Wallis Pag3 1966 - 0901

520 FUGHT International, 31 March 1966
s i.ooo THROTTLE FULLY

IN THE AIR . . .
7O°
Beset by a powerful impression of precariousness, heightened LEVEL

by the unfamiliar buffeting, the ab inito pilot is nevertheless 3O 4O 5O 6O 70 8O
subconsciously relaxed—though there is no question of releas- INDICATED AIR SPEED(kt).
ing the grip of iron on the throbbing joystick. The airfield per- CLOSED
formance is more STOL than that of any aeroplane, but only I.OOO
in a very strong wind does it approach the VTOL capability Id
of a helicopter. Almost as important to autogyro practicality u
as the patented Wallis offset gymbal rotor head is the neat IA
ui
spin-up mechanism that has been developed and patented by a
2,000
the company.
The McCulloch two-stroke engine is hand swung; getting Wallis WA-116 climb and descent performance against speed f
going can be a one-man operation. Giving the warmed-up various power settings. The curves were deduced from flight trials of
the prototype G-ARRT, and were conducted at about 1,000ft at medium
engine a few bursts of throttle to clear any plug oiling, the weight, and in rough air
throttle is returned to the idle position prior to beginning a
gradual upwards pull on the spin-up-drive control lever, the
rotor blades having previously been set in motion with a few
hand pushes. The planet gear drive at the rotor head engages,
the rubber wheel starts to bite on the engine drum, and the flight; there was barely any disturbance on a day when it might
airframe shudders gently as the rotor gathers speed with con- have been bumpy in an ultra-light aeroplane. The vibration
tinued movement of the engage lever. Spin-up drive fully en- level was also extremely low; very clear photographs have been
gaged, the throttle is slowly opened to bring the rotor up to 280 taken with cameras bolted to the airframe—an important
r.p.m. for a normal take-off. Above 200 r.p.m. the joystick re- factor for the kind of operations envisaged.
taining catch is released and the control is pulled back; The WA-116 has been successfully flown in cloud as has
approaching 280 r.p.m. the autogyro may slide a little on its been demonstrated during several high-altitude flights—on one
locked wheels as engine torque eases the foot pressure on one occasion to over 10,000ft.
side. At 280 rotor r.p.m., with the stick hard back, the hand- At high speed in level flight the nose tucks well down and
brake is knocked off and the autogyro leaps forward as the the pilot is pressed hard against the backrest by the slipstream
throttle is pushed fully open—automatically disengaging the —rotor speed is highest in this condition, around 450 r.p.m.
spin-up-drive control. On concrete, unstick appears to occur in- To reach the back of the low-speed drag curve, power is
stantaneously (actually in a mere 25yd, even in still air), but on initially reduced (to avoid climbing) and then, past the hump,
grass there is more time to concentrate on the optimum hand- the pilot must restore engine thrust to stay level; a fair propor-
ling and to ease the stick forward so as to balance the aircraft tion of the gross weight is then supported by thrust, and rotor
on the main wheels for an ideal lift-off (this can take up to speed drops to perhaps 380 r.p.m. with the nose high in the air
70yd in still air on long grass). and forward view limited. The WA-116 will fly level at around
Nothing like full power is needed to achieve a spec- lOkt on full power. With power off at that speed descent rate is
tacular climb gradient; the variation between the nose-up over 3,000ft /min—a signal for caution. There may be some
attitude at low-speed and the nose well down at high speed difficulty in learning the autogyro's low-speed characteristics
is quite marked, and beginners tend to fly fairly fast. Forty with the limited instrumentation fitted (sensitive a.s.i., altimeter
knots is a good speed to do circuits since the rate-of-climb and a wool-tuft drift indicator) and in the absence of outside
potential is best, and, in the event of engine failure, rate of visual reference at a safe height. There is no chance of re
descent is a minimum. Only a whiff of throttle is needed for starting a stopped engine in flight, although there is no problem
level flight at 40kt. to a deadstick handling but, of course, the flare must be pre-
Directionally, the WA-116 is very sensitive to the lightest toe cise and is complicated by the approach angles involved—much
pressure on the rudder pedals; power variations, too, start things steeper than for most light fixed-wing aircraft. Normal touch-
swinging, together with a rolling twitch from torque reaction downs from a power-on approach at 40kt are perfectly simple
if the throttle is blipped on the approach. Pitch control forces —just keep the aircraft level and the ground cushion will do
immediately feel right although roll is, not surprisingly, on the the rest, as Wg Cdr Wallis has demonstrated during countless
heavy side—especially to the right. The aircraft seemed hands-off landings. Night landings can be performed with a
promisingly stable during a few daring moments of hands-off minimum of ground lighting. NEIL HARRISON
Wallis autogyro f
18th-century Reymerston
heart of Norfolk

Wallis Pag3 1966 - 0901

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520 FUGHT International, 31 March 1966

s i.ooo THROTTLE FULLY

Beset by a powerful impression of precariousness, heightened LEVEL

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