The Brantly B-1 was a 2-seat, coaxial-rotor helicopter designed by

Newby O. Brantly Newby Odell Brantly (April 13, 1905 – July 19, 1993) was an American inventor, engineer and entrepreneur who founded the Brantly Helicopter Corporation. Life Born in Newport, Texas, Newby Brantly was the son of William Franklin and Ida Mae ...

and constructed by the Pennsylvania Elastic Company, Brantly's employer.

Design and development

In 1946, Brantly started flight testing the B-1 prototype (NX69125), which used a 150 hp

Franklin O-335 The Franklin O-335 (company designations variations on 6A and 6V) was an American air-cooled aircraft engine of the 1940s. The engine was of six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed layout and displaced . The power output of later variants was . ...

engine in the fabric fuselage and two three-bladed rotors that rotated at 320 rpm and were fitted coaxially. The collective, cyclic, and differential controls were enclosed in the rotor hubs and ran in an oil-bath. Each rotor blade weighed 5.5 kilos. It also had a fixed wheel undercarriage with a tailwheel under the tailfin. Unfortunately, the design was too heavy and complex and was abandoned.

Specifications

References

External links

Brantly Historical Photos
{{Brantly aircraft 1940s United States civil utility aircraft 1940s United States helicopters Coaxial rotor helicopters B-1 Aircraft first flown in 1946 Single-engined piston helicopters