I think my dad might have seen this helicopter as a kid when he was in school. My dad was born in 1919, so I think this is quite possible concerning period. Back then he said he saw a plain with spinning wings. The other kids thought my dad had made it up. I'm just not sure if they flew this helicopter near the very south of the Netherlands though, it seems far away from Berlin?
Heli, 04.03.2011 19:43
On YouTube you can see a nice video which shows Zaschka's first helicopter trial in 1927. A contraption which looks like a rudimentary helicopter is wheeled past the camera:
Name of the video: "Early German Helicopter 1927"
Zaschka helicopter, 30.10.2010 13:41
Zaschka Helicopter (Berlin, Germany 1927 / 1928)
"His [Engelbert Zaschka’s] plane, the first helicopter, which ever worked so successfully in miniature, not only rises and descends verticially, but is able to remain stationary at any height. German airplane experts assert that such a flight as that of Captain [Charles] Lindbergh's from New York to Paris would not even be a feat for Zaschka's plane when it was perfected. […] Herr Zaschka is fully aware that the perfection of his invention will be the greatest forward step in aviation since the Wright brothers made their historical hop. As he pointed out, the danger of flying would immediately be decreased by at least 80 per cent, since four fifths of the accidents in flying occur either in the takeoff or in landing. […] A motor giving thirty to forty horsepower is installed in Zaschka's present experimental machine. It is so delicately adjusted that he has been able to keep the plane at a height of several feet above the ground, with no movement either up or down."
Source: German Plane Promises New Stunts in Air, The Bee. Danville, Virginia, USA, June 25, 1927, p. 16.
jayson b.endaya, e-mail, 04.03.2010 18:26
where can I GET SOME impormations about the general characteristics of zaschka helicopter such as crew, capacity, lenght, rotor diameter,height,disc area,empty weight,max takeoff weight, and powerplant and also i like to know the performance such as maximum speed, range,service ceiling and rate of climb..tnx i hope you will send to me the answer as soon as possible thank you..GOD bless
Zaschka helicopter, 22.02.2009 18:15
In 1927 Engelbert Zaschka of Berlin built a helicopter, equipped with two rotors, in which a gyroscope was used to increase stability and serves as an energy accumulator for a gliding flight to make a landing. Gliding in this case means a straight descent. He wanted to develop an efficient propeller drive. A swivelling propeller at the rear provided propulsion and rudder control. The machine was a combination of an autogyro and a helicopter.
