M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
DAVIDSON Gyropter biplane 1908-1911 (Davidson's Gyropter Flying Machine Ltd. Amerden Bank, Taplow, Berkshire)
Davidson returned to Britain to build his next machine named 'Gyropter', which he entered for the Daily Mail prize of ?10,000, for a flight from London to Manchester. The first plans were for a machine weighing four tons, carrying twelve passengers, which would do the flight in three hours. The machine was shown in model form at Olympia in 1911, and was a biplane with three pairs of wings in tandem with lifting fans, as on the previous machine, fitted at the center pair. The fuselage was again a double-decker, with a 'beak' nose rudder, and tail surfaces. The two steam engines in the fuselage drove the lifters through shafts and bevel gearing. By June 1910 the wooden structure was well advanced, but funds were short, so Davidson issued a new company prospectus. By February 1911 both lifters and one engine had been installed. Further funds were required and a new brochure now gave a weight of seven tons, a lifting power of ten tons, twenty passengers and speed in excess of 100 mph. The finance was not forthcoming and the project faded away.
Power: Two 60hp Stanley steam engines driving two 26ft 10in diameter 'lifters'.
Data
Span 76ft
Length 66ft
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Davidson Gyropter
The Davidson Gyropter was designed by G. L. O. Davidson and was under construction at Amerden Bank, Taplow, Berks., during 1911. Two 26 ft. 10 ins. diameter rotors were mounted between the biplane wings and rotated in opposite directions. They were driven by two 50 h.p. Stanley steam engines, the empty weight of the machine being 15,600 lb.
