The Aircraft So Strange No One Understood It (Yet It Changed Everything)

A crowd swarms within the towering walls of Deutschlandhalle, one of Nazi Germany's largest stadiums. The grand arena is alive with the hum of voices, flashes of camera bulbs, and the murmurs of excited conversations. The Berlin International Motor Show is in full swing, and right now, all eyes are drawn to the heart of the stadium, where a strange machine, one like nothing anyone has seen before, awaits its big moment.
Hanna Reitsch, Germany's most daring female pilot, stands beside the aircraft. Foreign reporters and photographers, huddled near the sidelines, furrow their brows in skepticism, their cameras at the ready. The machine before them looks peculiar, with its twin rotors mounted on angular steel outriggers, an unlikely contender to make aviation history.

Reitsch climbs into the cockpit, a compact frame of metal and fabric with primitive controls. The crowd hushes as the rotors begin to spin, their metallic blades carving the air with rhythmic precision. Slowly, at first, the dual rotors gain momentum. Lights glint off the spinning blades.
Then, almost imperceptibly, the wheels lift off the ground. Reitsch's eyes remain focused, hands steady as she nudges the throttle. The machine responds. It hovers effortlessly, floating just above the floor in one perfect vertical motion.

The year is 1938, and Germany has just introduced the first fully functional helicopter to the world.

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[EdwardKelly-visg]

...NOTHING TO SEE ON THIS CHANNEL BUT AWSOMENESS AND A GREAT HISTORY LESSON...👍💯❤️ IT..!

[keithweiss]

Those early helicopter pilots were very skilled! Every controls had an effect on other controls. No electronic assistance were on them.

[PhantomLover]

Spin both rotors 90° on its axis and you got the front and rear tandems used by the chinook and the sea knight along with the banana series that vertol made

[ChristianConservativ]

Didn't you forget someone? Namely Igor Sikorsky, the father of helicopter design and implementation. In 1939, Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the single main rotor and a single antitorque tail rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky modified the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942.

[mikecarbone]

Apparently, no one at the time, considered the FW-61 aircraft useful for crop dusting, which it almost seems as if it was specifically designed for, which the larger aircraft FA-223 would also have been useful for, in addition to it’s many other uses.
Thanks for sharing!
Please have an excellent and awesome day!

[ridethecurve]

And then, a devolution occured in the US Army, culminating with the design and production of the CH-21 Shawnee, often nicknamed "The Flying Banana". This was the epitome of the concept of 'Design by Committee'. It's a miracle we ever recovered and went on to produce the Apache Attack Helicopter.

[rodrigorincongarcia]

I find hard to believe Focke was encouraged to stablish a new company (one whose main, or more likely, only customer would be the german military) if he was kicked out of the first for being pollitically unreliable. Kicking him out because some big government boss disagreed with the way his company was run sounds more like it.

[robertmatch]

This was a significant development, but was more a demonstration concept. It required extremely long drive shafts delivering power through multiple angles which meant the pilot had to control power very carefully.

[ronaldjohnson]

Thanks for the history update. I admit my hearing is bad, but the voice volume is too low to hear adequately.

[AndrewLuppnow-ij]

The moon program, the helicopter and more. For people most of whom bristle at the mere mention of Nazis, Americans sure owe the Nazis a lot.

[MilesJones-lf]

Looks like a primitive version of the osprey. Way cool.

[mithunreddy]

Can you make a video on the HF-24 Marut?

[AcroAirwolf]

Great video, only matching scenes. That´s how it should be. Also interesting to see the US designs. I hope you keep this quality for the future.

[patolt]

Well this helicopter was not the first as suggested0. Just for clarification: the French Bréguet Dorand helicopter, propelled the two contra-rotating, coaxial rotors, was built in 1933! After ground tests and an accident, the first flight took place on 26 June 1935, one year prior to the FW61. Within a short time the pilot, Maurice Claisse, was setting records with the aircraft :
- 14 December 1935: Closed-circuit flight with 500 m diameters
- 26 September 1936: Height of 158 m
- 24 November 1936: Flight duration of 1:02:50 hours over a 44 km closed circuit at 44.7 km/h
- Maximum speed 120 km/h
Anyway this helicopter and its accomplishments were indeed soon overshadowed by the German Fw 61since its development was abandoned with the outbreak of World War II.
Later on the FA223 was indeed the 1st "operational" helicopter in the world, so to speak, showing amazing performances.
Just to be precise ... Regards

[crawford]

Fully auto rotation landings depending solely on on the airflow through the rotors had been happening since 1921! The autogiro as they were called when introduced by its inventor Juan de la Cierva.

[jofus]

What spun the heli rotors? If the engine was off (mentioned at one point while landing), then how do the rotors spin? Can’t be electric, not that far back, not for air flight. Not seeing an obvious drive shaft either. Maybe one tucked in near the frame.

[Jack-xozp]

It would have been nice if you could have explained how power was transferred to the rotors. It appears that there are drive shafts going to the rotors, but that's not clear.

[jamesbrown]

Deemed “Politically Unstable”. No wonder Germany lost. Of course it was a matter of time with the Austrian corporal in charge.

[davidrivero]

This has prob been an H.Himmler production. Rotary wings were never the same . TY, for the facisnating video.

[jamesragus]

Complimentary algorithm enhancement comment for the New Year!😊