The Gazda Helicospeeder was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-built single-seat single-rotor

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 ...

of the 1940s.

Development

The Helicospeeder was designed by Antoine Gazda of

Wakefield, Rhode Island Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the commercial center of South Kingstown. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census-designated ...

in 1946. It was specified to carry one person and publicity releases claimed an ultimate goal of a maximum airspeed. One example of the initial version was completed. The Model 100 Helicospeeder was developed in 1947, again with a single seat. It was of all-aluminium construction and was powered by a

Continental A-75 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Continental Motors commencing in the 194 ...

engine. One example was completed.

Operational history

The designer/constructor carried out test flights and a more modest actual speed of was reached. Production examples were expected to sell for 5000 US Dollars, but no firm sales were made.

Variants

Antoine Gazda planned to build the Model 101, which was intended to accommodate two persons, but no record of its completion has been found.

Aircraft on display

The Model 100 Helicospeeder is preserved at the

Owls Head Transportation Museum Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

, adjacent to the

Knox County Regional Airport Knox County Regional Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in the town of Owls Head, Maine, Owls Head, Knox County, Maine, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 kilometre, km) south of the central business distr ...

, two miles south of

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State ...

.Ogden, page 292

Specifications (Model 100)

Notes

References

*, {{refend

External links

Data on HelicospeederPhoto of Helicospeeder
1940s United States civil utility aircraft 1940s United States helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1946 Single-engined piston helicopters