The annual reports that four helicopters were on order for the Fleet Air Arm, although their details had not been made public. It surveys French and German experiments ranging from a small coaxial-rotor machine to much larger projected designs with striking climb and speed claims. A Focke-Wulf helicopter had already completed a reported 143-mile flight and could hover or fly backwards. Autorotation was expected to keep a forced landing's descent rate low, but directional control during that descent remained a difficult unsolved problem. Naval usefulness, performance, and safety had yet to settle into mature forms.
Notable Point · 9:55-11:49
Helicopters as experimental fleet-air technology in 1939
Reported Fleet Air Arm orders, ambitious projected performance, and unresolved autorotation control show both the promise and uncertainty surrounding early helicopters.