Engines – Power

Wallis WA-116

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The prototype single-seater WA-116 ultra-light autogyro was flown by Wallis for the first time on 2 August 1961. The Wallis WA-116 Agile was first flown in 1962, and subsequently seen in a James Bond film.

The Wallis WA-116 autogyro, known as “Little Nellie”, could lift twice its own weight, fly 210km/h and rapidly climb to 4100m – even though it weighed 110kg. This aircraft could take off in 30 yards of space at a minimum speed of approximately 20km/h.

The autogyro was flown by James Bond in a movie featuring the flying exploits of agent 007.

The aircraft achieved fame as ‘Little Nelly’ in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. For its role, ‘Little Nelly’ was armed with dummy air-to-air missiles, 44mm rockets, rearward-firing ‘flame-throwers’ and two machine-guns. As well as the Bond movie, a Wallis design also appeared in and was used as a camera ship in The Martian Chronicles.

After building nine single-seaters, construction of a two-seat variant — the WA-116T — was begun in 1969; he then tested a four-blade rotor and finally produced the WA-116F with which he won the closed circuit world record in 1974 in the 670.26km category.

Wallis autogyros have been powered by various types of engines, within the range 72 to 160hp (the latter is used in the two-seat Wallis WA-122) and have been employed for research programmes, including one promoted by Sperry Radar.

In 1983 development of a production version, powered by a Weslake engine, was under way in association with Vinten Ltd. Intended primarily for para-military use, including policing and survey work, the definitive aircraft was to be certificated in 1984.

The original WA-116 appeared in various guises, including four Beagle-built military prototypes and a two-seater. Holds Class E3/E3a records for height 15,220 ft (4,639 m) and speed 111.225mph (179kmh). A version built in conjunction with Vinten was designed for aerial photography.

World records for autogyros were set, subject to confirmation, on 5 August 1988 by Kenneth Wallis, flying a WA-116/F/S autogyro G-BLIK powered by a 60 hp Franklin 2A-120-B. Taking off at a weight of 728 lb / 331 kg, the autogyro completed a closed-circuit flight of 623 mls / 1002.75 km in 7 hr 39 min 59 sec. The speed over 311.1 mls / 500 km was 83.3 mph / 134.04 kph and over 621 mls / 1000 km, 81.3 mph / 130..30 kph.

WA-116 Agile
Engine: McCulloch Model 4318A
Top speed: 185km/h
Range: 225km
Seats: 1

WA-116 E-3a
Engine: 1 x Franklin 2A-120A, 44.2kW
Main rotor diameter: 6.2m
Max take-off weight: 317.5kg
Max speed: 161km/h
Max range: 1207km
Max endurance: 6h 25min
Seats: 1

WA-116T
Seats: 2

Wallbro Monoplane

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All-British aeroplane constructed by brothers Percy Valentine & Horace Samuel Wallis in the shed at the rear of their parents’ house in Cambridge with ‘offices’ of the Wallbro Aeroplane Co. in their bedroom overlooking the rear garden. By May 1910, it was complete and was put on display to the public. On July 4, 1910, the brothers made their first tentative ‘hop’ near Abington, where the machine had been brought to be housed. A complete and detailed description of the craft can be found in the Thursday, May 12, 1910 edition of the Cambridge Daily News.

The brothers were strong believers in the strength of steel tubing. The fuselage used mainly one-inch diameter tube of 20 gauge, arranged on the girder principle, strongly braced with steel wire. The cross tubing were double bolted onto steel lugs similar to those used in motor cycle construction. The wire stays were attached to eyebolts passing through these lugs. Tightening of the wires was accomplished by means of bronze tensioning screws, which have right and left-hand screw threads. These ideas together with a multitude of others succeeded in producing a machine, which was both light and very strong. The fuselage was twenty-five feet long with a wing span of thirty feet. The undercarriage was also of tubular design but used heavier gauge tubing.