Curtiss-Bleecker SX-5-1 helicopter - photo and video

[BuffaloJohn]

It looks like it probably did fly, but a bit on the complicated side... accordsing to wiki...

"The aircraft featured a rotary wing design with a single engine. Each rotor, painted silver and yellow, had an individual propeller for thrust and a trailing control surface called a "stabovator" to change pitch of the rotor. The aircraft was controlled by a stick that operated like a modern helicopter collective control. Yaw was controlled with a "Spin Vane" that used downwash from the rotor to pivot the aircraft with foot pedals."

Seriously, with a device called a stabovator, how could it not work?

[Frank S]

It
Seriously, with a device called a stabovator, how could it not work?

OH sure everything would be fine until the turbo encabulator shorts out