Flettner Gigant

Early German Helicopter

Gigant
Role	Helicopter Type of aircraft
National origin	Germany
Designer	Anton Flettner
First flight	1932 (tethered)
Number built	1

The Flettner Gigant was an experimental helicopter built in Germany during the early 1930s.^[1]

Design and development

Anton Flettner was an early rotary-wing pioneer in Germany, he developed a torqueless rotor by powering it with small engines fixed directly to the blades driving propellers. this arrangement drove the rotor without transmitting torque (other than bearing friction) to the fuselage.^[1]

A successful tethered flight was carried out in 1932, but the aircraft was destroyed soon afterwards when it overturned in a gale.^[1]

Specifications (variant specified)

This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.

Data from Green^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Powerplant: 2 × Anzani 3-cyl. Y (Radial) 30hp air-cooled radial piston engine, 22 kW (30 hp) each
Main rotor diameter: 30 m (98 ft 5 in)
Propellers: 2-bladed tractor fixed pitch propellers

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). London. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-900732-06-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)