AIR04002-8 - Airfix 1/72 Fairey Rotodyne - WWWEB10109221

AIR04002-8 - Airfix 1/72 Fairey Rotodyne - WWWEB10109221

Preowned, Original seal, Mint

The Fairey Rotodyne was a 1950s British compound gyroplane built by Fairey Aviation, intended as a city-center VTOL airliner that could lift off vertically from a downtown heliport and then cruise on two wing-mounted Napier Eland turboprops. Its rotor was driven by tip-jets (compressed air bled from the engines, mixed with fuel and burned at the blade tips) for vertical flight and hover, then autorotated in cruise with all power going to the propellers. The single prototype, XE521, first flew on 6 November 1957 and performed well in trials, but the programme was cancelled in 1962 after the punishing tip-jet noise and a lack of commercial orders, compounded by Fairey's absorption into Westland.

Box contents:

• Injection-moulded plastic parts for the Rotodyne, including the four-blade rotor and twin turboprop nacelles
• Clear parts for cockpit and cabin glazing
• Decal sheet for the prototype XE521 in Fairey house colours
• Printed assembly instructions
• Glue and paint not included; assembly required