Cierva C.19

Avro 620

C.19 Mk.III

Cierva developed progressively more sophisticated designs with a means to tilt the rotor head and altering the pitch (angle) of each individual rotor blade, called collective and cyclic control.
The Mk.III had a modified tail and rudder assembly to enable steep tail wheel first touchdowns.
Making use of Pitcairn's prerotator, achieved a "jump takeoff" capacity with the C19MkIV in 1931-32 The rotor would be spun up at zero pitch and then "snapped" into a positive angle, causing the aircraft to "jump" into air.
Focke-Achgelis, the German aircraft company, became licensed by Cierva to manufacture his patented components. For a number of years before the outbreak of World War II, Focke-Achgelis produced the C-19 Autogyro, and they drew heavily from the knowledge and experience gained from Cierva's design to rapidly advance the development of their FA-61 helicopter.

Cierva licensed production to Avro as the Avro 620.

C.19 Mk.III

The Cierva C.30A marked a major step forward in rotorcraft development, being the first production autogiro in which the engine was geared directly to drive the rotor blades for take-off. The degree of direct control was increased still further by having the control column, which acted directly on the rotor, suspended from the pylon so that the rotor head could be tilted in any direction to produce the manoeuvre desired. The new-style control system was first installed in G-ABXP, a Cierva C.19 designated Mk.V with a 100hp Genet Major I engine. This was basically a C.19 Mk.IV modified to have a clutch and transmission shaft, a tilting rotor head and (later) a small, fixed tailplane.

Gallery

C-19 Mk.III
Seats: 2