Will Helicopters Replace Fixed-Wing Aircraft?

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 86, 12 April 1941, Page 17 (Supplement)

Will Helicopters Replace Fixed-Wing Aircraft?

ffl-uiN a few years helicopters, hat is. rotary wing aircraft-•_-.lv called autogyros, may Cf some of the common J wine aeroplanes of to-day. j?Prediction was made long bv some of the more radical f f t developers, only to be generally with scepticIt is now backed by the Jority of leaders in the inJastry. , ren tsro rears ago C. TS. Allen of the rril rf States Air Safety Board was Ibliclv agreeing with these predictions. ' Jfhe best designers say the <oine 01 1 , -iii jane as we know it to-day may appear altogether in the next few . exce pt powibly in long range Importation," he said. °Tbey in rec<?nt d€velo P m «®ts, ,a w and abroad, a definite, inevitHe trend toward rotary winrr aircraft. L of them feel the helicopter, or . J other machine of the same general tnre , is destined to replace fixed-wing jjctaft entirely in the field of private jtijj, and possibly also in air transjortation. Itttlttionary Changes Coming •jhere are even those who foresee a thj when gigantic helicopters carrying , hundred passengers or more will Mage in regular trans-oceanic flights. fiir will attain top speeds in the neighwhood of 300 to 400 miles an hour, Rt be capable of hovering in midair lien desired, of making vertical ascents gjdescents in perfect safety, of movi* sideways or even backwards in sponse to a touch on the controls. •Perhaps this is a visionary prediction, and one that never will be fuljled, but it is almost in the realm of grtainty that the world is on the verge (I great things in the development of jitary wing aircraft, one which may nil revolutionise flying as we know it* to-day* Before war struck Europe and turned

illation more immediately to other tees in aeronautics, scheduled, autojjN or helicopter airmail routes tcinallv were in operation, ami airline (srators were studying the feasibility

losing rotary-wing planes for carrying jisengers and mail. A shuttle service •jintained 'between the roof r of the Jftdelphia Post Office and Camden iiiport —a distance of six miles—was uered in five minutes by the type of ntogyro bein;* used, much less time ill that required to transport mail bejreenthe two points by motor truck.

Transportation of mail was the only prpose of the shuttle service, but the tatages of using similar means of idling passengers from hearts of Sj» cities to main line airports is ifprent. Idytri Flying n for instance, it takes longer to go taidqwrito.wri. New Yurk to Newark lirpoft and from Camden airport to Wowfi Philadelphia than to fly betua the two cities; Throughout the raid there are similar examples. Helicopters taking off from and landing jponTooifSvOf buildings in various parts ti inch large cities coulcl whirl passenjmto airports of any transcontinental aw in five or ten minutes.

This ij no longer theory because far■dnjf architects, in 1931, designed the 100,000-9quare foot Shiladelphian post (i» roof with autogyro mail service in Bind. Later the rt>of was developed into »modern, practical airport with comlifts two-way radio-phone station, rather bureau, maintenance and refuelling facilities permanently installed. The ™f is paved with asphalt and underfilled with' steam pipes to melt enow od ice in the winter.

By Cedric Chalmers

■ success of the experimental service may eventually meaA the inat,virion on a large scale of similar ser°v!ce s throughout the American continent. t 1 - Velop I ment or a practical flvn 0 machine capable of rising vertically from the earth and of returning safely, in t ie same manner may yet brin~ to mankind Us age-old dream of the "backyard aeroplane. Such a development would give flying a utility undreamed of heretofore, experts point out. It would do away with the necessity of increasingly larger airports, and would revolutionise the scheme of urban and suburban life to an even Greater degree than did the development of the automobile. Further, it would decentralise the population of great cities by enabling office workers to commute with 110 added inconvenience over distances five or ten times as great as they now cover by train or in their own automobiles. . It is explained that, theoretically, the helicopter is superior to the aeroplane from an efficiency point of view, (because it involves only a single-stage translation of power from the engines driving it to the surfaces that support it in the air. In simple words, the helicopter supports itself in flight and attains forward speed from propellers or airfoils driven directly by its engines, whereas a twostage translation of power is involved in the aeroplane—the motor drives a propeller, which, in turn, hauls a set of wings through the air. In every translation of power there are inevitable losses of efficiency, and it is contended by helicopter enthusiasts that the aeroplane is fundamentally less efficient than their type of machine. It is estimated that 20 per cent of an aeroplane's power is wasted through the inefficiency of the propeller pulling it, and another 20 per cent is sacrificed to air resistance to its fixed wing. Captain Boris Sergievsky, former Russian war ace and present-day test

pilot, envisions the helicopter as a possible arm of military and naval forces of the future. Military Uses It is possible to build helicopters weighing, complete with engine, only about 3001b, and able to carry a man with machine-gun and ammunition," he says. "This would jrive rise to an entirely new method of warfare; battalions of swift and silently flying machine-gunners able to land at night behind the enemy's lines, even in rough country." lliis type of helicopter has already Iwen designed in detail in the U.S. by Dr. (leorge A. de Botliezat.

Captain Sergievsky claims also for the helicopter that it could be usecl to replace observation balloons, since its mos-quito-like frame would be hard to distinguish at a distance, and it would be far less vulnerable. Balloons are tied far behind the lines, limiting their observations to a rather small sector, and under a rather small sighting angle, but the helicopter observer could hover riprht over the point of interest and change his position with the importance of his objectives.

Muffled Engines "The lifting propellers of helicopters, due to their slow rotation, make almost 110 noise at all, and helicopter engines can be muffled. This aspect of the helicopter is very s gnificant for military operations," he says. As yet, there is more to recommend the helicopter type of aircraft for '"roofto])" or "backyard" flying and certain military purposes than as a flying ocean liner or aerial dreadnought. On the other liand, Captain Sergievsky points to a helicopter designed by Dr. de Bothezat, more than 17 years ago. that repeatedly lifted and carried 40001bs with only an IS horse power engine, a performance which, he says, still has to be matched by an aeroplane. Helicopters remain in. an experimental stage, but, with aviation rapidly reaching the end of development possible in traditional design, they are of increasing interest.