"Autogiro" Makes German Debut

Berlin Flugmeister and Great War veteran Wolfgang Vedrina is testing a new design in flying machines. Called an Autogiro, the new machine is of Spanish and American design. Resembling an aeroplane without wings, the machine uses a radial piston engine, a three bladed conventional propeller and a large, overhead set of "rotor blades" that actually provide the lift. The blades become a "wing" when rotating which allows the craft to fly at very low speed once aloft.

Wolfgang Vedrina stands by his Model C.8.W. Autogiro
at the Berlin aerodrome.
(Photo by Wolfgang Vedrina)

Vedrina calls his deep blue machine the "Pitbull", referring to its American designer, Harold Pitcairn.  "The machine handles very well, despite peculiarities inherent to the design", reports Vedrina.  "In addition to the sound from the propeller, the overhead blades make a distinctive beating noise that I can see might be the signature of this design."

The design is the result of work done in Spain over the past several years by Juan de la Cierva to make rotary-wing flight possible. By keeping the wings moving at the proper angle and velocity Cierva proved that the rotating wing would not stall (or stop producing the "lift" that keeps an aeroplane aloft) as readily as in fixed wing aircraft. This was the major breakthrough for rotary wing development and Cierva developed and patented his design. Pitcairn approached Cierva about licensing the design for manufacture in the United States and the two agreed to terms this year to allow The Pitcairn Autogiro Company (PCA) to be formed formed. Vedrina's Model C.8.W. is the first civilian operated Autogiro in Germany.