The Hafner A.R.III Gyroplane was a British 1930s experimental autogyro designed by Austrian

Raoul Hafner Raoul Hafner, (1905–1980) FEng, FRAes, was an Austrian-born British helicopter pioneer and engineer. He made a distinctive contribution to the British aerospace industry, particularly in the development of helicopters. Life Born in 1905, he ...

, and built by the A.R.III Construction Company at Denham, Buckinghamshire.

Design and development

The single-seat Gyroplane had a three-blade auto-rotating rotor fitted above the fuselage on a strutted plyon. A Pobjoy Niagara radial piston engine was mounted on the fuselage nose. It had fixed tailwheel landing gear and the rear fuselage included a large dorsal fin to provide directional stability. An unusual feature was the control system which was equipped with spider-actuated cyclic and collective pitch control of the rotor blades; this mechanism, a variant of the swashplate-actuated rotor control, became a standard feature on helicopters. In 1935, the Gyroplane was manufactured at the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company's factory at Denham, Buckinghamshire. In autumn 1935, the Gyroplane,

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

''G-ADMV'', first flew at Heston Aerodrome, piloted by V.H. Baker.Flight, 19 September 1935, p. 318 On 6 February 1937, it flew at Hanworth Air Park, having been modified as the Mark 2 version. It was tested at Farnborough, and leased to the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

for research, but it was scrapped during the second world war. A two-seat A.R.IV and three-seat A.R.V were planned, but construction was stopped when Hafner was interned under Defence Regulation 18B.

Variants

;A.R.III :Prototype single-seat autogyro powered by a Pobjoy Niagara radial piston engine. ;A.R.IV :Experimental rotorcraft to meet Air Ministry Specification S.22/38. Powered by a 210hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II engine, construction was started by Short Brothers as the ''Fleet Spotter'', but was stopped in May 1940 when Hafner was interned. ;A.R.V :Experimental rotorcraft to meet Air Ministry Specification S.22/38. Powered by a 210hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II engine, construction was started by Short Brothers as the ''Night Shadower'', but was stopped in May 1940 when Hafner was interned.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography