| NC.2001 Abeille | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Five seat, twin rotorhelicopter Type of aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | SNCAC |
| Designer | René Dorand |
| First flight | 28 June 1949 |
| Number built | 3 |
TheSNCAC NC.2001 Abeille (English:Bee) was a single engine, twinintermeshing rotorhelicopter designed and built inFrance in the late 1940s. Three were completed but only one flew, development ending whenSNCAC was closed.
The design of the Abeille was directed by René Dorand at the helicopter division of SNCAC. An intermeshing rotor layout was chosen instead of atail rotor design, following the examples of the 1939Flettner Fl 265 and theKellet XR-8 of 1944.[1] Its twin, two blade rotors were driven by shafts which leaned out of thefuselage side-by-side. The rotor blades, which began some way from the hub, tapered strongly.Pitch androll were adjusted from the control column by alteringcyclic pitch via a pair ofswashplates andyaw by changing the relativecollective pitch of the two rotors with the pedals. Forward tilt of the rotor shafts was automatically linked to forward speed. A single lever controlled both the collective pitch and thethrottle through an electrical link. The Abeille was powered by a 429 kW (575 hp)Renault 12S, an inverted, air-cooledV-12 engine.[2]
The Abeille had a pod and boom, all-metalfuselage. The nose was fully glazed with two side by side crew seats ahead of a cabin with a bench seat for three passengers. The engine and gearboxes were behind them.[2][3] Aft, a high mounted boom carried theempennage, which on the first prototype consisted of a tallT-tail with a narrowfin. On the second machine the tailplane was lowered to the top of the fuselage and had a pair of fins at its extremities, each roughly elliptical and mounted from its top.[1] The tails was wooden, withfabric covered.[3] The Abeille's fixed mainlanding gear had two wheels on a single axle positioned a little behind the rotor shafts and mounted on broad, singlestruts to the mid-upper fuselage, together with a smaller nose wheel.[1]
Three examples of the Abeille were built. The first was destroyed by fire before it had flown. The second made its first flight on 28 June 1949, piloted by Claude Dellys. SNCAC was closed in that month, its assets distributed between three remaining state owned firms and as a result the Abeille programme was abandoned; the second machine did not fly again and the third never flew.[1]
Data fromGaillard (1990), p.98.[1]All performance figures are estimated.
General characteristics
Performance
