Bölkow Bo 103
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The Bölkow Bo 103 was an ultralight experimental
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
flown in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in 1961. It was designed for reconnaissance and command-control purposes and constructed by Bölkow Entwicklungen KG as part of a research order by the German Federal Ministry of Defense. While the mechanics of the aircraft were based on the Bo 102 captive training rig, the Bo 103 was capable of fully independent flight. In configuration, it was absolutely minimalist - consisting of nothing more than a tubular frame to which the dynamic components and the pilots seat were attached, although a small
fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
cabin was eventually attached. The aircraft retained the Bo 102's single-rotor of
Glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
, and proved that this was suitable for true flight. A single prototype was built, but work was stopped in 1962 due to lack of interest on the part of the West German armed forces. The prototype is preserved at the
Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg The Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg (Bückeburg Helicopter Museum) is located in the German town of Bückeburg, 30 miles (50 km) to the west of Hanover. The museum is the sole museum in Germany specialising in rotary-wing flight and one of few ...
.


Specifications


See also


References

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EADS website


External links


picture
at Bückeburg helicopter museum. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolkow Bo 103 Bo 103 1960s German experimental aircraft Monocopters 1960s German helicopters Single-engined piston helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1961