Etienne Oehmichen
Encyclopedia
Étienne Oehmichen was a French engineer and helicopter designer.
He studied at École Centrale Paris. His first successful flight with a helicopter took place on 18 February, 1921. On 11 November, 1922, he first flew 'Oehmichen No.2', an improved helicopter featuring small vertically mounted rotors which rotated in the opposite direction from the large lifting rotors, creating probably the first reliable flying helicopter capable of carrying a person. This work later led to the development of the tail rotor
. On 14 April 1923, he broke the existing record for helicopter flight with a flight of 358 m. On 4 May 1924 he won a prize of 10,000 French Francs for the first successful helicopter flight following a circular trajectory with a length of approximately one km and landing in the same place, a flight which took approximately 7 minutes and 40 seconds. In 1931 Oehmichen invented and tested a type of blimp he called the Helicosta, controlled by four movable propellers, which could hover, take off, and land without ground crew.
Oehmichen was also a biologist and dealt with the principle function of insect wings, especially dragonflies. He worked at the Collège de France in Paris for 30 years until his retirement.
He studied at École Centrale Paris. His first successful flight with a helicopter took place on 18 February, 1921. On 11 November, 1922, he first flew 'Oehmichen No.2', an improved helicopter featuring small vertically mounted rotors which rotated in the opposite direction from the large lifting rotors, creating probably the first reliable flying helicopter capable of carrying a person. This work later led to the development of the tail rotor
Tail rotor
The tail rotor, or anti-torque rotor, is a smaller rotor mounted so that it rotates vertically or near-vertically at the end of the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter. The tail rotor's position and distance from the center of gravity allow it to develop thrust in the same direction as...
. On 14 April 1923, he broke the existing record for helicopter flight with a flight of 358 m. On 4 May 1924 he won a prize of 10,000 French Francs for the first successful helicopter flight following a circular trajectory with a length of approximately one km and landing in the same place, a flight which took approximately 7 minutes and 40 seconds. In 1931 Oehmichen invented and tested a type of blimp he called the Helicosta, controlled by four movable propellers, which could hover, take off, and land without ground crew.
Publications
His writing and photographs contained observations of the bird and insect flight.- In 1920, Nos maîtres les oiseaux, étude sur le vol animal et la récupération de l'énergie dans les fluides, Dunod. (Our masters, the birds, a study on animal flight and recovering energy in fluids)
- In 1938, Il publie chez Hermann et Cie, Editeur des Actualités Scientifiques et Industrielles (584), Mécanismes naturels et Technique Humaine, Exposés publiés sous sa direction "La sécurité Aérienne Animaux et Machines" La fin du livre est illustrée de l'appareil n°1.
- Un fond d'archives est déposé au Collège de FranceCollège de FranceThe Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
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