Senor Juan de la Cierva had 'invented' this machine in Spain in the late nineteen twenties, but it was still in development when he was killed in a civil aviation accident at Croydon airport. At the time of the outbreak of the war it was an established Avro built machine for certain special applications, and indeed there were several private owners in this country. There were two versions. The C30 which required a 30 yard take-off and landing run had a loaded weight of 1400lbs. and flew at 100mph with a range of 280 miles. The C40 was a 'direct take-off' model which could make a ten foot hop into the air without any forward run, this being achieved by a temporary 'clutching in' of a drive to the the rotors from the main engine. It could also land without any run and had a speed of 120mph. The C40 had articulated rotor blades which were free to rise and fall as the rotor turned.

From 1934 these aircraft were manufactured in this country by Avro. Some were bought by the Air Ministry and they formed 1448 Flight at Duxford. The Air Ministry originally called the aircraft a 'Gyroplane' but by 1941 the official name had been changed to 'Rotaplane'.  1448 Flight became 529 Squadron in 1943 and operated from first Halton and then Henley on Thames. This squadron was exclusively used for radar calibration work.

The above picture came from the Powerhouse Museum site in Sydney but it seems to be that of a model. This next picture is from the author's copy of "The Royal Airforce in Pictures" by Major Oliver Stewart published in 1941 by Country Life Ltd.

Thankfully a small number of these aircraft still exist, the RAF Hendon Museum having on display K4232, a beautiful complete example, and another bearing the civilian registration G-ACUU is at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. Some other pictures are available at GyroPilot and at the Fantasy of Flight site whose museum in Florida has K4235 on display.