Cierva Skeeter
| Cierva Skeeter (Saunders-Roe Skeeter production model) | |
|---|---|
 Cierva Skeeter |
|
| Type: | Light multipurpose helicopter |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Cierva Autogiro Co. |
| First flight: |
October 8, 1948 |
| Commissioning: | |
| Number of pieces: |
2 |
The Cierva W.14 helicopter was built at the end of the 1940s by Cierva Autogiro , which in 1944 merged with G. & J.Weir Ltd. was merged. It was a small two-seat helicopter that was one of the first to be successful in Great Britain .
technology
The construction seems very peculiar, as the cockpit roof consisted of circular glazing. Behind this glazing, the rotor shaft protruded from the fuselage, on which a three-bladed rotor was mounted. The two-bladed tail rotor was attached to the far end of a slim tail boom. The landing gear consisted of a wheel under the bow and two individual wheels on either side of the hull.
The first flight of the prototype took place on October 8, 1948 as the W.14 Skeeter, powered by a Jameson FF-1 engine with 78 kW (106 hp). A second prototype, equipped with a 106 kW (145 hp) Gipsy Major engine, took off on a test flight the following year and was named Skeeter 2. This model used a larger rotor.
With the takeover of Cierva by Saunders-Roe Ltd. In 1951 the machine was renamed Saunders-Roe Skeeter . This type was only ready for series production through further development, initially at Saunders-Roe. Saunders-Roe handed the two prototypes over to the British procurement office as samples for the new series.
literature
- Giorgio Apostolo: World Encyclopedia of Airplanes, Volume 3 . Südwest-Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-517-00851-6 .
