Gyroplane was later adopted as a trademark by Bensen Aircraft. Burke Wilford who developed the Reiseler Kreiser feathering rotor equipped gyroplane in the first half of the twentieth century. The term gyrocopter (derived from helicopter) was used by E. De la Cierva's Autogiro is considered the predecessor of the modern helicopter.
The term Autogiro became trademarked by the Cierva Autogiro Company. The aircraft resembled the fixed-wing aircraft of the day, with a front-mounted engine and propeller. He first flew one on 9 January 1923, at Cuatro Vientos Airport in Madrid. It was originally named the autogiro by its Spanish inventor and engineer, Juan de la Cierva, in his attempt to create an aircraft that could fly safely at low speeds. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate.įorward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. A modern, closed-cabin, pusher-propeller autogyro in flightĪn autogyro (from Greek αὐτός and γύρος, 'self-turning'), or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift.
