Autogyros

Podcast Transcript

We are all familiar with things that fly in the air. Hot air balloons, dirigibles, blimps, airplanes, and helicopters.

However, there is another category of flying craft that most people aren’t familiar with. It isn’t an airplane, and it isn’t a helicopter. It actually lies somewhere in between.

By combining parts of both, it has some amazing properties that neither one has.

Learn more about the autogyro, what it is, and how it works, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

I have a lot of odd fixations, and one of those I’ve had for years is the autogyro. I’m not an autogyro pilot, and to be honest, I’ve never even flown in one, but I am fascinated with them.

For the record, the autogyro is also sometimes called a gyroplane or a gyrocopter, but they are all the same thing.

If you don’t know what an autogyro is, if you have never seen one before, and you look at one for the first time, your first instinct would be to say that it is a helicopter, because it has a rotor on top just like a helicopter.

However, it is not a helicopter, and it differs from a helicopter in a few important ways.

The biggest is that the rotor in an autogyro isn’t powered. It rotates like a pinwheel due to air flowing over it. But, like a helicopter, the rotor is what provides the lift for the aircraft.

Because the rotor isn’t powered, it doesn’t need a tail fan like a helicopter does to counteract the torque produced by the main rotor.

Because the rotor isn’t powered, it can’t use it for thrust like a helicopter does. Instead, it has a propeller like an airplane does. They are usually mounted behind the cockpit instead of in the front.

So, why was this Frankenstein flying contraption invented? What purpose does it serve exactly?

The history of the autogyro begins in the early 20th century with the pioneering efforts of Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva. In the aftermath of World War I, Cierva was deeply concerned by the number of aviation accidents caused by aerodynamic stalls.

In those days, when an airplane’s speed dropped too low, it would lose lift suddenly and catastrophically, often resulting in fatal crashes.

His breakthrough came from observing how maple seeds spiral gently to the ground, their wing-like structures autorotating as they fall. Cierva realized that if he could harness this principle of autorotation, he might create an aircraft that could descend safely even if its engine failed.

The concept was elegant in its simplicity: as the aircraft moved forward, air would flow upward through the rotor disc, causing the blades to spin and generate lift continuously, regardless of engine power.

Cierva’s first successful autogyro, the C.4, took to the air on January 17, 1923, at Getafe Aerodrome near Madrid. This machine looked peculiar by the standards of the day, with its large rotor mounted above a conventional fuselage and a propeller at the front for forward thrust. The rotor itself was a marvel of engineering innovation.

Cierva had solved the fundamental problem of dissymmetry of lift—the fact that in forward flight, the advancing blade generates more lift than the retreating blade—by incorporating hinged blades that could flap up and down to equalize the lift distribution across the rotor disc.

The success of the C.4 marked the beginning of rapid development. Cierva established the Cierva Autogiro Company and began licensing his technology internationally.

The key to understanding the autogyro’s appeal lies in recognizing the state of aviation in the 1920s and 1930s. Airports were few and often unpaved, aircraft engines were unreliable, and pilots were still learning how to handle the tricky flight characteristics of early airplanes.

The autogyro promised to address many of these concerns with its ability to take off and land in very short distances, its inherent safety in engine-out situations, and its relatively forgiving flight characteristics.

By the late 1920s, autogyros were being manufactured under license in several countries. In Britain, the de Havilland company and later Avro produced Cierva autogyros, while in the United States, Pitcairn Aircraft Company became the primary manufacturer.

Harold Pitcairn, an aviation enthusiast and businessman, recognized the potential of Cierva’s invention and acquired manufacturing rights for North America. The Pitcairn autogyros, particularly the PCA-2 and later models, became synonymous with American autogyro development.

The 1930s represented the golden age of the autogyro. These aircraft found applications in various roles that highlighted their unique capabilities. Mail delivery services adopted autogyros for routes between small towns where conventional aircraft couldn’t operate efficiently.

Police departments experimented with them for traffic patrol and surveillance, taking advantage of their ability to fly slowly and land in confined spaces. The military showed considerable interest, seeing potential for observation, liaison, and even combat roles.

The autogyro also captured the public imagination in ways that went far beyond its practical applications. These machines appeared in newsreels, were featured at air shows, and became symbols of the exciting possibilities of aviation. Amelia Earhart famously flew a Pitcairn autogyro, setting several records and helping to promote the type. The distinctive appearance of an autogyro—with its freely spinning rotor and conventional propeller—made it instantly recognizable and added to its mystique.

However, even as autogyros reached their peak of development and public attention, the seeds of their decline were already being sown. The late 1930s saw rapid improvements in conventional aircraft design.

Engines became more reliable, reducing the safety advantage of autorotation. Airport infrastructure improved, making the autogyro’s short-field capabilities less critical. Most significantly, the helicopter began to emerge as a practical aircraft.

Igor Sikorsky’s successful helicopter flights in 1939 and 1940 demonstrated that vertical takeoff and landing were achievable with powered rotors. While early helicopters were more complex and expensive than autogyros, they offered capabilities that autogyros simply couldn’t match—true vertical flight, hovering, and backward flight.

The helicopter could do everything an autogyro could do, plus much more.

World War II effectively ended the first era of autogyro development. While some military applications continued, resources were redirected toward more conventional aircraft and the emerging helicopter technology. By the war’s end, the major autogyro manufacturers had either closed their operations or shifted to other types of aircraft production.

The post-war period saw autogyros enter what might be called their wilderness years. Commercial production had largely ceased, and the few autogyros that remained in service were gradually retired or relegated to museums.

However, the fundamental principles that made autogyros attractive—simplicity, safety, and short-field performance—never disappeared entirely.

The Fairey Rotodyne was a British experimental compound gyroplane developed in the 1950s by Fairey Aviation as an ambitious attempt to combine the vertical takeoff and landing capability of a helicopter with the speed and efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft.

Designed for short-haul passenger and cargo transport, the Rotodyne featured a large, unpowered main rotor for autorotative lift during cruise flight, but used tip jets—small nozzles at the ends of the rotor blades fueled by compressed air and gas—to spin the rotor for vertical takeoff and landing. Once airborne, the rotor autorotated while a pair of wing-mounted turboprop engines provided forward thrust.

The aircraft performed well in tests, setting a speed record for rotorcraft of its type and demonstrating potential as a city-center airliner, but it was ultimately cancelled in 1962 due to a combination of political shifts, noise concerns from the tip jets, and lack of commercial orders.

The revival began in the 1960s and 1970s, coinciding with the development of ultralight aircraft and the growth of the homebuilt aircraft movement. Enthusiasts rediscovered the autogyro’s appealing characteristics and began developing new designs specifically for amateur construction.

Wing Commander Ken Wallis was a pioneering British aviator and engineer who played a crucial role in the development and popularization of modern gyrocopters in the post-World War II era.

A former Royal Air Force pilot and accomplished aircraft designer, Wallis built and flew numerous autogyros of his own design, most notably the “Wallis WA-116,” which gained international fame when he flew it as James Bond’s gyrocopter “Little Nellie” in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice.

Wallis also advanced gyrocopter technology through innovations in stability, control, and performance, and he used his aircraft in various roles including police surveillance, agricultural monitoring, and experimental research. He also set multiple world records for speed and altitude in gyrocopters, helping to demonstrate their potential beyond recreational aviation.

So, why would anyone want to own an autogyro today? What role does it fill in world with advanced avionics?

First, autogyros have Short Takeoff and Landing Capabilities.

Gyrocopters require very little runway to take off and can land in extremely short distances, sometimes in less than 10 meters or 30 feet, making them ideal for operations in confined or remote areas without prepared runways. While normally not capable of true vertical takeoff like helicopters, their Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) performance is superior to that of most fixed-wing aircraft.

That being said, some autogyros can do vertical takeoffs. They do it by temporarily providing power to the rotor for a few seconds to get it off the ground, before letting it spin freely when it starts moving forward. This isn’t so much a vertical takeoff as it is a jump takeoff, which is what I’ve seen it called.

The second major benefit is that autogyros are safer in engine-out scenarios.

One of the most significant safety advantages of an autogyro is its ability to autorotate. Even if the engine fails, the unpowered rotor continues to spin, allowing the aircraft to glide down gently and land safely. This makes engine failure less catastrophic compared to airplanes, which need speed and altitude to glide, or helicopters, which require quick pilot reactions to enter autorotation.

Third is that autogyros have a lower cost of ownership and operation.

Gyrocopters are generally cheaper to buy, maintain, and operate than helicopters or fixed-wing planes. They have fewer moving parts, especially compared to helicopters, which have complex rotor head mechanics and transmission systems, resulting in less frequent and less expensive maintenance.

For a personal aircraft, the cost differences between autogyros, planes, and helicopters can be dramatic. While there are enormous differences in prices, so take it with a pinch of salt, a new autogyro can be anywhere from half the price to one-tenth the price of a new two-seater plane or helicopter.

Finally, in many countries, the training time required to earn a gyrocopter license is shorter and less expensive than that for helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. The relative simplicity of operation makes them accessible to amateur aviators.

So, what is the downside?

For starters, they can’t fly as fast as either helicopters or airplanes. The fastest recorded speed for an autogyro is approximately 207.7 mph or 334.5 km/h.

The fastest helicopter speed officially recognized is 293 mph or 472 km/h.

Even propeller-driven planes have approached the speed of sound.

By the same token, autogyros can’t fly as high. The record is only 8,399 meters or 27,556 feet.

Several companies are currently considering the use of autogyros for urban air taxis. So far, these initiatives are still in the planning stages, and no launches have been made yet.

There are, however, several companies producing autogyros for the personal aircraft market.

The autogyro fills a unique space in the aviation market. They might be slower and fly lower than other types of aircraft, but they are also safer, cheaper, and easier to fly.

Maybe if someone can figure it out, you might take an autogyro on a short urban flight.