AEROPLANE ARCHIVE
A highly cultured man as well as a brilliant, natural engineer, rotorcraft pioneer Raoul Hafner was fascinating to work with
Ben Dunnell explores The Aeroplane’s outstanding archives to cast new light on past stories
Without Raoul Hafner, the British rotorcraft industry would have been much the poorer. Born in Austria during 1905, he came to Britain in the 1930s, and never looked back. His Hafner Nagler R.I and R.II Revoplane helicopter designs, developed collaboratively with Bruno Nagler and flown in Austria in 1929 and 1931 respectively, were the first steps. Relocating off ered new opportunities, the R.II being brought to Heston aerodrome near London, whereupon Hafner set up on his own. Now his focus, for the time being at least, was on the autogyro.
The result was 1935’s AR.III Gyroplane. Reporting on a demonstration at Hanworth, The Aeroplane’s 17 February 1937 edition was fulsome in its praise. “There was certainly a 20mph wind blowing at the time”, it reported, “but the rapidity with which the machine left the ground, and its subsequent steep climb, impressed most favourably all of us who were watching”. Arthur Clouston was at the controls of the …
