Transcendental Model 1-G
| Model 1-G | |
|---|---|
| Role | Experimental tiltrotor aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Transcendental Aircraft Corporation |
| First flight | July 6, 1954 (first free flight) |
| Status | Prototype |
| Number built | 1 |
The Transcendental Model 1-G was an experimental American tiltrotor prototype of the 1950s. It was a single-seat aircraft powered by a single piston engine, and was the first tiltrotor to fly. A single example was built, which was destroyed in a crash in 1955.
The Transcendental Aircraft Company was founded in January 1947 at New Castle, Delaware by Mario Guerrieri and Bob Lichten, two employees of Kellet Aircraft, to develop the Model 1-G, on which they had begun design work in 1945. Their design was a small cantilever monoplane powered by a single 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming O-290-A air-cooled flat-four engine positioned in the fuselage that drove two 3-blade rotors at the tips of the wings via a two-speed reduction gearbox. Two 1⁄6 hp (0.12 kW) electric motors were used to tilt the rotors, with the rotors linked by a shaft running through the wing to ensure that both rotors would be tilted at the same angle. A steel tube forward fuselage carried the single pilot, engine and gearbox, with the open cockpit positioned forward of the engine and gearbox. An aluminum alloy monocoque tail boom carried the aircraft's tail surfaces. A fixed tricycle landing gear was fitted.
The aircraft's rotors were controlled with cyclic and collective controls as used by a helicopter, for use in helicopter mode, while conventional ailerons, elevators and a rudder were fitted to the aircraft's wings and tail to control the aircraft in airplane mode.
Development was slow owing to a shortage of funds, with the prototype sufficiently complete to allow testing on a ground test rig in 1951, although it was badly damaged later that year when the rotors disintegrated on the test bed during the first run at full revolutions. A series of contracts from the United States Air Force (USAF) allowed development to continue, and for the Model 1-G to be rebuilt into a form suitable for flight testing.
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