CLOUT helicopter (George Clout, Durrington, near Worthing, Sussex)

   This machine, for which patent application No.13 075/1903 was made, was offered to the War Office, presumably for observation purposes and was abandoned after lack of interest.
   The fuselage was a tubular structure with a circular wooden frame on top at the front. On this were mounted the motor, triangular wings and two large fanlike propellers, the whole being free to rotate on the mounting ring. Control was by altering the balance of the car and by the use of 'the steering tail'. The frame of the fuselage could be 'enveloped in descent, converting it into a 13 ft diameter parachute' in an emergency. The photograph shows a scale model built of oak, bamboo and steel tube.

   Power: 3.75hp
   Data
   Rotating wings 30ft diameter
   Propellers 10ft diameter
   Weight 350 lb
   Aircraft Annual 1968 (p45) &1970 (p623)