A Wilford Gyroplane looks like an Autogiro but differs in that its rotor blades are controllable from the cockpit, and rigid save for a feathering motion. The idea behind this craft was a scheme for feathering the pitch of the blades rotating round the hub instead of the blade flapping system which La Cierva employed in his original autogyros. Burke Wilford’s first gyroplane, #X794W, flew in Pennsylania on August 5, 1931 piloted by Frank P. Brown. Wings were later removed and the ship made hundreds of successful flights before its crash in 1935, killing pilot Joseph McCormick.
He built a second, winged, version (shown here) in 1934, for USN and NACA tests, from a Fleet N2Y-1 fuselage and tail group as Pennsylvania XOZ-1 (8602).
Details from Aero Digest, April, 1935:
Pennsylvania Aircraft Syndicate, Ltd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• President: E. Burke Wilford. Chief Engineer: Elliott Daland.
Two-place open gyroplane. Kinner R-5 engine, 155 horsepower at 1975 revolutions per minute. Span of fixed wing 27 feet 4 inches. Rotor diameter 32 feet. Length overall 21 feet 4 inches. Height overall 10 feet. Tread 67.5 inches. Wing area 110 square feet. Chord 55 inches. Rotor disc area 804 square feet. Rotor blade area 68.3 square feet. Power loading 12.8 pounds per horsepower. Wing loading 18 pounds per square foot. Rotor disc loading 2.47 pounds per square foot.
Empty weight 1455 pounds. Useful load 530 pounds. Gross weight 1985 pounds. Fuel capacity 16 gallons. Oil capacity 3 gallons.
Maximum speed 107 miles per hour. Cruising speed 90 miles per hour. Landing speed 30 miles per hour. Cruising range 148 miles.
Fuselage: welded chrome molybdenum steel tubing, fabric covered; tandem seating arrangement. Wing: wood spars, dural ribs, fabric covered; strut-braced to fuselage; blades of rotor restrained at hub both in horizontal and vertical planes and are free to twist, or feather, only; opposite blades of the four-bladed rotor are connected rigidly together, so that as the angle of attack on one side increases, that on the opposite side decreases; blade angles controlled laterally and longitudinally by motion of control stick which also controls ailerons and elevators. Tail group: steel tubing, fabric covered; wire braced to bottom fuselage longerons. Fixed type landing gear equipped with 7.50 X 10 Goodrich tires, Autofan wheels and brakes, Fleet shock absorbers. Norma-Hoffmann and SKF bearings for rotor and plane controls.
This is primarily a training and utility gyro and can be equipped with Edo twin floats.
Instruments: engine tachometer, rotor tachometer, altimeter, air speed indicator, oil pressure gauge, oil temperature gauge. Also see data in February, 1932, and February, 1935, AERO DIGEST.