Cierva W.9

Cierva Autogiro Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1945 · helicopter

The Cierva W.9 was a British experimental helicopter of the 1940s with a three-blade tilting-hub controlled main rotor and torque compensation by a jet of air discharged from the rear port side of the fuselage.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	1 × piston, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	No tail rotor: air jetted out of the rear port side of the fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Three-blade tilting-hub main rotor
No tail rotor: air jetted out of the rear port side of the fuselage
Long hollow tailboom carrying fan air and engine exhaust

A helicopter with no tail rotor: a variable-pitch fan cooled the engine, and the heated air and exhaust passed through the long hollow tailboom and exhausted to port, with foot pedals controlling the fan pitch.

Specifications

The Cierva W.9 has a length of 11.28 m (37 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.97 m (36 ft).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

In 1943 G & J Weir Ltd revived the Cierva Autogiro Company to develop an experimental helicopter to Air Ministry Specification E.16/43. The W.9 was completed late in 1944 but was damaged during ground running and did not start test flying until 1945.

Variants

Parts of the W.9 rotor hub were later used in the W.14 Skeeter prototype, which entered production as the Saunders-Roe Skeeter.

Where you'll see it

It was first shown publicly at an air display in Southampton on 22 June 1946 and at the SBAC Airshow at Radlett that year, but was destroyed in an accident in 1946 and the project was abandoned.

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