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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
I have for several years past been a strong proponent of the helicopter—by which I mean an aircraft in which the means of lift, propulsion and manoeuvre are all combined in one system, the rotor.
It always seemed to me that, despite its ungainly appearance, there was a lot more to come if the benefits of new materials and new aerodynamics could be properly taken. I was reinforced in this view by the appearance of almost all the devices from compound helicopters through convertible aircraft to fan lift VTOL types with delta wings, which were supposed to outdo the helicopter. Of them all only one even looks like an aeroplane.
But that there are limits to the helicopter is undeniable and I now find myself in the position where I can see, or believe I can see, almost the whole extent of helicopter improvement. So what, if anything, is to follow has become a frequent question. Will the new helicopter be such, given the peculiar nature of the tasks which it must perform, that nothing better is wanted, particularly by society which has for years wilted under the pressures of aeronautical progress?