The Wallis WA-116 autogyro, known as "Little Nellie", was a helicopter that 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.

Wallis Autogyros Ltd (Great Britain)

This small company was founded in 1961 by Wing-Commander K.H. Wallis and has produced an extremely wide range of special-purpose autogyros.

Wallis WA-116/122

Wing-Commander K. Wallis flew his first autogyro in August 1961. 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 is due to be certificated in 1984.

G.Apostolo "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters", 1984

The Wallis WA-116 Agile was a British single-seater ultra-light autogyro first flown in 1962, and subsequently seen in a James Bond film. The Wallis WA-116 Agile was powered by a McCulloch Model 4318A four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine providing a top speed of 185km/h and a range of 225km.

WALLIS WA-117

The Wallis WA-117 was a British single-seater ultra-light autogyro developed during the mid-1960's as an advanced version of the Wallis WA-116, powered with a 100hp Rolls-Royce/Continental O-200-B flat-four engine.

WALLIS WA-118

The Wallis WA-118 Meteorite was a British single-seater research autogyro first flown in 1966. The Wallis WA-118 was powered by a Meteor Alfa I super-charged four-cylinder radial air-cooled two-stroke engine providing a top speed in excess of 320km/h.

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- The aircraft achieved the greatest fame was 'Little Nelly' in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

- For its starring 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.

- A version built in conjunction with Vinten was designed for aerial photography.

- The WA-116 uses 27.5 metres of runway during its take-off run.

- The Wallis WA-122 can be transported in a container thanks to its folding rotors and landing gear legs.

- The prototype WA-116 was flown by Wallis for the first time on 2 August 1961.

- The WA-119 Imp was powered by an engine from the Hillman Imp motor car.