THE SOLE ROTODYNE AT FARNBOROUGH, 1958.

Идея разработки большого винтокрыла, способного найти спрос на коммерческом рынке, появилась в 1947 году. В 1953-м фирма запросила у министерства снабжения разрешение на постройку опытного образца. Первый полет 30-40 местный винтокрыл Fairey Rotodyne выполнил в ноябре 1957 года, а первый переход из режима висения в режим поступательного полета - в апреле 1958-го. Винтокрыл Rotodyne, оснащенный двумя турбовинтовыми двигателями Napier Eland, вызвал большой интерес в военных и гражданских кругах, но медленные темпы доводки машины привели к аннулированию программы в 1962 году.
The Fairey Rotodyne will once again be one of the star turns at Farnborough.

The sole Fairey Rotodyne prototype, XE 521, first flew on 6 November 1957, following a period of exhaustive ground testing that dated back to September 1955. The culmination of a Fairey Aviation programme of convertiplane research initiated at the end of 1945, the Rotodyne was built to meet a 1951 British European Airways specification for a 30 to 40 passenger, vertical take-off and landing 'Bealine Bus'. Powered by two 3.000shp Napier Eland N.EI.3 turboprops with modified auxiliary compressor stages at the rear of the engines from which to draw the rotor system air supply. Just forward of this were clutches that enabled switching the engines from the gas generator mode for take-off and landing, to driving the propellers in cruise. Always destined as a technology demonstrator for a larger 65 passenger, or 75 troop carrying production aircraft, the Rotodyne proved its alacrity on 5 January 1959, when it set a new convertiplane 100 kilometre, or 62 mile closed circuit speed record of 190,897mph in the hands of Fairey's Sqn. Ldr. W.R. Gellatly. Two months after this, New York Airways placed a tentative order for 5, but the takeover of Fairey by Westland, inadequate funding and signs of acoustic fatigue over the next year or two saw interest in the Rotodyne evaporate.

Fairey Rotodyne shown with undercarriage retracted.

Пассажирский винтокрыл "Ротодайн"

With the takeover of Fairey by Westland in early 1960, the Rotodyne’s markings were changed to reflect the transfer of the project to the new company, and RAF roundels and fin-flashes were applied to signify military interest.

The sole Rotodyne prototype, designated as the “Type Y” by Fairey (the production version was to be the “Type Z”) made an appearance at every annual SBAC show at Farnborough during 1958-61, and is seen here peeling away from the camera aircraft during a photographic flight over the Hampshire countryside in 1959.

In January 1959 the Rotodyne set a new helicopter world speed record over a 100km (62-mile) closed circuit of 191 m.p.h. (307km/h). The Rotodyne was fast, with a great deal of potential for development - but neither industry nor government was prepared to risk so much on such a new commercial and military concept.

The Fairey Rotodyne's last Farnborough appearance was at the 1961 Farnborough. The Rotodyne programme was cancelled five months later.

Fairey Rotodyne XE521 was first flown on November 6, 1957. It was the only example built, and the programme was cancelled in February 1962.

One of the UK’s most ambitious aircraft research and development programmes at the time of the 1957 Defence White Paper was the Fairey Rotodyne, a compound helicopter conceived as a short- to medium-haul airliner capable of operating into and out of city centres. The sole prototype, XE521, first flew in November 1957.

Fairey Rotodyne, holder of the record for speed in a 100 km closed circuit by a convertipiane.
By this time wearing its blue, white and bare-metal colour scheme and bearing “Fairey Rotodyne” titles and its military serial, XE521, the prototype undergoes a flight in June 1959 in preparation for its appearance at the Paris Air Salon. Important orders from New York Airways and Canada’s Okanagan had been placed by this point.

The idea of a VTOL aircraft for point-to-point travel - in which passengers could be transported directly into the urban fabric of a town or city, rather than having to land at an airport miles from the city centre and travel into the latter on a ground transport network - was explored by Fairey and its Rotodyne compound helicopter. It ultimately proved uneconomical and prohibitively noisy.

During its June 1959 trip to the Paris Air Salon, the Rotodyne also dropped in to the Allee Verte (Groendreef) heliport in Brussels, home to Sabena’s helicopter operations since 1953. The visit played well for the type when BEA opened negotiations with Sabena in 1961 to operate a helicopter pooling arrangement for inter-city services. It ultimately came to nothing.

The Fairey Rotodyne of 1957 on an early flight.

6 ноября 1957г.: экипаж в составе У. Р. Геллатли и Дж. Г. П. Мортона выполнил в Уайт-Уолтхэме первый полет на прототипе винтокрыла Fairey Rotodyne.
The Fairey Rotodyne has successfully achieved transition from vertical to horizontal flight. The upper stabilising fins have been fitted since the Rotodyne made its first flight last year.

The world's first vertical take-off airliner, the Fairey Rotodyne, made its first flight on Wednesday, 6th November. It takes off like a normal helicopter and once airborne, power is gradually transferred to the propellers. For landing, the process is reversed.

Adding achievement to achievement, Fairey Aviation have now built - and flown - potentially the most important transport aeroplane in the world, the Fairey Rotodyne. Carrying 48 passengers or 4 1/2 tons of freight it takes off vertically as a helicopter and having gained height flies forward as a normal twin-engined airliner. It is the most adaptable rotary-wing aircraft in the world and the first to offer operating economy directly comparable to that of fixed wing aircraft over ranges of up to 400 miles. The arrangement within the Rotodyne's capacious fuselage can readily be adapted to suit civil or military applications. Powered by two Napier Eland propeller-turbines with Fairey Pressure-Jets at the flies the first vertical take-off Airliner rotor-tips for take-off and landing.

Fairey Rotodyne.

Fairey Rotodyne which is nearly complete;

Unsurprisingly for such a radical new concept, the prototype Rotodyne underwent extensive ground testing before its first flight, accruing some 50hr of rotor trials and 100hr of engine-runs, as seen here with both of its Napier Elands running at high power. Still in its bare-metal finish, the prototype first flew on November 6, 1957.

This promotional Fairey item shows an artist’s impression of an early incarnation of the Rotodyne superimposed on a photograph of the Dome of Discovery on London’s South Bank during the Festival of Britain, suggesting this is probably a 1951-vintage proposal. The original design, to be powered by Armstrong Siddeley Mambas, was put forward in 1948.

FAIREY ROTODYNE World's First Vertical Take-Off Airliner

FAIREY ROTODYNE: Now having its wings set at a new angle of incidence and fitted with ailerons, the Rotodyne is powered by two 3,000-e.h.p. Napier Eland turboprops, and its overall dimensions include a rotor diameter of 104 ft., a fuselage length of 64 ft. 6 in., and an overall height of 23 ft. 2 in.

The production “Type Z”, also known as the FA-1, was to be larger overall, with a capacity for up to 70 passengers and powered by Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprops with an RB.176 compressor unit in the rear of each nacelle to power the rotor tipjets. The wing was to be of greater area than that of the “Y”, with tapered leading edges on the outer sections.