The Wallis WA-116 Agile is a British

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 ...

developed in the early 1960s by former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Wing Commander

Ken Wallis Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis (26 April 1916 – 1 September 2013) was a British aviator, engineer, and inventor. During the Second World War, Wallis served in the Royal Air Force and flew 28 bomber missions over Germany; after the war ...

. The aircraft was produced in a number of variants, one of which, nicknamed ''Little Nellie'', was flown in the 1967

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' You Only Live Twice''. ''Little Nellie'' is currently on static display at

The Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located at the Old Warden Aerodrome, Old Warden in Bedfordshire, England. It is the oldest in the world and one of the most prestigious, due to the variety of old a ...

, Old Warden, Bedfordshire in the UK.

Design and development

Wing Commander

, a former

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilot, developed a number of improvements to the autogyro design, including the offset

gimbal A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...

rotor head which gives the autogyro hands-off stability."The Wallis Autogyros."
''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

''. 31 March 1966. p. 515. Wallis' first prototype autogyro, registered ''G-ARRT'', was first flown on 2 August 1961.Jackson (1974). p. 329.

Operational history

In 1962, five WA-116s were built by

Beagle Aircraft Beagle Aircraft Limited was a British light aircraft manufacturer. The company produced the Airedale, Terrier, Beagle 206, Husky and the Pup. It had factories at Rearsby in Leicestershire and Shoreham in Sussex. The company was dissolved ...

at Shoreham, three of which were for evaluation by the British

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

. Wallis flew one of these aircraft, ''XR942'', at that year's

Farnborough Air Show The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...

. In 1966, one of the Beagle-built WA-116s, registered ''G-ARZB'', was modified for use in the

film '' You Only Live Twice''. Little Nellie was named after legendary music hall performer

Nellie Wallace Nellie Wallace (18 March 1870 – 24 November 1948) was a British music hall star, actress, comedienne, dancer and songwriter who became one of the most famous and best loved music hall performers. She became known as "The Essence of Eccen ...

. Few Wallis autogyros have been operated privately, with nearly all of them being used for research and demonstration flying by Wallis himself.Apostolo (1984). p. 101. Wallis withdrew all his autogyros from use by anyone other than himself, after the crash of WA-117 G-AXAR at the 1970

Operators

; *

Variants

;WA-116 Agile :Prototype autogyro powered by a Wallis-McCulloch 4318A engine. ;WA-116-T :Two-seat variant, one built. ;WA-117 Venom :Variant powered by a Continental O-200-B engine. ;WA-118 Meteorite :Variant powered by a Wallis-modified Meteor Alfa supercharged two-stroke engine. ;WA-119 :Variant powered by a 40 hp water-cooled 990 cc

Hillman Imp The Hillman Imp is a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. Revealed on 3 May 1963, after much advance publicity, it was the first British mass-produced car with the engine blo ...

engine. ;WA-121 :Streamlined variant for high-altitude research with a Wallis-McCulloch 4318A engine; a single WA-121 was built in 1972.

Specifications (WA-116)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Apostolo, Giorgio (1984). ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters''. New York: Bonanza Books. . * {{Refend 1960s British civil utility aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros Aircraft first flown in 1961