Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site shark.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!harvard!talcott!panda!genrad!decvax!tektronix!orca!shark!graham
From: graham@shark.UUCP (Graham Bromley)
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: re: Query about helicopters in the armed forces
Message-ID: <1258@shark.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Feb-85 01:44:46 EST
Article-I.D.: shark.1258
Posted: Mon Feb 18 01:44:46 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 24-Feb-85 03:02:12 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 38

> In the 1930's the autogyro was a bit of a novelty but I don't
> recall it being used by the Armed forces.  Any information?

The autogiro was not used by the U.S. armed forces. The
British Air Ministry bought about 50 from la Cierva (the
inventor), and the Italian navy considered using them for
shipboard reconnaissance, but that's about it. The autogiro's
speed, range and load capacity were inadequate for military
use.

> When did the first "true" helecopter fly?  

Debatable - depends what you mean by a true helicopter.
If you include propulsion and pitch and yaw control using the rotors,
probably the Focke Wulf Fa-61 which first flew in June 1936.
This machine was flown by the well known pilot Hanna Reitsch
during indoor demonstrations inside a Berlin sports arena.
The Fa-61 had a propeller on the nose, but this was for
engine cooling more than anything else.

>  When did the armed forces start using helecopters?  (I know they
> were used in the Korean War (1952 and thereafter) but I don't
> recall ever seeing them in WW2.  Did they really develop in
> just 7 years?)

Helicopters were indeed used during WW2 - the Focke Wulf 
Fa-61, Fa-223 and Flettner Fl-282 Kolibri by Germany;
the Sikorsky VS-300 and Sikorsky R-4 by the U.S. Army.
The latter was used in Burma. Over 400 Sikorsky helicopters
were built during WW2. Downed pilots and commando troops
were helicoptered out of the jungle - their first use for this
type of work.

The Sikorsky S-55, the first helicopter widely used for
troop insertion, first flew in 1945, too late for WW2 use.
It was well used in Korea.

Hope this answers some of your questions.