From Autogiro to Gyroplane
From Autogiro to Gyroplane
Hofstra University, in cooperation with the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center, the Popular Rotorcraft Association (PRA), the Cradle of Aviation Museum, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum announce a conference entitled From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Past, Present and Future of an Aviation Industry to be held on the Hofstra campus during April 25 - 26, 2003. This will be the first ever university conference dealing with this forgotten but fascinating facet of aviation history and will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the first flight in Spain by Juan de la Cierva and the 75th anniversary of the first American flight by the aviation pioneer Harold F. Pitcairn.
Scheduled around three 1/2 sessions, the conference will address the past, present and future of this unique technology that took America and Europe by storm in the 1920s - 1930s and then all but disappeared with the coming of the helicopter. And yet it was an Autogiro that landed on the back lawn of the White House, flew over the construction of the George Washington Bridge and around the Statute of Liberty in 1931. And in the technology developed by de la Cierva, Pitcairn and others was the proving ground for the innovations that made the helicopter possible. But the technology of autorotation did not die - it survived in the form of the gyrocopter, the 'flying lawnchair' of Russian immigrant Dr. Igor Bensen in the 1950s and 1960s, only to re-emerge at the end of the 20th century in new forms and new market niches.
This conference will bring together for the first time the flying pioneers, innovative designers, historic figures and current international industry leaders to discuss the past, present and future of this unique and often overlooked aviation industry. In addition to industry figures and pioneers, the public will be invited to attend and scholars to submit papers. The Call for Papers will be issued March 1, 2002 and it is expected that the conference papers book, to be published by Greenwood Press, will be the most significant collection of scholarship dealing with the gyroplane (the generic term for Autogiro and gyrocopter) ever issued Committed speakers currently include, among others, Carl Gunther (Pitcairn Aviation Historian) speaking on "Rediscovering Harold Pitcairn"; Jay Groen (Groen Brothers Aviation) and Jay Carter (CarterCopters) speaking on the future of the industry; Jean Fourchade (France) speaking on safety and engineering; Martin Hollman speaking on both the development of the ultralight and on the future of gyroplane design; Jukka Tervamäk speaking on his work with Igor Bensen in 1958 and gyro design in Finland; Juan de la Cierva speaking on his uncle and comparing the lives of Juan de la Cierva and Harold Pitcairn.
Additionally there will be a significant museum exhibit on the Autogiro- Gyroplane during the months of April - May on the 9th Floor of the Hofstra Library including models of historic and modern gyroplanes that will then go to the Aviation Model Collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The conference director, Dr. Bruce Charnov, who is currently writing a book for Quorum Books tentatively entitled Gyroplane - the Amazing Survival of an Aviation Technology, is actively planning for flying demonstrations during the conference.