Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri / Focke Achgelis Fa 223 / German Helicopters!?

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ZakTheBuilder1
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Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri / Focke Achgelis Fa 223 / German Helicopters!?

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The Flettner Fl 282 "Kolibri" was a helicopter in service with Germany during World War II.

The Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri ("Hummingbird") is a single-seat intermeshing rotor helicopter, or synchropter, produced by Anton Flettner of Germany. According to Yves Le Bec, the Flettner Fl 282 was the world's first series production helicopter.

ALL OUT DEVELOPMENT
The Fl 282 Kolibri was an improved version of the Flettner Fl 265 announced in July 1940, which pioneered the same intermeshing rotor configuration that the Kolibri used. It had a 7.7 litre displacement, seven-cylinder Siemens-Halske Sh 14 radial engine of 150-160 hp mounted in the center of the fuselage, with a transmission mounted on the front of the engine from which a drive shaft ran to an upper gearbox, which then split the power to a pair of opposite-rotation drive shafts to turn the rotors.[2]

The Sh 14 engine was a venerable, tried-and-true design with low specific power output and low power/weight ratio (20.28 hp/L, 0.54 hp/lb, which could (anecdotally) run for up to 400 hours without major servicing, as opposed to the more powerful 27 litre displacement, nine-cylinder BMW/Bramo Fafnir 750 hp radial engine powering the larger Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter, whose higher output (27.78 hp/L, 0.62 hp/lb), more modern design required moderate maintenance as often as every 25 hours (such as changing spark plugs, etc., well within the norm for modern radial engines of that era). While such a heavy and low-powered engine would work well in a very small craft like the Fi 282, to try and scale it up and use an engine of equivalent power/weight ratio in the 700-1000 hp class would result in a massive and heavy engine leaving little excess capacity for cargo or passengers. 750 hp was the lowest rating that the Fafnir was available in - indeed, it was a low-power, low maintenance design compared with many other engines of this era. The Fl 282's fuselage was constructed from steel tube covered with doped fabric, and it was fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage.

The German Navy was impressed with the Kolibri and wanted to evaluate it for submarine spotting duties, ordering an initial 15 examples, to be followed by 30 production models. Flight testing of the first two prototypes was carried out through 1941, including repeated takeoffs and landings from a pad mounted on the German cruiser Köln.

The first two "A" series prototypes had enclosed cockpits; all subsequent examples had open cockpits and were designated "B" series.

In case of an engine failure, the switch from helicopter to autorotation was automatic.[3][4]

Three-bladed rotors were installed on a test bed and found smoother than the vibrating 2-blade rotor, but the concept was not pursued further.[4] The hover efficiency ("Figure of Merit") was 0.72[5] whereas for modern helicopters it is around 60%.[6]

Focke Achgelis Fa 223

The Focke Achgelis Fa 223 Drache (Kite) was a transport helicopter used by Germany during World War II.

DESCRIPTION
The Fa 223 had a crew of four men and was powered by an air-cooled Bramo 323D engine capable of propelling the Fa 223 at speeds of up to 176 km/h with a cruising speed of 121 km/h. [N 1]The Fa 223 also had two rotors with three rotor blades each. Since the Fa 223 was only a transport helicopter, its armament consisted solely of an MG 15 mounted in its nose.[1][2]The rotor diameter of the Fa 223 was 12 meters while the total length of the aircraft was 12.2 meters. The total weight was about 4,300 kg fully loaded and about 3,100 kg unloaded. The rotors were placed on two supports that were mounted on each side of the main fuselage.

The maximum range of the aircraft was about 700 km while the service ceiling was 4,800 meters.[3] The Fa 223 had good reliability and had surprisingly good statistics for its time.

HISTORY
The Fa 223 began life as the Fa 266 Hornisse (Hornet), an enlarged six seat development of the Focke Achgelis Fa 61 intended for service with Deutsche Lufthansa. Completed in late 1939 (as the Fa 266), the type underwent 100 hours of ground running and tethered hovering tests. The designation was changed to Fa 223 before the first free (untethered) flight in August 1940.

LINKS
https://world-war-2.wikia.org/wiki/Fock ... lis_Fa_223
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flettner_Fl_282

ROLE IN GAME
the one seater helicopter will most likely be weaponized, and the four seater a transport helicopter
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