Wallis WA-116 Agile
| WA-116 Agile | |
|---|---|
| |
| Little Nellie, pictured with its creator Ken Wallis in the cockpit. | |
| Role | Single-seat autogyro |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Wallis Autogyros Limited |
| Designer | Ken Wallis |
| First flight | 2 August 1961 |
| Number built | 10+ |
The Wallis WA-116 Agile is a British
The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire
in the UK.
Design and development
Wing Commander
RAF pilot, developed a number of improvements to the autogyro design, including the offset gimbal rotor head which gives the autogyro hands-off stability.[1] Wallis' first prototype autogyro, registered G-ARRT, was first flown on 2 August 1961.[2]
Operational history
In 1962, five WA-116s were built by
Shoreham, three of which were for evaluation by the British Army Air Corps. Wallis flew one of these aircraft, XR942, at that year's Farnborough Air Show.[2]
In 1966, one of the Beagle-built WA-116s, registered G-ARZB, was modified for use in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.[3] Little Nellie was named after legendary music hall performer Nellie Wallace.[4]
Few Wallis autogyros have been operated privately, with nearly all of them being used for research and demonstration flying by Wallis himself.Farnborough Air Show.[5]
Operators
Variants
- WA-116 Agile
- Prototype autogyro powered by a Wallis-McCulloch 4318A engine.[2][6]
- WA-116-T
- Two-seat variant, one built.[2]
- WA-117 Venom
- Variant powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200-B engine.[2]
- WA-118 Meteorite
- Variant powered by a 120 hp (89 kW) Wallis-modified Meteor Alfa supercharged two-stroke engine.[7]
- WA-119
- Variant powered by a 40 hp water-cooled 990 cc Hillman Imp engine.[2]
- WA-121
- Streamlined variant for high-altitude research with a Wallis-McCulloch 4318A engine; a single WA-121 was built in 1972.[2]
Specifications (WA-116)
Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919 – Volume 3,[2] Flight 31 March 1966 : The Wallis Autogyros[8]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 11 ft (3.4 m)
- Empty weight: 255 lb (116 kg)
- Gross weight: 550 lb (249 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 58 lb (26.3 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Wallis-McCulloch 4318A 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 72 hp (54 kW)
- Main rotor diameter: 20 ft 4 in (6.20 m)
- Main rotor area: 324.8 sq ft (30.17 m2)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch pusher propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 87 kn (100 mph, 161 km/h)
- Range: 209 nmi (241 mi, 387 km)
- Endurance: 2 hours 27 minutes
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- Time to altitude: 1,000 ft (305 m) in 56 seconds
- Power/mass: 0.1307 hp/lb (0.2149 kW/kg)
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
Notes
- ^ "The Wallis Autogyros." Flight. 31 March 1966. p. 515.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jackson (1974). p. 329.
- ^ a b Apostolo (1984). p. 101.
- ^ "Focus Of The Week: Little Nellie". James Bond 007. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 19511". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Note, the McCulloch 4318A is a four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed two-stroke engine originally intended for limited-life drone applications.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "THE WALLIS AUTOGYROS". Flight International. 89 (2977): 515–520. 31 March 1966.
Bibliography
- Apostolo, Giorgio (1984). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters. New York: Bonanza Books. ISBN 0-517-439352.
- Jackson, Aubrey J. (1988). British civil aircraft, 1919-1972 Volume III (2nd., repr. with corrections ed.). London: Putnam. p. 329. ISBN 0851778186.