The Agusta A.101 (originally designated AZ.101) was a large prototype

transport helicopter A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply l ...

developed in Italy during the 1960s. Despite prospective orders from the Italian armed forces, no buyers emerged and the project was abandoned in 1971.

Design and development

The A.101 was of conventional, single-rotor configuration with tricycle undercarriage and powered by triple turboshaft engines. The fuselage was provided with a rear loading ramp and two large sliding troop doors. The final stage in the A.101's development was to stretch the fuselage by 3 m (10 ft) and upgrade the engines to the more powerful

General Electric T58 The General Electric T58 is an American turboshaft engine developed for helicopter use. First run in 1955, it remained in production until 1984, by which time some 6,300 units had been built. On July 1, 1959, it became the first turbine engine t ...

. This resulted in a marked improvement in performance, but in the end, the Italian government opted for variants of the

SH-3 Sea King The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft engi ...

, licence-built by

Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first airplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot o ...

instead of their own design. The single prototype is stored for preservation at the Museo Agusta at Cascina Costa.

Variants

;A.101D:The original concept by

Filippo Zappata Filippo Zappata (6 July 1894 – 30 August 1994) was an Italian engineer and aircraft designer. Zappata was born in Ancona. He worked for Gabardini, Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CANT), Blériot, Breda, and Agusta, In the 1930s he designed ...

exhibited in model form at the Milan Trade Fair in April 1958, also designated AZ.101, acknowledging Zappata's role in the design process. Power was to have been supplied by three

Turbomeca Turmo The Turbomeca Turmo is a family of French turboshaft engines manufacturered for helicopter use. Developed from the earlier Turbomeca Artouste, later versions delivered up to . A turboprop version was developed for use with the Bréguet 941 trans ...

engines. ;A.101G:The sole prototype powered by three Rolls-Royce Gnome H.1400 turboshaft engines ;A.101H:A projected up-rated version, stretched by , with tricycle undercarriage and powered by three

turboshaft engines.

Specifications (A.101G configuration)

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (A.101G configuration)

See also

References

Further reading