whoa! Crazy idea overload! The WW1 French aircraft, Gyropter prototype

The Gyropter was designed in France from 1911-1914 by Alphonse Papin and Didier Rouilly. Their monocopter was based on the sycamore seed; a single blade extends from the seed to spin the seed and slow its decent as it falls. Though unsuccessful, the machine was the first air-jet helicopter.

The engine, turning at 1,200 rpm, drove a fan that produced an output of just over 250 cu ft (7 cu m) of air per second. The air, along with the engine’s hot exhaust for thermal expansion, was directed through the length of the blade and exited the blade’s tip through a nozzle on the trailing edge at 330 ft/s (100 m/s). This jet of air would turn the blade, and the gyroscopic force of the motor would lift the blade into a positive angle of attack.

Full story at http://oldmachinepress.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/papin-rouilly-gyroptere-gyropter/  found on https://www.facebook.com/marc.tudeau?fref=nf

For many more images, and information http://www.laboiteverte.fr/gyroptere/