Flettner Fl 265 Experimental Helicopter (1939)
The German Kriegsmarine was interested in this Anton Flettner design concept for use in spotting enemy warships.
Flettner flew his first rotary wing-based aircraft in 1932 and continued to evolve his ideas through his burgeoning firm. His first helicopter design was a monster 2-bladed machine powered by a 30 horsepower Anzani engine driving a 100-foot diameter rotor - this aircraft was accordingly dubbed "Gigant". First flight was achieved with a successful take-off, although she was still tethered to the ground for safety's sake, but was soon lost when a gust of wind took her back down to earth. By 1935, Flettner had revealed his Fl 184 autogyro powered by a 150 horsepower Sh 14 radial piston engine. The German Navy, by this time, had already developed an interest in Flettner's devices and had asked for an evaluation of the Fl 184. Unfortunately for all involved, the Fl 184 was lost to an accident before the showcasing could ensue. The interesting Fl 185 followed next and first flew in 1936 with three rotors - the main rotor located centrally above the cockpit compartment and the smaller additional pair outboard on strut fixtures. From there, Flettner moved on to the idea of counter-rotating intermeshing rotor systems in the Fl 265.
The German Navy spearheaded the development of the Fl 265 and ordered six such examples in 1938. They saw the possible battlefield value inherent in a hovering system such as the one Flettner had devised with the idea being that the Kriegsmarine could field these small, one-man systems aboard their surface ships or even with specially-modified U-boats to achieve the all-important "eye-in-the-sky", first sighting of the enemy at sea. She could be effectively used against warships and submarines in turn. First flight of the Fl 265 was achieved in May of 1939.
Further evaluation of the Fl 265 ensued and proved promising enough to the point that the Kriegsmarine began entertaining the idea of producing the Flettner system. However, Flettner's firm had already been hard at work in developing an improved version - the Fl 282 - a twin-seat creation with improved features and mission variety. As such, the RLM postponed contracting the production of the Fl 265 and decided to wait for the improved Fl 282 to come online. To speed the project along, funding and manpower was deviated to the Fl 282 program - effectively ending the short legacy of the Fl 265, only six whole examples being built by the end of her run.
Externally, the Fl 265 made use of what could be characterized as an aircraft fuselage, complete with an open-front radial piston engine placement. The cockpit was fitted amidships and housed under the rotor mast area, sporting framed windowed sides and a front windscreen. The fuselage tapered off into a shortened empennage featuring a single well-rounded, large-area vertical tail fin and smaller low-mounted tailplanes to each rear fuselage side. The undercarriage was made up of two main single wheeled landing gear legs and a diminutive tail wheel at the rear. The main legs were held away from the fuselage by a complicated series of interconnected struts. Each two-blade rotor was fitted to an identifiable raised structure atop the cockpit roof, operating in unison in what was termed as "intermeshing". This concept proved a pioneering attempt in the realm of the "synchrocopter" - the use of two individual rotors rotating in opposite directions to achieve lift. This also served well in cancelling out torque, the natural pull that was generated by an engine with an externally-mounted rotating blade. Helicopters making use of counter-rotating blades therefore do not make use of a tail rotor as a tail rotor functions to counter the effects of torque caused from a single main rotor. A modern example of this is the Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" attack helicopter which stacks its main rotors one atop the other and does not use a tail rotor as a result.
The Fl 265 was powered by a single Bramo Sh 14A 7-cylinder radial piston engine delivering some 160 horsepower, allowing for speeds of up to 99 miles per hour. The aircraft maintained an empty weight of 1,764lbs with a gross weight of up to 2,205lbs. Each rotor measured in at roughly 40 feet, 4 inches in diameter.
Further development and production of the Fl 265 was given up in favor of the more promising Flettner Fl 282. Text ©2003-2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • No Reproduction Permitted
MilitaryFactory.com does NOT sell equipment/weaponry. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance or general operation. Please consult manufacturers for such information. Our disclaimer. Email corrections / Comments to MilitaryFactory at Gmail dot com.
Specifications for the
Flettner Fl 265
Experimental Helicopter
Country of Origin: Nazi Germany
Manufacturer: Anton Flettner, Flugzeugbau GmbH - Germany
Initial Year of Service: 1939
Production: 6
Focus Model: Flettner Fl 265
Crew: 1
Length: 0.00ft (0m)
Width: 40.35ft (12.30m)
Height: 0.00ft (0.00m)
Weight (Empty): 1,764lbs (800kg)
Weight (MTOW): 2,205lbs (1,000kg)
Powerplant: 1 x Bramo Sh 14A 7-cylinder radial piston engine delivering 160 horsepower.
Maximum Speed: 99mph (160kmh; 86kts)
Maximum Range: 0miles (0km)
Service Ceiling: 0ft (0m; 0.0miles)
Rate-of-Climb: 0 feet per minute (0m/min)
Hardpoints: 0
Armament Suite:
None.
Variants:
Fl 265 - Base Series Designation; 6 evaluation examples produced.
Operators: Nazi Germany
BY DECADE:
• 1900 to 1909
• 1910 to 1919
• 1920 to 1929
• 1930 to 1939
• 1940 to 1949
• 1950 to 1959
• 1960 to 1969
• 1970 to 1979
• 1980 to 1989
• 1990 to 1999
• 2000 to 2009
• 2010 to 2019
• 2020 to 2029
• VIEW ALL
• Compare Aircraft
BY TYPE:
• Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
• Attack Helicopters
• Bomber Aircraft
• Medium Bombers
• Heavy Bombers
• Close-Air Support (CAS)
• Commercial Aircraft
• Dive Bombers
• Electronic Warfare Aircraft (EWA)
• Experimental / X-Planes
• Fighter Aircraft
• Floatplane Aircraft
• Flying Boat Aircraft
• Aerial Refueling Tankers
• Helicopters (ALL)
• Interceptor Aircraft
• Multi-Role Aircraft
• Navy Carrier Aircraft
• Night Fighters
• Reconnaissance / Scout
• Search & Rescue (SAR)
• Scout Helicopters
• Special Purpose
• Torpedo Bombers
• Trainer Aircraft
• Transport Aircraft
• Transport Helicopters
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
• Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs)
COLLECTIONS:
• 4th Generation Fighter Aircraft
• 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft
• US X-Planes
• Classic US Warbirds
• French Military Helicopters
• Grumman "Cats"
• Howard Hughes Aircraft
• Indian Air Force
• Israeli Air Force
• Libyan Aircraft
• Modern Chinese Aircraft
• Modern Chinese Fighters
• Modern Military Aircraft
• Modern North Korean Aircraft
• Modern Trainer Aircraft
• Modern US Aircraft
• Mikoyan Aircraft
• Sukhoi Aircraft
• Syrian Aircraft
• Top 10 Fighter Aircraft of All Time
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT:
• Arab-Israeli War (1948)
• Cuban Missile Crisis (1959-1962)
• Falklands War (1982)
• Indo-Pak War (1965, 1971)
• Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
• Lebanon War (1982)
• Operation Allied Force (1999)
• Operation Desert Storm (1991)
• Six Day War (1967)
• Spanish Civil War (1936)
• Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989)
• Yom Kippur War (1973)
MISCELLANEOUS:
• Aircraft Cockpits
• Aircraft Manufacturers List
• Aircraft Timeline
WORLD WAR 2:
• 1939 Aircraft
• 1940 Aircraft
• 1941 Aircraft
• 1942 Aircraft
• 1943 Aircraft
• 1944 Aircraft
• 1945 Aircraft
• 1946 Aircraft
• Australian Aircraft
• Battle of Britain Aircraft
• Bombers
• Four-Engine Bombers
• British Aircraft
• British Bombers
• British Transports
• Dive Bombers
• Canadian Aircraft
• Fighters
• Chinese Aircraft
• French Aircraft
• German Aircraft
• German Fighters
• German Flying Boats
• German Jets
• Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
• Italian Aircraft
• Imperial Japanese Aircraft
• Imperial Japanese Fighters
• Mitsubishi Bombers
• Navy Aircraft
• Pearl Harbor
• Polish Aircraft
• Romanian Aircraft
• US Aircraft
• US Bombers
• US Navy Aircraft
• Soviet Aircraft
• Torpedo Bombers
• Transport Aircraft
• Tuskegee Airmen Aircraft
• W.A.S.P. Aircraft
• WW2 Aircraft Ranked by Speed
• VIEW ALL
WORLD WAR 1:
• 1914 Aircraft
• 1915 Aircraft
• 1916 Aircraft
• 1917 Aircraft
• 1918 Aircraft
• Aircraft Timeline
• Austro-Hungarian Aircraft
• Bomber Aircraft
• British Aircraft
• Fighters
• Flying Boats
• French Aircraft
• Imperial German Aircraft
• Italian Aircraft
• Scout Aircraft
• Russian Empire Aircraft
• US Aircraft
• WW1 Aircraft Ranked by Speed
• VIEW ALL
KOREAN WAR:
• Australian Aircraft
• Korean War Aces
• Korean War Jets
• North Korean Aircraft
• US Military Aircraft
• VIEW ALL
VIETNAM WAR:
• Helicopters
• North Vietnam Air Force
• US Airpower
• VIEW ALL
COLD WAR:
• 1950s French Aircraft
• British V-Bombers
• Cold War Bombers
• Soviet Aircraft
• Soviet Bombers
• Soviet Interceptors
• Soviet Helicopters
• Strategic Air Command
• US Aircraft
• US Bombers
• US Interceptors
• VIEW ALL
©2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • Content ©2003-2013 MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Site Contact Email: militaryfactory at gmail dot com. The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® trademarks and protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws.
Top MF Stuff: 2013 Military Pay Scale | Military Ranks | WW2 Weapons | Sniper Rifles | Kts to Mph | WW1 Aircraft | Automatic Rifles | Aircraft Cockpits | Vietnam War Weapons | Main Battle Tanks | Submachine Guns | Shotguns | French Military Victories
Most photographic images appearing on this site are courtesy of the United States Department of Defense and are approved for public use. Other images acquired through the public domain. Digital art work courtesy of Dan Alex. Business Consulting by Kyle Williams. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance or general operation. Please consult manufacturers for such information.
