George de Bothezat
Encyclopedia
George de Bothezat was a Russian American
engineer, businessman and pioneer of helicopter
flight.
n landlords in 1882. After graduating school in Iași
and attending the University of Iaşi he enrolled at the Mechanical Department of Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute
in 1902. He attended the Electrotechnical Institute in Belgium between 1905 and 1907, graduated from Kharkiv Polytechnical in 1908, continued his graduate studies in the Göttingen and Berlin
and received his Ph.D.
from the University of Paris
for a study of aircraft stability
. In 1911, he joined the faculty of Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
and continued theoretical studies of flight along with Stephen Timoshenko
, Alexey Lebedev and Alexander Vanderfleet. His scientific interests gradually moved from general aerodynamic theory to applied studies of propellers
.
In 1914, Bothezat accepted the position of director at the Polytechnical Institute in Novocherkassk
, but the outbreak of World War I compelled him to return to Saint Petersburg and join the Technical Commission of the Imperial Russian Air Force
. In 1915, Bothezat published standard bombing tables for the Air Forces, and in 1916 he was appointed chief of the Main Airfield in Saint Petersburg – Russia's first flight research facility. He managed the design team of the DEKA aircraft plant in Saint Petersburg, and was credited with the design of a single-engined aircraft that was tested in 1917.
In May 1918, with his homeland in the throes of the Russian Revolution, Bothezat fled from the Bolsheviks to the United States, where he styled himself De Bothezat. In June 1918, he was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
. He lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and the Columbia University
.
In 1921 the US Army Air Service hired de Bothezat to build a prototype helicopter
. The quadrotor
machine, known simply as the de Bothezat helicopter
, was built by de Bothezat and Ivan Jerome in the hangars of Wright Field
near Dayton, Ohio
. The first flight turned out to be surprisingly successful for a machine that had been built without prototyping. In 1922, their "flying octopus" flew many times, although slowly and at low altitudes. In fact, its horizontal motion was induced by wind more than by the pilot's controls. The Army, now more interested in autogyro
s, cancelled the underperforming project.
De Bothezat returned to New York City and started his own business in making industrial fans, which was incorporated in 1926 as de Bothezat Impeller Company, Inc. The company's axial fans were installed on US Navy cruisers, but this was as far as de Bothezat would go in dealing with the government. He continued publishing essays on topics ranging from flight dynamics to economics of the Great Depression
. His 1936 book Back to Newton attacked Albert Einstein
's theory of relativity
and the whole world of contemporary academics "who are utterly unable to acquaint themselves with the subject". Einstein personally refuted de Bothezat's claim at a public lecture given by de Bothezat at Princeton on 15 June 1935. He worked for the film industry, designing mechanical special effect
s props for Dudley Murphy
's The Love of Sunya (1927).
De Bothezat returned to helicopters in 1938. His new company was incorporated as Air-Screw Research Syndicate and later renamed Helicopter Corporation of America. Boris Sergievsky, former test pilot of Sikorsky Aircraft
, became de Bothezat's partner and test pilot. De Bothezat's new helicopter was a coaxial design, with the engine mounted between two rotors. The first machine, SV-2, was built and tested on Roosevelt Field in 1938; after the tests de Bothezat and Sergievsky rebuilt it into a heavier SV-5. However de Bothezat, who was also designing a one-man "personal helicopter
" for infantrymen, died before the SV-5 could be properly tested. The new machine proved to be unstable and crashed; Sergievsky escaped unharmed.
Russian American
Russian Americans are primarily Americans who traces their ancestry to Russia. The definition can be applied to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to settlers of 19th century Russian settlements in northwestern America which includes today's California, Alaska and...
engineer, businessman and pioneer of helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
flight.
Biography
George Bothezat was born in a family of BessarabiaBessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n landlords in 1882. After graduating school in Iași
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
and attending the University of Iaşi he enrolled at the Mechanical Department of Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute
Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute
The Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute National Technical University , in the city of Kharkiv, is the largest and oldest technical university in eastern Ukraine...
in 1902. He attended the Electrotechnical Institute in Belgium between 1905 and 1907, graduated from Kharkiv Polytechnical in 1908, continued his graduate studies in the Göttingen and Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and received his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
for a study of aircraft stability
Flight dynamics
Flight dynamics is the science of air vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the vehicle's center of mass, known as pitch, roll and yaw .Aerospace engineers develop control systems for...
. In 1911, he joined the faculty of Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University is a major Russian technical university situated in Saint Petersburg. Previously it was known as the Peter the Great Polytechnical Institute and Kalinin Polytechnical Institute .-Imperial Russia:...
and continued theoretical studies of flight along with Stephen Timoshenko
Stephen Timoshenko
Stanford University:* Bergman, E. O., * Kurzweil, A. C., * , * Huang, Y. S., * Wang, T. K., * Weber, H. S., * , * , * , -Publications:...
, Alexey Lebedev and Alexander Vanderfleet. His scientific interests gradually moved from general aerodynamic theory to applied studies of propellers
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
.
In 1914, Bothezat accepted the position of director at the Polytechnical Institute in Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. Population: 169,039 ; 170,822 ; 178,000 ; 123,000 ; 81,000 ; 52,000 ....
, but the outbreak of World War I compelled him to return to Saint Petersburg and join the Technical Commission of the Imperial Russian Air Force
Imperial Russian Air Force
The Imperial Russian Air Force existed in the Russian Empire between 1910 and 1917....
. In 1915, Bothezat published standard bombing tables for the Air Forces, and in 1916 he was appointed chief of the Main Airfield in Saint Petersburg – Russia's first flight research facility. He managed the design team of the DEKA aircraft plant in Saint Petersburg, and was credited with the design of a single-engined aircraft that was tested in 1917.
In May 1918, with his homeland in the throes of the Russian Revolution, Bothezat fled from the Bolsheviks to the United States, where he styled himself De Bothezat. In June 1918, he was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
. He lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and the Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
In 1921 the US Army Air Service hired de Bothezat to build a prototype helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
. The quadrotor
Quadrotor
A quadrotor, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrocopter, is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by four rotors. Quadrotors are classified as rotorcraft, as opposed to fixed-wing aircraft, because their lift is derived from four rotors...
machine, known simply as the de Bothezat helicopter
De Bothezat helicopter
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Lambermont, Paul Marcel. Helicopters and autogyros of the world. London: Cassell, 1958....
, was built by de Bothezat and Ivan Jerome in the hangars of Wright Field
Wright Field
Wright Field was an airfield of the United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces near Riverside, Ohio. From 1927 to 1947 it was the research and development center for the Air Corps, and during World War II a flight test center....
near Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. The first flight turned out to be surprisingly successful for a machine that had been built without prototyping. In 1922, their "flying octopus" flew many times, although slowly and at low altitudes. In fact, its horizontal motion was induced by wind more than by the pilot's controls. The Army, now more interested in autogyro
Autogyro
An autogyro , also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust...
s, cancelled the underperforming project.
De Bothezat returned to New York City and started his own business in making industrial fans, which was incorporated in 1926 as de Bothezat Impeller Company, Inc. The company's axial fans were installed on US Navy cruisers, but this was as far as de Bothezat would go in dealing with the government. He continued publishing essays on topics ranging from flight dynamics to economics of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. His 1936 book Back to Newton attacked Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's theory of relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
and the whole world of contemporary academics "who are utterly unable to acquaint themselves with the subject". Einstein personally refuted de Bothezat's claim at a public lecture given by de Bothezat at Princeton on 15 June 1935. He worked for the film industry, designing mechanical special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s props for Dudley Murphy
Dudley Murphy
Dudley Murphy was an American film director. Murphy was born on July 10, 1897 in Winchester, Massachusetts...
's The Love of Sunya (1927).
De Bothezat returned to helicopters in 1938. His new company was incorporated as Air-Screw Research Syndicate and later renamed Helicopter Corporation of America. Boris Sergievsky, former test pilot of Sikorsky Aircraft
Sikorsky Aircraft
The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. Its parent company is United Technologies Corporation.-History:...
, became de Bothezat's partner and test pilot. De Bothezat's new helicopter was a coaxial design, with the engine mounted between two rotors. The first machine, SV-2, was built and tested on Roosevelt Field in 1938; after the tests de Bothezat and Sergievsky rebuilt it into a heavier SV-5. However de Bothezat, who was also designing a one-man "personal helicopter
Backpack helicopter
A backpack helicopter is a helicopter motor and rotor and controls assembly that can be strapped to a person's back, so that he can walk about on the ground wearing it, and can use it to fly. Its harness, like a parachute harness, should have a strap between the legs, so that the pilot does not...
" for infantrymen, died before the SV-5 could be properly tested. The new machine proved to be unstable and crashed; Sergievsky escaped unharmed.
Selected works
- The general theory of blade screws (1920). National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
- General theory of the steady motion of an airplane (1921). National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
- The Depression, Its Real Causes and the Remedy (1933). Economic Security League.
Further reading
- Sergievsky, Boris; Forsyth, Allan; Hochschield, Adam (1999). Airplanes, women, and song: memoirs of a fighter ace, test pilot, and adventurer. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0815605455.