On
January 9, 1923, after four
years of experimentation, Juan de la Cierva, (1895-1936), the self-taught
Spanish aeronautical engineer developed the articulated rotor, to his invention
of the autogiro, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a
stable rotary-wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype. The first autogiro flight
was piloted by Alejandro Gomez Spencer at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Madrid, Spain.
Juan de la Cierva’s invention of the autogiro in
1920, a single-rotor type of aircraft in which lift is provided by a freely
rotating rotor served as the forerunner of the helicopter. This technical breakthrough was necessary for the
successful development of the helicopter, which ironically, replaced the autogiro around the time of World War II.
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