| Gluhareff EMG-300 1953 |  |
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| Gluhareff EMG-300 1953 | |
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Eugene M. Gluhareff was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1916 immigrating to the United States with his family via Finland in the early 1920's. An Aeronautical Engineer graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, he is a very well known jet engine and helicopter designer and inventor. His extensive experience was acquired over many years of association with leading companies in the fields of design, research and development. He has been a part of helicopter development since its beginning in 1940 with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut as a primary design engineer and project engineer. He worked directly under Mr. Igor I. Sikorsky and Mr. Igor A. Sikorsky, Chief of Aerodynamics. It was there he invented and developed the Pulse Jet Engine, a one-man single bladed jet helicopter which he test flew himself and also a Delta Wing Convertiplane for the United States Airforce. In 1950 he moved to California and joined the American Helicopter Company in Manhattan Beach as a project engineer on a pulse jet powered helicopter (Top Sergeant). He was promoted to Chief of Preliminary Design and there designed the XH-26 One-Man-Jet Helicopter for the U.S.A.F.. Following this term with American Helicopter, he worked with Rotorcraft Corporation in Glendale, California as Design Engineer and was engaged in the redesign of a rocket powered one-man-helicopter for the U.S. Navy. It was during this time that Mr. Gluhareff pioneered the use of liquid propane as a fuel for jet engines and a series of ultra-light portable one-man-helicopters, MEG-1X, MEG-2X and MEG-3X which were designed and built by his own company, Gluhareff Helicopters Corporation. All of which were powered by the G8-2 Pressure Jet Engine on the blade tip and test flown by himself. In the early sixties, he was employed by the U.S. Navy at the Naval Ordinance Test Station in China Lake, California as an Aerospace Engineer FS-14 and Project Engineer on Rotary Drones. In 1964 he joined the Douglas Aricraft Company, Missile and Space Division as Design Engineer Scientist on the S-4 stage of the Saturn Rocket used on NASA's Apollo Project. During this time he participated in the launching of four Saturns. Later he worked at McDonnel Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California as a Senior Design Engineer in Advanced System for Special Projects researching and testing rocket engines. There he became a specialist in the design of rocket stabilization systems for ejection seats and capsules. In 1972 Mr. Gluhareff returned to research and design under his own company name of EMG Engineering in Gardena, California. There he continued his work on the G8-2 Pressure Jet Engines which ranged from five pounds of thrust to 700 pounds of thrust. To further promote the study of aerodynamics and jet propulsion, Mr. Gluhareff designed and placed in universities throughout the country the Gluhareff GTS-15 Teaching Stand. He also had the G8-2 Pressure Jet Engine displayed as a working exhibit in the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles. The G8-2 Jet Engine had the honor of gracing the cover of Mechanics Illustrated in May of 1973 and again in January 1975 in the Jet Powered Go-Kart. Mr. Gluhareff designed, built and tested his own one-man tip jet helicopter, the EMG-300 in the early 90's. Its successful test flight marked the realization of Mr. Gluhareff's lifelong dream to design what he called a "Flying Motorcycle". He had several patents issued and applied for, for his inventions. Some of which are the G8-2 Jet, Valveless Pulse Jet, Portable and One-Man Helicopters, Flying Platform, Rotorcar, Convertiplane, Rocket Stabilization Unit and others.
Designed in the early 1990s the EMG-300 is a homebuilt design with a very professional pedigree. Its builder, Eugene M Gluhareff had a long career of helicopter, jet, and rocket development. He first worked for Sikorsky Aircraft in the 1940s on helicopter design, later he worked for the American Helicopter Company on the design for a rotor-tip pulsejet powered helicopter for the U.S. military. He later joined the Douglas Aircraft Company and worked on several rocket projects including the Saturn rocket for the Apollo program. Along the way he invented the pressure jet engine that powers the EMG-300. This engine uses propane for fuel and contains no moving parts. In the 1970s he started his own company to continue development of the pressure jet and vehicles to make use of it. His main interest was the use of the jets for rotor-tip jet powered helicopters including several backpack helicopter designs, and the EMG-300. Other uses have included powered hang gliders and even a go-kart. The EMG-300 was his last design before his death in 1994, it had completed an initial series of test flights, but was not completely tested at the time of his death.
Inventor of the G8-2 Pressure Jet Engine, Eugene M. Gluhareff, designed, built, and tested this one-man tip jet helicopter in the early '90s. Its successful test-flight marked the realization of Mr. Gluhareff's lifelong dream to design what he called a "flying motorcycle." Eugene M. Gluhareff is shown in the photo standing by the first-generation prototype around the time of its first test flight.
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