The very first Quadrotor in aviation history.
Blog post description.
MULTIROTOR HISTORY
12/1/20252 min read
Humans were always fascinated by seeing a bird fly, and had always wondered how to get wings for himself. In that endeavour kept on trying to fly until achieved, no matter what it costs, so was the passion. HAV and various designs of aircraft were continuously researched upon.
In early 20th century a group of three geniuses had an idea of a practical rotary wing and started working on it. Louis-Charles and Jacques Breguet known as Breguet brothers was decedents of Abraham Louis Breguet, the great watchmaker and founder of Breguet watch company. Breguet Brothers although initially was in watch making business but later left watch making business and became aviation pioneer, founder of Breguet Aviation, which played an important role in French WW1 activities, by producing military aircraft. Breguet 14, a day bomber, fully made of aluminum, is one of many milestones of Breguet Aviation, in military and combat aviation in WW era. Charles Robert Richet, a French physiologist and a Nobel laureates. In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in acknowledgment of his contributions to the study of anaphylaxis."
On 29 September 1907, Breguet brothers and Charles Richet, got their design ready and up for its first flight. The aircraft was of simple design with open steel framework, fitted with a pilot seat along with a powerplant positioned at the center. Extending from this central structure were four tubular steel arms, resembling steel ladders, reinforced with wires, each supporting a pair of four-bladed rotors stacked on top of one another. To counteract the torque effect, two sets of rotors were rotated in a clockwise direction while the other two were rotated counter-clockwise. To maintain its stability, four men were deployed at ground following end tip of each arm to assist with the flight stability and drift. The aircraft didn’t have any speed variation nor it had any control what so ever. But Gyroplane No1, lifted itself 0.6mtrs above the ground with an onboard pilot by its own power and without any external help and stayed on air for a minute but didn’t cover much horizontal distance.
Next year Gyroplane No1 was redesigned and Gyroplane No.II was developed. The No.II featured two two-blade rotors with a diameter of 7.85 m (25.75 ft) and also included fixed wings. Driven by a 41 kW (55 hp) Renault engine, it was reported to have successfully flown on several occasions in 1908. The No.II was damaged during a rough landing and was subsequently rebuilt as the No.II Bis. It flew at least once in April 1909 before being destroyed when the company's facilities were severely impacted by a storm.
Source : Internet, wiki.
