Gyrodyne

The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.

In response to a Royal Navy request for a helicopter, Dr. James Allan Jamieson Bennett designed the gyrodyne whilst serving as the chief engineer of the Cierva Autogiro Company.

The gyrodyne was envisioned as an intermediate type of rotorcraft, its rotor operating parallel to the flightpath to minimize axial flow with one or more propellers providing propulsion.

Bennett's patent covered a variety of designs, which has led to some of the terminology confusion – other issues including the trademarked Gyrodyne Company of America and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classification of rotorcraft.

In Britain, Dr. James Allan Jamieson Bennett, Chief Engineer of the Cierva Autogiro Company, conceived an intermediate type of rotorcraft in 1936, which he named "gyrodyne" and which was tendered to the British Government in response to an Air Ministry specification.

[5]Bennett's concept described a shaft-driven rotor, with anti-torque and propulsion for translational flight provided by one or more propellers mounted on stub wings.

Bennett described this flight regime of the gyrodyne as an "intermediate state", requiring power to be supplied to both the rotor and the propulsion system.

This led to the prototype Fairey Rotodyne, which was developed to combine the efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft at cruise with the VTOL capability of a helicopter to provide short haul airliner service from city centres to airports.

[6][7] Aircraft developed for the project would use a rotor for takeoff and landing vertically, and hovering, together with substantial wings to provide most of the required lift at cruise, combining the large cargo capacity, fuel efficiency, and high cruise speed of fixed-wing aircraft with the hovering capabilities of a helicopter.

[9] An industry magazine describes the gradual evolution of traditional helicopters as "slow" and lacking revolutionary steps, and non-traditional compounds are still not widespread.

[11] The company was not involved in gyrodyne development, but instead produced a turbine-engined, remotely piloted drone helicopter, with coaxial rotors, for the United States Navy, designated as the QH-50 DASH.