VFW-Fokker H3
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The VFW-Fokker H3 Sprinter was a single-engined experimental rotorcraft designed and built 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 ...
. Two aircraft were produced by
VFW-Fokker VFW-Fokker GmbH was a joint venture of Fokker and Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) started in 1969 that, from then on, controlled the ERNO initiative. The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) — abbreviated ERNO — was a 1 ...
in the early 1970s, registered ''D-9543'' and ''D-9544''. Intended as the first of a family of
tip-jet A tip jet is a jet nozzle at the tip of some helicopter rotor blades, used to spin the rotor, much like a Catherine wheel (firework), Catherine wheel firework. Tip jets replace the normal shaft drive and have the advantage of placing no torque o ...
driven
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 ...
s the two H3 prototypes flew briefly but the method of rotor propulsion was found to be unsuccessful for this size of aircraft. Due to a high rotor overspeed, they could perform jump take-offs to at a rate of per minute.Robb, Raymond L.
Hybrid helicopters: Compounding the quest for speed
", page 34. ''Vertiflite''. American Helicopter Society, Summer 2006. An improved H4 variant was designed but not built.


Aircraft on display

Both aircraft have survived. ''D-9543'' is currently on display at the Hubschraubermuseum BückeburgVFW H-3 Sprinter
Retrieved: 21 April 2022 with the other H3 thought to be in a private collection in Germany.


Specifications (H3)


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Taylor, John W.R. ''Jane's Pocket Book of Research and Experimental Aircraft'', London, Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd, 1976. . {{VFW-Fokker aircraft Cancelled aircraft projects Gyrodynes H3 V-tail aircraft Single-turbine helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1971