Where Were Gyrocopters Invented

The man generally credited with the invention of the gyrocopter style aircraft is a Spaniard by the name of Juan del Cierva who in the early 20th century began playing with the idea of using rotors on top of an aircraft to generate lift in a way that would also prevent wing stall from being a problem.

It was this research that led him down the path of autorotation which is the principle of flight upon which gyro flight depends. Autorotation relies upon a free spinning rotor to generate the lift the aircraft needs to remain airborne.

With the help of Scot James Weir he set up the Cierva Autogiro Co. Ltd, with autogiro being the name they had decided upon for their new style of aircraft.

The focus of de la Cierva's research was on the design of the rotors, with a number of early problems such as retreating blade stall needing to be overcome before extended flight became realistic.

The first real success for this new type of aircraft came with the design of the C 874 which became the first rotorcraft to cross the English Channel.

Soon after this Cierva licensed the rights to his designs to a man by the name of Harold Pitcairn in the U.S which led to the formation of the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Co.

Pitcairn was then able to dedicate himself to making further innovations, especially in the area of the take-off. He designed an early form of a pre-rotator which allowed the rotor to be built up to speed while stationary, greatly reducing the length of the runway required.

He also did some work on a number of models that were able to jump into the air from a stationary start, and effectively take off vertically.

By the mid 1930's everything seemed to be progressing well for the Autogiro but there were to be two specific incidents that would stunt the growth of this innovation for many years to come.

The first of these was the death of Cierva in 1936 and the second was the huge buzz surrounding the release of the Focke-Achgelis helicopter in 1938.

It wouldn't be until the next decade that an Igor Bensen, a Russian whose name is now synonymous with gyro's, would take up the baton and move the gyro further along its developmental path.

Visit our website below if you'd like to learn more about the development of the gyro after World War II

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