Believed to be the first rotary-winged aircraft ever patented (US patent #1,028,781), the Purvis-Wilson Helicopter of 1910 was powered by two 7hp motors. A single seater with three-bicycle-wheeled cart with a 24′ vertical shaft for two rotors, funds ran out before their creation flew outside of a brief, tethered test-hop in its barnlike workshop.
Reports claimed it later flew, untethered and piloted by Purvis, momentarily in a show for investors, then crashed and flailed itself to pieces as Purvis ran from it.
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