Although its four massive six-bladed rotors allowed the craft to fly successfully, it suffered from complexity, control difficulties, and high pilot workload, and was reportedly only capable of forward flight in a favorable wind.

Having written and lectured extensively on rotorcraft theory, de Bothezat received a contract from the United States Army in 1921 for the construction of an experimental helicopter[3] based on his own principles and those of his assistant Ivan Jerome.

[1] Establishing a workshop at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, and working almost entirely without models or wind tunnels for testing,[3] de Bothezat's helicopter was completed in December 1922.

[4] De Bothezat wanted to build an improved version of the craft,[5] but in 1924, the Army Air Service decided to terminate further work on the project, canceling the contract and ordering the helicopter to be scrapped.

[9] Although considered a failure by the Army on account of its complexity and unreliability, de Bothezat's difficult personality not helping his cause,[10] the "Flying Octopus" had still reached a significant level of achievement, and it would be over twenty years before an American helicopter would better the machine's performance.