68 Miracles Ahead! 



built by George de Bothezat, the Russian-born inventor who 

 built the world's first successful man-carrying helicopter, in 

 1922, for the United States Army. 



De Bothezat's all-metal ship, the GB-5, has twin rotors 

 which turn in opposite directions. They are placed one above 

 the other with the motor between them. The coaxial rotors 

 overcome the tendency of the body of the plane to spin and 

 no tail rotor is required for steering or counteracting torque. 



The controls determine the plane's direction and attitude 

 of flight in the same manner as do those of the Sikorsky- 

 designed helicopter. The advantage of the De Bothezat craft 

 lies in its greater lifting power, which, understandably, in- 

 creases with the number of lifting surfaces. There appears to 

 be no reason why the De Bothezat helicopter cannot be made 

 to travel as fast as any conventional airplane of equal capacity. 

 It is reasonable to suppose that multirotored ships, incorpo- 

 rating the De Bothezat design, can be built to carry three hun- 

 dred passengers at a speed of three hundred and fifty miles 

 per hour. 



The Helicab 



William B. Stout, director of research for Consolidated 

 Vultee, has designed three distinct types of aircraft for post- 

 war civilian use, among them his "Helicab" of helicopter 

 design. This flying flivver will be about twenty-five feet long, 

 six feet wide, and eight feet high. The rounded plastic nose 

 of the teardrop-shaped fuselage will enable the passengers 

 two to five to see out on all sides. Its one hundred and 

 twenty-five horsepower engine will be of conventional design 

 but lighter in weight. Torque will be counteracted by the 

 rotation of a vertically mounted propeller on the tail. As in 

 any other helicopter, direction of flight will be controlled by 

 adjusting the pitch of the main rotor. However, a simplified 



