Ken Wallis Autogyro Pioneer Dies At 97

First time accepted submitter gb7djk writes "Wing Commander Ken Wallis the developer and promoter of small autogyros died peacefully today 4th September, aged 97, at his home in Norfolk. Ken is mainly remembered for 'Little Nellie', the tooled up autogyro that took on some helicopters in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. He made the breakthrough discovery of the offset rotor head that made autogyros stable as well as many other aviation inventions. More info here and a video of him flying one of his creations (at the age of 95)."

Comments

And this was before safety

[houstonbofh]

I love the video of a 95 year old man hand cranking a prop with no safety guard. Rash behavior like that will kill you before you reach 100, I bet!

Re:And this was before safety

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet the real story is that he died peacefully in his sleep -- behind the stick of his autogyro, as it crashed into his house at 80kph.

Re:And this was before safety

[milkmage]

Yeager, Chuck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager

On October 14, 2012 on the 65th anniversary of breaking the sound barrier, Yeager did it again in a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, out of Nellis Air Force Base at the age of 89

he's old and bold. how many 89 year olds break Mach? and he was a test pilot for 30 years after he retired officially.

"The Right Stuff" is right.

Re:And this was before safety

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got a great-great-grandfather who founded a pharmaceutical company. And there are stories of how he would brew up the growth media for the pathogens to make his vaccines at home on the kitchen stove. Fast forward to the present and I've been spending the last few months trying to sort through all kinds of bureacracy and regulations to get some exome sequencing for a newphew with a genetic condition. One one hand, even just the fact that I can send a DNA saliva sample halfway around the world overnight would be mindblowing in my great-great-grandfather's day. But on the other hand, I doubt he had to spend days and days figuring out the relevant rules and regulations and forms and bureaucracy to actually be allowed to do something as simple as sending a a few mL of saliva through the mail.

I have the sense that we are increasingly living in a society where the limitations and obstacles we face are bureaucratic rather than technical.

Re:And this was before safety

[bill_mcgonigle]

No helmet, no goggles - just undiluted awesome. He's like a character out of a Miyazaki film.

A great man...

[PhantomHarlock]

...without which we would not have the Bruce Spence character in The Road Warrior!

Oblig

[Cryacin]

Yes, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by aero mail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?

Good Memories

[TrueSatan]

I knew Ken when I worked at Weslake Developments in Rye, East Sussex, an engineering R&D company that designed and tested engines for the UK automotive and aviation industries (I was the firm's Costing Engineer at the time); he was one of the directors of the firm. He was always a calm and reasonable voice in often head debates over the future of the company. His accomplishments gave him a platform that got people to listen but it was his warmth and understanding, both of technical issues and the people involved, that made him so respected and such an asset to the company. His flair for the dramatic was never far away...he'd journey from Lydd Airport (principally owned by Richard Branson who knew Ken well) piloting a skeletal Autogyro, of his own design and that he had built, landing it in a field behind the business park where Weslake Developments was housed. I've many happy memories from that time and value them greatly...I'll surely miss him.

Re:Autogyros

[mmell]

"...old-school tech..."

Yeah - because all of the new tech just sprang into existence via parthenogenesis, right? None of it has its roots in old school tech, after all. Then again, I can see where you wouldn't be impressed with a heavier-than-air flying machine that can transport a person significant distances at reasonably high speeds, or the kind of man who could invent one. I think, however, you will be in something of a minority around here.

Luddite.

Re:Autogyros

[Bitsy Boffin]

Modern Gyros are are anything but "old-school tech"...

Arrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5qhOsCUNX0
Calidus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AptB9l-ajSA
Cavalon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS2ibF-eWTo
Magni M24: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlaumLGZk50#t=1m30
...list goes on...

Re:Autogyros

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't find it, but I once saw a graph showing efficiency for autogyros, planes, and helicopters. Planes are tremendously more efficient than autogyros for distance. I can't remember exactly how helicopters faired--based on speed, distance, etc--but in any event autogyros can't hover so they're not replacements for helicopters.

Basically, autogyros don't really fit into modern commercial needs. All the super sophisticated models are hybrids, but that makes them complex, and thus their utility is debatable.

There are niches where autogyros make sense, but they're not commercially viable niches. Anybody working on a commercial autogyro is burning money.

Little Nellie!

[CohibaVancouver]

Tanaka: I have much curiosity, Bond-san. What is Little Nellie?
OO7: Oh, she's a wonderful girl. Very small, quite fast. Can do anything. Just your type.
Tanaka: A toy helicopter?
Q: No, it's certainly not a toy! You'll see. We've made one or two improvements since you used her last. I'll give you the drill.
Tanaka: This can only be for children! Don't use it, Bond-san. Take my helicopter instead!
Q: Right. Now pay attention, OO7. Two machine guns, fixed.
OO7: Synchronized to what?
Q: 100 yards. We're using incendiaraies and high explosives. Two rocket launchers, forward-firing on either side.
OO7: Fine.
Q: Now, these fire heat-seeking air-to-air missiles. 60 a minute.
OO7: Good.
Q: Flame guns. Two of 'em. Firing astern.
OO7: What range?
Q: 80 yards. Two smoke ejectors next door to them. Aerial mines. Now remember, use them only when directly above target. That's about the lot, I think. You know the rest, don't you?
OO7: Yes.
Q: Cine camera.
OO7: Tanaka, listen in on 410 megacycles.
Tanaka: Good luck, Bond-san.
OO7: I'll contact you when I get over the island.
Tanaka: Okay.
Aki: Be careful, Bond-san!

Discovered?

[Forthan Red]

The article says he made the "discovery of the offset rotor head". Was it lying in a field somewhere, and he tripped over it? Perhaps it was discovered growing on a tree in the Amazon Jungle? Or maybe the author is shortchanging Mr. Wallis by failing to use the correct word, "invented". Sadly, his invention not only made him no money, since he could not profit from patenting it (as he was in the RAF at the time, and any patent would belong to the crown), it doesn't even bare his name.

Re:Autogyros

[Skywings]

but in any event autogyros can't hover so they're not replacements for helicopters.

While it can't hover like a helicopter you can get it to fly really slowly into a really strong headwind (as with all other planes). It's almost like as if you're hovering.

Re:More autogyros being used

[Misagon]

... and in Bob Kane's original Batman comics, first printed in Detective Comics #31 in 1939, Batman did not use a "batplate" or a "batcopter". He used a "batgyro". The first "batarang" was introduced in the same panel.