La Cierva's autogyro
Autogiro de La Cierva
- Date
- 1923 · confidence high
- Place
- Getafe, Madrid, Spain
- Credited to
- Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A rotary-wing aircraft whose rotor is unpowered and turns by autorotation while a propeller provides forward thrust; blades hinged with flapping hinges prevent the roll caused by asymmetric lift. La Cierva's C.4 flew successfully at Getafe on 9 January 1923.
The first 183 m “hop” was on 9 January 1923; the C.4 flew a 4 km closed circuit at Cuatro Vientos later that month. The C.1-C.3 models failed because of lift asymmetry. La Cierva died in 1936 in an air crash at Croydon.
What it led to
- the Cierva Autogiro Company (1926) and series-built autogyros (C.19, C.30)
- the flapping-hinge blade articulation, now universal in the helicopter
- the jump take-off of the C.30 and rotor development