# WWII German Helicopter technology



## v2 (Apr 19, 2008)

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## wilbur1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Cool vids v2 was the small one electric?


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## Konigstiger205 (Apr 19, 2008)

Cool video....you know they wanted to use one of those helicopters to rescue Mussolini but if I remember correctly the helicopter had a mechanical malfunction and they used a Fieseler Storch.


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## HoHun (Apr 19, 2008)

Hi Wilbur,

>Cool vids v2 was the small one electric?

No, the Bachstelze (Wagtail) was in fact unpowered and could only sustain flight because it was towed by the U-boat.

The main problem was that if the U-boat was forced by an enemy threat to dive, the tow rope had to be cut and the pilot could not be recovered.

The German pilot interviewed in the video remarks that it was a "Himmelfahrtskommando" - best translated as "forlorn hope", I believe.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)


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## wilbur1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Thanks hohun the rotors must some how be self sustaing once its spinning and being towed. That would scare the bejesus outta me if i was in that and they had to dive!!!!


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## Matt308 (Apr 19, 2008)

Think autogyro, Wilbur.


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## Célérité (Apr 19, 2008)

wilbur1 said:


> Thanks hohun the rotors must some how be self sustaing once its spinning and being towed. That would scare the bejesus outta me if i was in that and they had to dive!!!!



Yes, rotor turn only with the ram air, no motor. The helicopter weighed 75 kg.
The German pilot instructor interviewed remarks that it was a suicide.


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## Graeme (Apr 19, 2008)

A Mr Fritz Wigal of Tennessee in the mid-sixties came up with an idea to reduce spin-up time of the main rotor (without mechanical intervention) for an autogyro.

The 72hp McCulloch engine could be tilted, downward, providing slipstream that windmilled the small 4-blade rotor, which in turn rotated the main rotor. Take off time/distance reduced...


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## HoHun (Apr 19, 2008)

Hi Célérité,

>The German pilot instructor interviewed remarks that it was a suicide.

Hm, I thought "Himmelsfahrtskommando" was translated as "mission suicide" in the French commentary, but that's not really the literal meaning of the German term.

It's more like "Les Enfants Perdus" from what I gather from Forlorn hope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)


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## Célérité (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi Henning

I think that "forlorn hope" is nearly synonym to "mission suicide". The difference would be that in "forlorne hope" there is a little hope to survive.

I'm not very good in English.

Regards


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## HoHun (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi Célérité,

>I think that "forlorn hope" is nearly synonym to "mission suicide". The difference would be that in "forlorne hope" there is a little hope to survive.

Roger, that bit of hope is still there in the German "Himmelfahrtskommando", too. ("Les Enfants Perdus" is probably an outdated term in modern French then?)

I have to admit that I can understand a few words of French and couldn't follow the translation of the German guy's interview, so my point on the pilot being lost is really from other sources and not from the French clip. 

Did he give more details on the dangers of the Bachstelze? 

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)


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## wilbur1 (Apr 20, 2008)

Matt308 said:


> Think autogyro, Wilbur.



DUH! shoulda pulled my head out and remembered that


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## Célérité (Apr 20, 2008)

HoHun said:


> Did he give more details on the dangers of the Bachstelze?



He said that it was delicate to pilot this, it was dangerous for the pilot and the submarine. During the flight the pilote depended to the U-boat, and the U-boat couldn't plunged. That's why it was been little used.
Even if they could have put and disassembled the bergeronette in 7 minutes. (7+7)


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## Jan7 (Jan 25, 2009)

A technical article in http://www.u-historia.com > Técnica > Artículos Técnicos > *La Giro Cometa*




Jan.


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