Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:51:12.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Future of Rotorcraft and Hovercraft

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

Eric Mensforth
Eric Mensforth*
Affiliation:
Westland Aircraft Limited
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It is a privilege to pay tribute through this Cierva Memorial Lecture to a great pioneer and an honour to do so in this, the Society's Centenary Year. In 1918, when 24 years of age, Cierva designed and built a three-engined aeroplane which stalled during a turn and, after spinning, crashed. He recognised the limitations of the conventional aircraft and turned to the rotating wing.

Westland's association with rotary wings began with the five-seater 600 hp Cierva C.20, built in 1934. Their first series production rotorcraft, the S.51, to the design of Igor Sikorsky, came some 14 years later. With the passage of further time, bringing some successes and some frustrations, a sound foundation has indeed been laid for future progress.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 71 , Issue 673 , January 1967 , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Bennett, J. A. J.The Era of the Autogiro. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Octobsr 1961.Google Scholar
2.Fitzwilliams, O. L. L.The Engineering Reliability of Shaft- Driven Helicopters. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, August 1963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Mair, W. A.STOL—Some Possibilities and Limitations. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, September 1966.Google Scholar
4.Masefield, Peter G.The problems and Prospects of Air Transport. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, November 1960.Google Scholar
5.Hislop, G. S.Planning of Short Haul Transportation in Europe. Astronautics and Aeronautics, September 1966.Google Scholar
6.Hafner, R.The Domain of the Convertible Rotor. Proceedings of the 9th Anglo-American Aeronautical Conference, 1964.Google Scholar
7.Cockerell, Christopher. The Hovercraft, its place in the Transport System. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, November 1960.Google Scholar