FLIGHT-TESTING FAIREY ROTODYNE
The Rotodyne wasn’t looking its best when it made its maiden flight because some of the engine panels had been removed to aid cooling. The aircraft was in a bare metal finish devoid of markings, apart from the military serial number XE521. It never received a civilian registration.
In the course of the ground test programme the retractable undercarriage had been replaced by a fixed and braced unit limited to 4in (10cm) of travel. This was to eliminate the risk of ground resonance while a new unit with revised dampers was designed and manufactured, this flying during 1958. To increase airframe stiffness the impressive tail assembly was removed and temporarily replaced by a metal strut running from the top of the rotor pylon to the aircraft’s tail.
The first untethered flight on 6 November 1957, plus two others that day, were completed in helicopter mode. It had originally been planned to keep within the ground cushion during these early sorties but a circuit of White Waltham well above cushion height was made on the same day as well.
As flight testing proceeded the wind tunnel test data was, in general, confirmed. The first phase was conducted with tip-jets lit and at alti…
