Nemeth ramjet helicopter design

An engineer(?) or a small US company with name Nemeth (no entry in Bill Gunston's otherwise very helpful "World Encyclopaedia of Aircraft Manufacturers") developed a ramjet-driven helicopter in 1948. The information comes from Rolf Besser's book "Technik und Geschichte der Hubschrauber" volume 1 (page 122), but the author gives neither illustration nor a description.

Can anybody help?

Hi,
Somewhere on my harddisc i found this picture, uncredited
I think it was from a photo i took at the Buckeburg museum in Germany.

Greetz

This is what I call "minimal design". Good as a demonstrator but questionable for the further development that led to the operational aircraft and practical use.

hugo007 said:

Hi,
Somewhere on my harddisc i found this picture, uncredited
I think it was from a photo i took at the Buckeburg museum in Germany.

Greetz

Click to expand...

Thanks, hugo007, for answering my old question. Did you take the photo inside the exhibition or in the archive?

Sorry,
It was on a visit at least 20 years ago,
with my lens against the display glass, and a basic text card 1947 Nemeth Helicopter Company.
In the same display case were pictures of the Ambi-Budd flying car,(no text at all)
and the Pentecost Hoppicopter.
Currently the Buckeburg museum is building a big extension,
when its finished i will be (hopefully) visiting again.

Dear boxkite,

I found following info on the Nemeth pulsejet helicopter in my old shoebox.
Designed and built by Mr. Stephen Paul Nemeth and his Nemeth Helicopter Corporation. Engines were two Nemeth pulsejets delivering the equivalent of some 25 hp each. Reportedly the aircraft was completed in or around 1946 and briefly tested.
rotor diameter 26ft, estimated max. speed 90 mph, cruise 85 mph, range 290 miles
Sorry for the bad quality of the picture.

PS: I think the picture of Hugo007 may depict the Capital C-1 Firefly of Horace T. Pentecost and built by the Capital Helicopter Corporation and flown in March 1954.

Oeps,

I'am so sorry, must have mixed-up the captions then, because that 2nd picture resides on my HDrive as
Pentecost Firefly, (here's almost the same pic. with a little more house or barn)

Thanks to all for disentangle the short-time confusion .

walter said:

PS: I think the picture of Hugo007 may depict the Capital C-1 Firefly of Horace T. Pentecost and built by the Capital Helicopter Corporation and flown in March 1954.

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You are right. An article appeared on ebay depicting this very machine:

See also:

walter said:

Dear boxkite,

I found following info on the Nemeth pulsejet helicopter in my old shoebox.
Designed and built by Mr. Stephen Paul Nemeth and his Nemeth Helicopter Corporation. Engines were two Nemeth pulsejets delivering the equivalent of some 25 hp each. Reportedly the aircraft was completed in or around 1946 and briefly tested.
rotor diameter 26ft, estimated max. speed 90 mph, cruise 85 mph, range 290 miles
Sorry for the bad quality of the picture.

PS: I think the picture of Hugo007 may depict the Capital C-1 Firefly of Horace T. Pentecost and built by the Capital Helicopter Corporation and flown in March 1954.

Click to expand...

I am just diving into this helicopter. Apart from this forum an mentions in two books (one mentioned in opening post: "Technik und Geschichte der Hubschrauber" by Rolf Besserm; the second one is "Helicopters and Autogyros of The World" by Paul Lambermont form 1958), there seems to be nothing on it.

I have doubts, however, on the picture presented here. The books says that it is a two-person design - picture for me shows a single-person helicopter. The latter publication mentions that it had two main wheels and skid on the back and skid in the front - you may argue if picture shows skid or tiny wheel in the back, but there is nothing in front.

It could present a helicopter under construction, or something entirely different.

Does someone has any other materials to corroborate this picture authenticity?

Steven Paul Nemeth was from Chicago, Illinois. In the latter part of the 1920s, he was involved in the design of several cyclogyro types (none of which was built), but became mostly known for his "Umbrellaplane", a two-seat open-cockpit high-wing monoplane based on a lengthened Alliance Argo fuselage, fitted with circular wing for STOL performance, and powered by a 90hp Lambert engine. Also called the Nemeth "Roundwing", it flew in 1934 and was registered as the Nemeth "Circular Wing" [X13651, c/n 100]. Nemeth designed another airplane concept the following year, using a Nemeth-designed direct-lift device called the Levitator, but nothing came of it.
Steven P. Nemeth became chief helicopter engineer with Borg Warner during World War Two, and right after the war he created the Nemeth Helicopter Corp., in his native city. The company eventually became the Nemeth Aeronautical Laboratory. The only known model from Nemeth's company was the "Pauletta", a 1947 two-place anti-torque helicopter with ramjet engines at the tips of the single rotor's two blades. It was built, but there is no indication that it was ever flown.
Just to make things clear: the photo of a flying machine further up in the page is that of a Pentecost Hoppi-Copter. The open frame helo on the grass, however, is probably the "Pauletta".

Stargazer said:

Just to make things clear: the photo of a flying machine further up in the page is that of a Pentecost Hoppi-Copter. The open frame helo on the grass, however, is probably the "Pauletta".

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Thanks Stargazer. I cannot find anything with this name (Pauletta).

Anyway, over couple of hours I was browsing my library and online places - I will share with you my findings.

First of all, the mistaken photo in the second post here is most likely originating form the book of Mr Jean Boullet: History of the helicopter as told by its pioneers 1907-1956. There the Nemeth helicopter is mentioned, but picture is labeled wrongly:

Its a great book by the way!

Chronologically, the first information on this helicopter I was able to locate in the American Helicopter magazine from December 1947 (Vol 9, No.1, google archive):

Does anybody has this issue? Article is on page 23. It also indicates that its name is actually the Anti-Torque.

Next information I have is in the book from 1948 called: The helicopter or anything a horse can do by Colonel H. Franklin Gregory, Pages 247 and 248:

Text in this one kind-of indicates that it is a single-seater. It also mentions an engine in the front - maybe it was one to start rotor turning (some of ramjet helicopters had small single piston moped engine to get things going)

Remaining two mentions in Paul Lambermont and Rolf Besserm books states it was a two-seater.

There is also mention on the heli-archive.ch page - which states that ramjets were placed not on blades' tips, but on separated bar (some projects had such approach in the past)

My summary so far:

persil said:

First of all, the mistaken photo in the second post here is most likely originating form the book of Mr Jean Boullet: History of the helicopter as told by its pioneers 1907-1956. There the Nemeth helicopter is mentioned, but picture is labeled wrongly:

Click to expand...

There you have it: they inverted the captions!

persil said:

Its a great book by the way!

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Absolutely. Purchased the French edition during the early 1990s and was very glad I did!

There is also a very interesting passage with Nemeth testifying in Congress about his helicopter in this book: