AVRO ROTA C.30A

Cierva C.30 (other designation: Avro Rota / Cierva C.30) is a gyroplane (autogyro) designed in Spain and licensed, among others, in Great Britain, France and Germany from the interwar period. The flight of the first prototype took place in April 1933. Production - including license production - started shortly after, and around 150 aircraft of this type were built. The machine was 6 meters long, with a main rotor diameter of 11.28 meters. The drive - in the British version - was provided by a single Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major IA engine with a capacity of 140 HP. The maximum speed was up to 177 km / h. The Cierva C.30 gyroplane was developed by the Spanish inventor and aviation constructor Juan de la Cierva, who in some way relied on his previous Cierva C.19 design. The two machines differed mainly in size and the fact that the C30 model had no wings at all. Nevertheless, the overall design and aerodynamic assumptions were similar. After the successful flight of the Cierva C.30, its licensed production was quickly launched - mainly in Great Britain, which was produced by Avro plants. It is worth adding that the license was also sold to Japan, on the basis of which the Kayaba Ka-1 gyroplane was built.