flying military truck by the british?

[GrantR]

http://www.groenbros.com/history.php

See this about mid page:

Almost no one remembers the obscure British Armed Forces Experimental Establishment Malcolm Rotaplane or Rotabuggy, a modified Willys 1/4 ton "four-by-four" military truck with a seesaw "teetering" rotor and attached aircraft control surfaces. Perhaps the most ungainly flying craft ever, it was towed successfully to 1,700 ft. And even less well-known was "Project Skywards", a parallel wartime attempt in Australia to develop a flying jeep ("Fleep").

[Hognose]

It was designed by an Austrian exile, Raoul Hafner. Hafner's Rotachute (another of his designs) was one of the concepts that inspired Igor Bensen.

The jeep version was never stable enough to fly free, that's why it only did towed flights. There was a plan to actually attach a huge rotor to a tank, but it didn't get far beyond the "napkin" stage.

Rotachute
Rotachute (http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=Hafner%20Rotac hute&distinct_entry=true) in a museum (click the pic to enlarge)

Pictures of a 1/72nd Scale plastic model (http://www.angelfire.com/al4/themagnus/pictures/Rotachute.html) (loads slow as dirt)

Overall History with some photos
http://www.unrealaircraft.com/qbranch/rotachute.php

Rotachute (http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/hafner_rotachute.php) on Avia.Russian.ee

Rotabuggy
Fiddler's Green card model (http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Flying-Jeep/fly-jeep.php) available

Rotabuggy (http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/hafner_rotabuggy.php) on Avia.Russian.ee

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TVilGERRAo) of a surviving Rotabuggy and Rotachute in a museum in UK

It was a bit of a dead end. The 46 foot teetering rotor made about 230-260 RPM, and first gliders, and later helicopters, made carrying aircraft easy.

cheers

-=K=-