The Fairey Rotodyne was a 1950s British compound gyroplane designed and built by Fairey Aviation and intended for commercial and military uses. A development of the earlier Gyrodyne, which had established a world helicopter speed record, the Rotodyne featured a tipjetpowered rotor that burned a mixture of fuel and compressed air bled from two wingmounted Napier Eland turboprops. The rotor was driven for vertical takeoffs, landings and hovering, as well as lowspeed translational flight and autorotated during cruise flight with all engine power applied to two propellers.

Aircraft Type: Fairey Rotodyne
Period: 1950's