Autogyro

Uncommon card · No. 78459

An autogyro (from Greek αὐτός and γύρος, "self-turning"), gyroplane or gyrocopter, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-driven, except for initial starting, but are made to rotate by action of the air when the rotorcraft is moving; and whose means of propulsion, consisting usually of conventional propellers, is independent of the rotor system." While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. It was originally named the autogiro by its Spanish inventor and engineer, Juan de la Cierva, in his attempt to create an aircraft that could fly safely at low speeds. He first flew one in January 1923, at Cuatro Vientos Airport in Madrid. The aircraft resembled the fixed-wing aircraft of the day, with a front-mounted engine...

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