Post by Maria Elena (Elena) Rodriguez Hernandez

🎂🍸 Happy birthday Mr. de la Cierva✨: Juan de la Cierva (Codorniu) was born 126 years ago on a September 21th. Mr. de la Cierva was a Spanish #aeronautical  #engineer  who invented the #autogiro (1923), a predecessor to the #helicopter. Its rotor, mounted on a mast, was not powered but provided lift by auto-rotation. Power was provided by a forward-mounted engine and a conventional propeller. Flight was controlled by elevators, a rudder, and usually ailerons, though some roll control could be achieved by adjusting the tilt of the rotor head. Unlike the later helicopters, it could not take off vertically nor hover though it could takeoff and land in a much shorter distance, it could. However, if an autogiro lost power, it could spin safely back down to earth like a maple seed. He died in a fixed-wing plane accident. #knowledgesharing #knowledgethatmatters #basiclearning #engineering