[MOC] Hafner Rotachute Mk IV

[greg3]

Raoul Hafner was an Austrian born engineer who moved to England in 1935 to work on developing rotary winged aircraft. When WW2 began, he was briefly interned as an enemy alien but soon released to pursue his work at the Central Landing Establishment at RAF Ringway near Manchester. His aim was to develop a one-man, rotary winged, autogyro glider as an alternative to the use of parachutes to deliver soldiers by air, as the time, silk was in short supply and it was believed that the autogyro would be more accurate.

Throughout 1941, tests on model versions proved that the concept worked - as the craft was towed forward the unpowered rotors began to spin developing enough lift to keep the craft airborne. Once the tow was released the craft slowly dropped. In January 1942, full-sized testing began with manned gliders becoming airborne after being towed behind lorries and jeeps. The next step was to tow and launch them from aircraft with the first manned free flight and controlled landing being from 200ft in June 1942. Eventually, successful tests were carried out from 3,900 ft carrying a fully equipped soldier (complete with Bren gun and ammunition).

Unfortunately, the gliders were never used operationally as parachutes and large gliders were found to be better suited to the mass landings required. Hefner did continue to work the project and even developed the rotabuggy - a jeep fitted with rotors that could be towed and dropped from a plane!! After the war, he became a leading designer of helicopters in Britain. 

The craft consisted of a tubular framework with a single seat and short fuselage with a tailplane. The 2 rotor blades could be adjusted using a simple control bar giving the pilot good control over rolling and pitching. In all, 4 versions were produced and I've based my model on the final one (the Mk IV) This had a slightly longer fuselage and the tailplanes had vertical endplates to aid with stability.

My relieved test pilot after a successful landing!! (the pilot figure is from United Bricks) 

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Side view (some versions had a pair of landing wheels located under the seat)

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Top view

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Front view - the controls aren't perfect (should be a "loop" hanging down from the rotor hub but this was the best I could come up with!!)

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

In flight

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Ref pics (early flight control test from the back of a lorry and the only remaining craft now in a museum)

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Although it's a small simple craft, it took a while to get it looking decent but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out... might make a "What if... combat version" one next (in dark green/brown and with space to carry a gun etc) I might also give the rotabuggy jeep a go too!!

Anyway, thanks for looking... comments are always welcome!!

[Johnny1360]

How elegantly simple, at first I thought what the hey, then after seeing pictures of the real thing, I thought spot on perfect for such a very small build.