Curtiss-Bleecker SX-5-1 Helicopter

The Curtiss-Bleecker Helicopter was an American prototype rotary wing aircraft, introduced in 1926. The thrust of the aircraft was distributed from a central mounted engine through shafts to propellers mounted on each rotor blade.

Curtiss-Bleecker Helicopter
Role	Helicopter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Designer	Maitland B. Bleecker
First flight	1926
Number built	1

Design and development

The Bleecker Helicopter was designed by Maitland B. Bleecker, a junior engineer from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The aircraft was constructed by Curtiss Wright for $250,000 over the course of four years at Garden City.^[1]

The aircraft featured a rotary wing design with a single engine. Each rotor, painted silver and yellow, had an individual propeller for thrust and a trailing control surface called a "stabovator" to change pitch of the rotor. The aircraft was controlled by a stick that operated like a modern helicopter collective control. Yaw was controlled with a "spin vane" that used downwash from the rotor to pivot the aircraft with foot pedals.^[1]

Operational history

Testing on the Bleecker Helicopter was stopped after the failure of a drive shaft on a test flight in 1929.^[2] By 1933 the project was abandoned following vibrational issues in further tests.^[3]

Specifications

Curtiss-Bleecker helicopter 3-view drawing from Aero Digest, July, 1930

Data from NASA^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Capacity: 2
• Wing area: 370 sq ft (34 m²) Area of rotor blades
• Empty weight: 2,800 lb (1,270 kg)
• Gross weight: 3,400 lb (1,542 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 30 US gallons (114 litres)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp^[which?] radial piston, 420 hp (310 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 70 mph (110 km/h, 61 kn)
• Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)

See also