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Show Department Air Commerce Interested In Development Of Safe, Inexpensive Craft As a further step in its program to bring about the development of airplanes particularly suited for private flying, the bureau of air commerce of the department of commerce has awarded a contract to the Autogiro company of America, of Willow Grove, Pa., for one two-place cabin autogiro having hav-ing several new features which, if their application proves successful, should appeal to the prospective private owner, Eugene L. Vidal, director of air commerce, says. "One of the greatest handicaps to the material expansion of private pri-vate flying", John H. Geisse, chief of the aeronautics development section of the bureau, explained, "is the difficulty of getting to and from the airport, which, in most cases, are inaccessible. One of the principal features of the rotor plane type has always been its ability to land and take off from small areas. Fields more accessible accessi-ble than the airports but not suitable suit-able for the operation of most airplanes air-planes can, in many cases, be used satisfactorily by the rotor plane; but the lack of transportation and airplane housing facilities at such (Continued on last page.) Safe, Inexpensive Craft Are Favored , i (Continued from first page.) I field is, of course, still more pronounced pro-nounced than at the established airports. "In an effort to overcome this obstacle, the autogiro being purchased pur-chased will be designated for operation on the highways after it has made its landing or prior to its take off. This will be accomplished by providing rotor wings which can be readily folded back over the fuselage, a clutch between the engine en-gine and propeller so that the propeller pro-peller may be disconnected from the engine and a power drive from the engine to the wheels so that the rotor plane becomes practically an automobile for ground operation. opera-tion. It should therefore be quite possible to house this rotor plane at home and drive it to the nearest suitable field for take off, or land on a field near one's point of destination desti-nation and then proceed thereto over the highway. "The engine will be placed back I of the pilot and passenger to af-! ford the greatest of comfort and ; the rotor will be of the direct con-1 trol type, which obviates the need : of any fixed wings. The passenger and pilot will sit side by side and the space available will be equal j to that provided in the average coupe. The plane will be powered J with an 85 h. p. engine. "In addition to the unusual features fea-tures already mentioned, the design de-sign will take into consideration the addition, possibly before the completion of the contract, of the newly developed 'jump-off facilities. facil-ities. This development is expected ex-pected to make possible vertical ascent up to some predetermined height such as possibly 25 feet, and will therefore still further reduce re-duce the requirements of a field suitable for take off as obstructions obstruc-tions around the field such as trees or buildings could be readily surmounted." sur-mounted." Mr. Geisse stated that the autogiro auto-giro will be delivered to he bureau of air commerce in the late summer sum-mer of this year. |