Royal Navy, a spec was drawn up but it was canned on the outbreak of war, I assume it was to concentrate on less .  The scheme was revived post war and the work moved to Fairey, who created the Fairey Gyrodyne.  They then stuck tip-jets on it to create the Jet Gyrodyne, which proved the concept for the Rotodyne.

I wonder how adding jettisonable JATO rockets to the ends of the rotor blades would work?  They would allow you to spin up faster and hence get better lift more quickly than just clutching the engine.

Should work in principle: there have been several micro-helicopter projects that used some kind of reaction jet mounted on the blades. They normally had a centralised fuel supply through, and that highlights the problem: what if the rockets arn't perfectly synchronised for timing, duration or thrust level?

The same result as any other fault with a rotary winged device, it crashes..........

If your doing it with an autogiro, this is essentially a Gyrodyne.  Any problems with the tip-jets, you shut them down, the rotor autorotates and you continues on as an autogyro.  This was the beauty of the Gyrodyne, instead of jet pods they used bleed air from the engine which was much more controllable.

[NARSES2]

A Model have just released a Soviet one

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMU72257

[PR19_Kit]

A Model have just released a Soviet one

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMU72257

That looks like a Kellet built under licence, or perhaps just copied in the Soviet way of those times. The rotor mast is very distinctive.

[McGreig]

That looks like a Kellet built under licence, or perhaps just copied in the Soviet way of those times. The rotor mast is very distinctive.

Comrade! More slurs on Soviet engineering genius 

The A-7 was developed by a TsAGI design team led by Kamov. Both TsAGI and Kellett began working on autogiros around 1929/30 and both started from licence built Cierva designs.

The A-7 design was started in 1931 and the prototype first flew in 1934. The first Kellett autogiro to have that shape of rotor mast was the KD-1 which also first flew in 1934 – perhaps the dastardly capitalists stole Kamov's design

The Soviet design was slightly faster – 221km/h for Za version as opposed to 210km/h for KD-1 and had a greater range – 400-600km depending on variant compared to 322km – and featured a tricycle undercarriage and a rotor which could be spun up to 195 rpm for a jump start. Za Rodinu!

[rickshaw]

Are there any illustrations?

I got my information from an issue of Air International, July, 1975.

No idea.   The annotation doesn't mention if there are or not.

[maxmwill]

That's ok. I was just curious.