Grigore Brișcu (1884 in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

– 1965 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n engineer and inventor.

Biography

At age 19, he enrolled in the

National School of Bridges and Roads National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in Bucharest. While pursuing his engineering degree, he took some technical courses in Paris and also earned a law degree from the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

Inventor of the helicopter

In 1909, Brișcu was the first engineer to begin experimenting with the cyclic variation of

rotor blade On a helicopter, the main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that countera ...

pitch to ensure horizontal flight and stability in helicopters. He invented a prototype "air-carriage" with all the features of a helicopter-like flying-machine: horizontal, vertical and lateral movement and fixed-point landing. It was equipped with two coaxial

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s rotating in opposite directions. This was flown experimentally by the French aviator

Paul Cornu Paul Cornu (; 15 June 1881 – 6 June 1944) was a French engineer. Life Paul Cornu was born in Glos la Ferrière, France and was one of thirteen children. At a young age, he helped his father in his transports company. He made history by desig ...

, who built a prototype with an Antoinett engine. The Brișcu

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

was patented by the Romanian Office for Inventions (patent no. 2323/2046 of 1912).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscu, Grigore 1884 births 1965 deaths People from Bârlad Aviation inventors Aviation pioneers Romanian aerospace engineers Romanian inventors Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni