| Aer Lualdi | |
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HW100 - 45000
UAW55 - 105000 RRW100 - 175000 PKRR - 7500 |
Aer Lualdi Aer Lualdi & C SpA Industry - Aviation Founded - 1953; 69 years ago (Rome, Italy) Founder - Carlo Lualdi Defunct - 1964 Products - Helicopter Aer Lualdi & C SpA was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. The company produced several prototypes. History Aer Lualdi was founded in Rome in 1953 by Carlo Lualdi, who had purchased a license to produce a Hiller-designed rotor system (the Hiller "Rotor-Matic") and thereby became the Italian agent for Hiller Helicopters. Carlo Lualdi had previously used this rotor system in his experimental Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53, which featured a rotor design based on Hiller with a controllable transverse secondary rotor and first flew at Compoformido in 1953. With his new company Lualdi now built a succession of more powerful helicopters incorporating the Rotor-Matic system with a gyro stabilizer of his own design. The first helicopter following the ES 53 was the L.55, an all-metal prototype which was followed by the L.57 and culminated in the four-seat L.59 which was selected for production by Macchi. One full prototype was built, and the commercial type certificate issued in August 1961. Air Lualdi never went into full production and closed down in 1964, after the L.59 was cancelled. Aer Lualdi aircraft - Aer Lualdi L.55 - Aer Lualdi L.57 - Aer Lualdi L.59 - Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53 Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53 ES 53 Role - Single-seat light helicopter National origin - Italy Manufacturer - Aer Lualdi Designer - Carlo Lualdi and Sergio Tassotti First flight - September 1953 Number built - 1 Variants - Aer Lualdi L.55 The Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53 was an Italian experimental helicopter designed by Carlo Lualdi around a Hiller-designed rotor system and a gyro stabiliser of his own design. It first flew at Campoformido in September 1953. The helicopter was powered by a single 63.4 kW (85 hp) Continental C85 engine and proved so promising that Lualdi purchased a licence to produce the Hiller rotor system in Italy, and formed a new company, Aer Lualdi to develop and market his designs as the Aer Lualdi L.55. Specifications Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters General characteristics Crew: 1 Length: 6.55 m (21 ft 6 in) Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) Empty weight: 400 kg (882 lb) Gross weight: 850 kg (1,874 lb) Powerplant: 1 × Continental C85 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 63 kW (85 hp) Main rotor diameter: 2 × 7.32 m (24 ft 0 in) Performance Maximum speed: 110 km/h (68 mph, 59 kn) Range: 250 km (160 mi, 130 nmi) Service ceiling: 2,000 m (6,600 ft) Aer Lualdi L.55 L.55 Role - Light helicopter National origin - Italy Manufacturer - Aer Lualdi Designer - Carlo Lualdi Number built - 1 The Aer Lualdi L.55 was a prototype Italian helicopter, a development of the Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53 featuring a far more powerful 134 kW (180 hp) Lycoming O-360. While the ES 53 had been purely experimental, the L.55 was Lualdi's first step towards a marketable aircraft. Specifications (L.55) Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59 General characteristics Crew: 1 Capacity: 3 pax Length: 11 m (36 ft 1 in) Height: 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) Empty weight: 600 kg (1,323 lb) Gross weight: 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) Fuel capacity: 140 l (37.0 US gal; 30.8 imp gal) with provision for a 27 l (7.1 US gal; 5.9 imp gal) auxiliary Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-360 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 130 kW (180 hp) with cooling fan Main rotor diameter: 10 m (32 ft 10 in) Main rotor area: 355.4 m2 (3,825 sq ft) Blade section: - root: NACA 0015; tip: NACA 0012 Performance Maximum speed: 155 km/h (96 mph, 84 kn) Cruise speed: 129 km/h (80 mph, 70 kn) at 75% power Range: 350 km (220 mi, 190 nmi) Endurance: 3 hours Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,000 ft) absolute Hover ceiling IGE: 2,800 m (9,186 ft) Rate of climb: 5 m/s (980 ft/min) at sea level Disk loading: 9.75 kg/m2 (2.00 lb/sq ft) Aer Lualdi L.57 L.57 Role - Single-seat light helicopter National origin - Italy Manufacturer - Aer Lualdi Designer - Carlo Lualdi and Sergio Tassotti Number built - 1 Developed from - Aer Lualdi L.55 Variants - Aer Lualdi L.59 The Aer Lualdi L.57 was a prototype Italian helicopter, a further refinement of Lualdi's ES 53 and L.55 designs. The aircraft featured a larger main rotor than its predecessors, a fibreglass tail rotor, and an autopilot. Aer Lualdi L.59 L.59 Role - Light general-purpose helicopter Manufacturer - Aer Lualdi Number built - 2 The Aer Lualdi L.59 was an Italian helicopter that failed to reach quantity production. Design The L.59 was the culmination of work done by Carlo Lualdi throughout the 1950s, and was an enlarged version of his earlier two-seat designs. The L.59 featured four seats accommodated in an extensively glazed cabin. Of conventional pod-and-boom design with skid landing gear, the aircraft had the slightly unusual feature of having its engine mounted in the nose, turning the main rotor by a long driveshaft that reached through the cabin. Production and operation Lualdi was able to interest Macchi in the design and two Macchi-built prototypes began flight tests in 1960. Civil certification was achieved in August the following year. Although faultless, the performance of the L.59 was not comparable with that of other helicopters on the market at the time. Macchi planned an initial production batch of 50 machines, but only a single example was sold - one of the prototypes was purchased by the Italian Army for evaluation purposes. No order resulted. The prototype was exhibited at the 1963 Paris Air Show, but again, no orders were obtained for the type. Surviving aircraft An Aer Lualdi L.59 wearing the Italian military serial MM576 is preserved in the Centro Polifunziale Ferruccio Lamborghini at Dosso near Ferrara. Specifications (L.59) Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961-62 General characteristics Crew: 1 Capacity: 3 passengers Length: 9.08 m (29 ft 9 in) Height: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in) Empty weight: 740 kg (1,631 lb) Gross weight: 1,200 kg (2,646 lb) Powerplant: 1 × Continental IO-470-D air-cooled flat-six, 190 kW (260 hp) Main rotor diameter: 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in) Main rotor area: 88.2 m2 (949 sq ft) Performance Maximum speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn) Cruise speed: 139 km/h (86 mph, 75 kn) Endurance: 3.5 hr Service ceiling: 5,900 m (19,400 ft) Rate of climb: 4.2 m/s (820 ft/min) |