Originally posted by Ack-Ack
Not the Germans.
1942 - Sikorsky R-4 Helicopter January 14, 1942 the first flights of the Sikorsky R-4 helicopter take place. The R-4 was the first operational single rotor practical helicopter. It was also the only helicopter to see combat action with Allied forces in the CBU theater of operations.
That's funny. It was definitely the Germans who had first practical helicopters. As mentioned, Focke Achgelis Fa-223 Drache was the world's first helicopter to achieve production status.
"The most successful and best known German rotary-wing aircraft was the Flettner Fl.282 "Kolibri" or Hummingbird, first produced in 1941. An unarmed, single or dual seat convoy escort machine with an open cockpit, (14) its existence was not noted by British Air Intelligence until 1944. The aircraft operated successfully in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas throughout 1943, along with the smaller, submarine-towed single-seat observation Fa.330. Both these aircraft followed in the wake of the successful Focke-Wulf Fw.61 which had flown from 1936 onwards, (16) having been the "first practicable helicopter".
Alongside those other German choppers were used in field in limited numbers, tests were done and their heavyweight lifting capability was not exceeded until the later 1950s.
"Germany made rapid strides in helicopter development in the 1930s and 1940s. The FA-61, designed by Heinrich Focke, flew for the first time on June 26, 1936. The FA-61 was the first practical design for a maneuverable helicopter. In 1937, as a propaganda stunt for the Nazi regime, the renowned female pilot Hanna Reitsch flew the FA-61 inside the city of Berlin’s Deutschlandhalle sports arena. Another German helicopter, the FL-282 Kolibri, was used by the German navy during World War II (1939-1945). It could fly at 140 km/h (90 mph) and reach an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) with a payload of 360 kg (800 lb). It was the first helicopter design produced in quantity"
" Focke Achgelis Fa61 (Germany)
Fa-61: Germany stepped to the front in helicopter development with the Focke Achgelis Fa-61, which it has two three-bladed rotor mounted on outriggers and power by a 160 hp radial engine. The Fa-61 had controllable cyclic pitch and set many of records .
In 1938, Fa-61 made an altitude flight of 11,243 feet and cross-country of 143 miles.In this year, the german aviator Hanna Reitsch became the world's first woman helicopter pilot by flying the Fa-61 in the Deustchland-halle in Berlin. Germany continued its helicopter development during world war two and was the first to place the helicopter,Flettner Kolibri, into mass production. "
" In 1935, Focke designed and built a prototype of an autogyro which competed in the Luftwaffe contest to develop a utility and liaison aircraft. The winner was the Fieseler Fi-156 Storch, and only one FW-186, which was essentially a FW-56 Stosser advanced trainer fuselage with a single rotor assembly and a modified tail and landing gear. This provides the basis for another kit conversion, but not here.
After the FW-186 project, Focke decided to concentrate on the helicopter. In true Germanic fashion, he took an engineering approach, and formulated basic requirements for his aircraft, which included controllability, reliability, simplicity of control, adequate performance including reasonable cruising speed, and ease of maintenance. With these factors in mind, he set about to develop a pure helicopter, and aircraft with the primary power geared directly to controllable rotor blades, which provided both lift and thrust.
After the concept was established, Focke test flew a scale model of the design, and in 1934, this model achieved an altitude of 59 feet, which was equal to the altitude record for previous manned unsuccessful experimental helicopters.
The first FW-61 prototype, D-EBVU, made its first tethered flights in early 1936. On 26 June 1936, the aircraft made its first free flight with test pilot Ewald Rohlfs in control. By 1937, the aircraft had set an altitude record of 1200 feet, and at that point, Rohlfs cut the throttle, disengaged the clutch, and made the first autorotational descent to landing. Later the FW-61 was flown to 8000 feet, setting another record, and the same day an endurance record of 1 hour and 21 minutes and
a speed record of 76 mph were set.
Later in 1937, famed German woman pilot Hanna Reitsch began flying the aircraft, setting distance records before her startling demonstration flights inside the Deutschlandhalle area in Berlin, where she displayed the helicopter in free flight indoors in an arena area of 100 by 250 feet in front of thousands of people. Films of these flights were shown in the
United States, stimulating the development process in this country that led to the Sikorsky helicopters several years later."
It's fascinating stuff, how the German choppers were about a decade ahead, when compared to for example the Sikorsky choppers. The German choppers were able to operate relatively high, could transport artillery pieces in mountain conditions and carry light vehicles. They even made tests with armed choppers. In one test a chopper was easily able to evade attacks by four Me 109s, showing how agile they were.
