Comments on: Pinwheel Bus (Jan, 1947)

By: Neil Russell

Neil Russell — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:13:36 +0000

That bird always gets me when I go through the museum, I’d love to see it in action.
If I remember it right, it can be folded up for storage which makes the whole thing look even stranger!
Anyone that loves aircraft and is within a day’s drive of Warner Robins should stop in at the Museum of Aviation.
Admission is free and I can’t think of anyplace else where I can walk up and pat the underside of an SR71.
I took my son there this past summer and from the snack bar got to survey some of my favorite planes; C-46, C-47, Globemaster, Constellation, it’s almost endless

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:21:44 +0000

Even so, the intermeshing rotors did turn up in a military helicopter http://www.nationalmuseum.af.m.....asp?id=306

Looking at the one they have here in Georgia at the Warner-Robins Aviation Museum make you wonder how the thing flew.

http://www.museumofaviation.or.....-hh43a.htm

By: Stannous

Stannous — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:59:29 +0000

From the Smithsonian NASM page about this craft:

The helicopter that Kellett designed was designated the XR-8 by the AAF. It looked like a giant egg with two rotors perched on top. When the rotors turned, they ‘meshed’ with a whisking action that quickly produced the nickname ‘egg-beater.’ Soon the term applied to any helicopter. The steel-tube, frame fuselage on the XR-8 was skinned with sheet steel and fabric and a large, bubble-shaped, Plexiglas canopy covered the nose. Each rotor spanned 10.9 m (36 ft) and turned three fabric-covered blades made of metal and wood. The rotors were mounted side-by-side and 1.2 m (4 ft) apart so that both rotors swept an area 12.2 m (40 ft) wide. Both rotor shafts leaned away from each other at a 12.5-degree angle from straight up. This arrangement was a critical one for it allowed the rotors to spin without touching. The blades themselves consisted of plywood ribs fixed to a steel tube spar and covered with a thin-veneer plywood skin. A single engine powered both rotors through a transmission, using spiral-bevel gears. A crew of two sat side-by-side in the cockpit. Like most early helicopters, a single collective lever was mounted between the seats. The egg-shaped fuselage tapered aft to a fixed vertical stabilizer at the tail. The aircraft rested on a fixed, tricycle landing gear mounted on vertical oleo struts to soften landings and takeoffs.
The XR-10 strongly resembled the XR-8 in layout but Kellett hoped to incorporate all the lessons learned from the first synchropter.
When it flew on April 24, 1947, the XR-10 was the largest rotorcraft in the United States. It could haul six stretchers, ten troops laden with combat equipment, or 1,612 kg (3,550 lbs) of cargo. Kellett foresaw a civilian version that he designated
the KH-2.

And I LOVE this last line:
Although a technical failure, it showed military rotorcraft planners a direction NOT to follow in the development of bigger and better helicopters. In the museum setting, the XR-8 provides a compelling contrast to more successful designs.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/researc.....tt_xr8.htm

By: Blurgle

Blurgle — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:29:33 +0000

They have these now in places like New York City; the only catch is it costs about $150 one way from Manhattan to JFK, taxes included.