The Pitcairn XO-61 was an American
autogyro
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
designed by
Pitcairn Aircraft
The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in t ...
. One of the last autogyros produced, in competition with the
Kellett YO-60 and the
Sikorsky R-4
The Sikorsky R-4 is a two-seat helicopter that was designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. The R-4 was the world's first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter used by ...
, it fell victim to cooling problems with its rear-mounted engine and the coming of the
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 ...
with its ability to hover.
[Gregg, E. Stuart]
"Above & Beyond: Jump Ship"
. ''Air & Space Smithsonian'', March 2001[Harris, Franklin D]
An Overview of Autogyros and The McDonnell XV-1 Convertiplane
NASA/CR—2003–212799. NASA Ames Research Center
The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...
, October 2003
Also known by the company model number PA-44 and the contract designation MX-157,
[Cully, George & Andreas Parsch]
MX-1 to MX-499 Listing
designation-systems.net the contract for the XO-61 was taken over by
G&A Aircraft upon G&A's acquisition of Pitcairn Aircraft.
[Wings of Freedom Winter 2007/2008](_blank)
Volume 22 Number 4, Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association.
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
*Cully, George & Andreas Parsch
*Gregg, E. Stuart
''Air & Space Smithsonian'', March 2001 Listing, designation-systems.net
*Harris, Franklin D
An Overview of Autogyros and The McDonnell XV-1 Convertiplane NASA/CR—2003–212799. NASA
Ames Research Center
The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...
, October 2003
Wings of Freedom Winter 2007/2008 Volume 22 Number 4, Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association.
O-061
1940s United States military reconnaissance aircraft
Single-engined pusher autogyros
Twin-boom aircraft
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