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HISTORIC HELICOPTERS


BY BRAD MCNALLY PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY HISTORY COMMITTEE


In the 1930s, a German engineer


by the name of Heinrich Focke designed and built a cutting edge hel- icopter more practical and capable than anything previously developed. This helicopter, the Fw 61, would shatter the existing helicopter world records and help set the standards of performance and control by which future helicopters would be meas- ured. Ultimately, Focke’s ability to continue on with helicopter develop- ment was interrupted by World War II and its aftermath; however the Fw 61 was one of the crowning achieve- ments of 1930s rotary-wing develop- ment in Europe. Professor Heinrich Focke gradu-


ated from the Hannover Technical High School in 1920. In 1924, Focke, along with Georg Wulf and Werner Naumann, formed Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG. Focke-Wulf,


this company would


become one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Germany prior to and during World War II. Georg Wulf would not play a


major role in the company as he died in a 1927 airplane accident. Professor Focke became interested in rotary- wing flight after Focke-Wulf was licensed to build Cierva Autogyros. Although it is unclear how many Autogyros were actually produced in Germany, it is known that Heinrich Focke became increasingly deter- mined to design a helicopter. In a strange turn of events largely


influenced by politics, Focke was eventually forced out of his own com- pany by the Board of Directors. Hitler had come to power and the German military was expanding. Heinrich Focke opposed Focke-Wulf mass producing fixed-wing aircraft for the Luftwaffe, which made him


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