Raúl Pateras Pescara

Raúl Pateras Pescara de Castelluccio (1890 – 1966), marquis of Pateras-Pescara, was an engineer and inventor from Argentina who specialized in automobiles, helicopters and free-piston engines.

Pescara is credited for being one of the first people to successfully utilize cyclic pitch, as well as pioneering the use of autorotation for the safe landing of a damaged helicopter. Pescara also set a world record (at the time) in 1924 for achieving a speed of 8 miles (13 km) per hour in a helicopter.

Pescara was born in Buenos Aires and at the beginning of the 20th century, his family left Argentina to return to Europe.

In 1911, using a workshop that Pescara was involved with, Gustave Eiffel tested a scale model (1:20) of a seaplane (monoplane design) named the Pateras Pescara, designed by Pescara and Italian engineer Alessandro Guidoni, in a wind tunnel. In 1912, the Italian Ministry of the Navy commissioned Guidoni to build a torpedo bomber based on the Pescara model; but following tests in 1914, Guidoni was unable to create a successful design.

From 1919, Pescara built several coaxial helicopters and submitted numerous patents across several countries. He first tested his machine indoors in 1921, before moving to Paris, France, where government funding was available. His "No. 3" design had two contra-rotating "screws", with each screw having four blades, and each blade a biplane wing with wing warping for control.

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