Red buggy

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Red buggy
Red buggy in tow
Red buggy in tow
Type: Experimental airplane
Design country:

United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Manufacturer:

Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment / R. Malcolm Ltd

First flight:

November 27, 1943 in the vehicle tow

Number of pieces:

1

The Hafner Rotabuggy , also known as the Blitz Buggy , ML 10/42 Flying Jeep or formally as the Malcolm Rotaplane , was a British experimental aircraft . To drop it from a plane in war zones, one was Willy MB Jeep to gyroplane rebuilt and the rotor by autorotation operated.

construction and development

The Rotabuggy was developed by Raoul Hafner from the British Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) after this had already had some success with the Hafner Rotachute . The prototype was designed by AFEE and built in 1943 by R. Malcolm Ltd , later ML Aviation, in White Waltham . The Air Ministry Specification 10/42 for a Special Rotating Wing Glider described the project.

Preliminary investigations showed that a Willys MB could be dropped from a height of 2.35 m without suffering any damage. In order to be able to throw the vehicle from greater heights, a rotor with a diameter of 12.4 m and a tail unit were installed. Two men were in control of the red buggy: one as a driver on the ground and the other as a pilot in the air.

The first attempt at flight was made on November 16, 1943, in which the prototype was pulled behind a Diamond T truck, which, however, did not go fast enough to allow the red buggy to take off. On November 27 was, therefore, a 4.5-liter Bentley with compressor used to drive the vehicle at a speed of 72 km / h get into the air. Tests were later conducted behind an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber taxiing on the runway .

Although strong vibrations occurred during the initial tests at speeds above 72 km / h, on February 1, 1944, after improvements, a flight speed of 113 km / h was achieved. The last test flight, in which a free flight of the Rotabuggy should be attempted for the first time, took place on September 11, 1944. At a speed of 136 km / h, however, the vibrations were so great and the rear load was too heavy that it was no longer possible to increase the speed or height further. Since a height of only 120 m (400 ft) had been reached by then, it was not possible to disengage the connection with the Whitley bomber for safety reasons. The subsequent landing of the team went smoothly.

The successful introduction of gliders, such as the Waco Hadrian and the Airspeed Horsa , made the Rotabuggy superfluous, so that the development work was discontinued.

A replica of the red buggy is on display in the Museum of Army Flying in Middle Wallop . Hafner also designed a flyable Valentine Rotatank tank , but it was never built.

Technical specifications

  • Length: 6.40 m
  • Width: 2.90 m
  • Height: 2.06 m (to the tip of the rotor shaft)
  • Empty weight: 964 kg (Jeep)
  • Total weight: 1,411 kg
  • Rotor diameter: 14.22 m
  • Rotor area: 159.0 m 2
  • Maximum speed: 240 km / h (150 mph, 130 kn) (maximum rated speed)
  • Descent rate: 4.9 m / s (960 ft / min) at 77 km / h, 10.1 m / s (1,980 ft / min) at 240 km / h

See also

literature

  • Philip Jarrett: Nothing Ventured ... No. 18 . In: Airplane Monthly . 19, No. 10, October 1991, ISSN  0143-7240 , pp. 592-597.
  • KJ Meekcoms, Morgan, EB: The British Aircraft Specification File . Air-Britain, Tonbridge, Kent, England 1994, ISBN 0-85130-220-3 .
  • Steven J. Zaloga : Jeeps 1941-45  (= New Vanguard 117). Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84176-888-X , pp. 37-38.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Rotachute, Rotabuggy and Rotatank" Flying Review International Volume 19, No. 3 December 1963, Purnell & Sons Ltd, p. 45.
  2. ↑ Flight 1954 p. 821
  3. ↑ Bruce Charnov: Autogiro to Gyroplane: 1923-2003 . Hofstra University (reproduced on the Groen Brothers Aviation website),. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011.
  4. ↑ Meekcoms / Morgan 1994, p. 306
  5. ^ A b Steven J. Zaloga: Jeeps 1941–45 . Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84176-888-X , pp. 37-38.
  6. ↑ "Rotachute, Rotabuggy and Rotatank" Flying Review International Volume 19 No. 3 December 1963, Purnell & Sons Ltd, p. 46
  7. ↑ Jarrett: Airplane Monthly , October 1991, p. 597.