Cierva C.12
| Cierva C.12 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Gyroplane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Jorge Loring Martinez |
| First flight: |
May 23, 1929 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Cierva C.12 (also Loring C.XII ) was a gyroplane of the designer Juan de la Cierva , from the late 1920s a copy in Spain by Jorge Loring was built.
history
Although from 1926 the further development of the Cierva gyrocopter mainly took place in Great Britain, the Spanish Air Force ordered two more models in Spain with the Cierva C.7 and C.12. The construction was carried out by Jorge Loring in his Carabanchel plant, which was located near the former airfield Cuatro Vientos . Today the company Aeronáutica Industrial, SA (AISA) is based here. The C.12, commissioned in 1929, was intended to carry out experiments with a large gyroplane during military exercises.
The C.12, the last of the gyroplanes built in Spain, used a Wright J-5 Whirlwind with 220 hp as drive . The ends of the stub wings were angled upwards. The rotorcraft had some similarities with the English Cierva C.8 L-series, but had a very long fuselage with a "deflector" stern, with the help of which the rotor should be set in rotation before take-off. A vertically tiltable elevator served as a deflector, which was intended to divert the propeller flow to the rotor and replace the turning of the rotor by hand or with the help of a rope. Juan de la Cierva tested the machine in this form in May 1929, although the rotor speed required for a start could not be achieved with the propeller jet alone. As a consequence, the fuselage was shortened and the deflector stern was given a "double-decker design" by adding a second elevator, similar to the version used on the contemporary Cierva C.19 Mk. II. In June 1929 the C.12 flew again and carried out a non-stop flight of 580 km from Madrid to Lisbon with the Spanish pilot Luis Rambaud .
The Spanish Air Force ordered a second copy, but then changed their plans at short notice and canceled the order again. The only built C.12 was probably scrapped before the end of 1929.
C.12 Hydrogyro
According to Ord-Hume, a variant of the Cierva C.17 equipped with floats and flown for the first time in April 1930 was also given the designation C.12.
See also
literature
- PT Capon: Cierva's first autogiros Part 2. In: Airplane Monthly May 1979, p. 239 f.
- Arthur WJG Ord-Hume: Autogiro - Rotary Wings Before the Helicopter. , Mushroom Model Publications, 2009, ISBN 978-83-89450-83-8 , pp. 76-79
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ord-Hume, 2009, p. 72