Kellett KD-1

Infobox Aircraft
name= KD-1


caption=
type=Autogyro
national origin=United States
manufacturer=Kellett Autogiro Company
designer=
first flight=1934
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=United States Army Air Force
more users=Eastern Airlines
produced=
number built=
variants with their own articles=

The Kellett KD-1 was a 1930s American autogyro built by the Kellett Autogiro Company. It had the distinction of being the first practical rotary-wing aircraft used by the United States Army and inaugurated the first scheduled air-mail service using a rotary-wing aircraft.

Development

Using the experience gained in building Cierva autogyros under licence the Kellet Augogiro Company developed the KD-1 which was similar to the contempary Cierva C.30. It had two open cockpits, a fixed tailwheel landing gear and was powered by a 225hp (168kW) Jacobs L-4 radial engine. After testing of the protototype a commercial variant designated the KD-1A was put into production. The KD-1A had a three-bladed rotor with folding blades and a number of minor detail improvements. A KD-1B which was a KD-1A with an enclosed cockpit for the pilot was operated by Eastern Airlines and inaugurated the first scheduled rotary-wing air-mail service on 6 July 1939.

In 1935 the United States Army bought a KD-1 for evaluation and designated it the YG-1, a second aircraft followed which had additional radio equipment and was designated the YG-1A. These two aircraft were followed by a batch of seven designated YG-1B. In 1942 seven more were bought for use in the observation role as the XO-60. Six XO-60s were re-engined with 300hp (224kW) Jacobs R-915] -3s and re-designated YO-60. One YG-1B was modified with a constant-speed rotor and was re-designated the YG-1C, it was later re-engined with the more powerful R-915 and re-designated again as the XR-2. The XR-2 was destroyed by rotor ground resonance problems and the evaluation was continued with another modified YG-1B designated the XR-3.

Variants

;KD-1:Prototype, one built;KD-1A:Commercial variant with open cockpit and a 225hp (168kW) Jacobs L-4 radial engine, three built;KD-1B:Commercial variant with enclosed cockpit two built.;YG-1:United States Army designation for one KD-1A acquired for evaluation.;YG-1A:One aircraft as YG-1 with the addition of radio eqiupment.;YG-1B:Production aircraft for the United States Army, seven built.;YG-1C:One YG-1B modified with a constant-speed rotor for evaluation, later designated the XR-2.;XO-60:Production aircraft for the United States Army with a 225hp (168kW) Jacobs R-775 radial engine, seven built.;YO-60:Six XO-60s re-engined with a 300hp (224kW) Jacob R-915-3 radial engine.;XR-2:The YG-1C re-designated after being re-engined with a 300hp (224kW) Jacob R-915-3 radial engine.;XR-3:One YG-1B modifed to XR-2 standard for evaluation.;Kayaba Ka-1:Japanese built KD-1 powered by a 240hp Kobe engine, 240 built.

Operators

;JPN;USA
* Eastern Airlines
* United States Army Air Force

pecifications (KD-1B)

aerospecs
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met or eng?= eng

crew=2
capacity=
length m=7.87
length ft=28
length in=10
span m=
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rot dia m= 12.19
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height m=3.12
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gross weight kg=1018
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eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Jacobs L-4MA
eng1 kw= 170
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max speed kmh=201
max speed mph=
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range km=322
range miles=
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ceiling m=4267
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ee also

aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
* Cierva C.30

lists=
* List of helicopters
* List of military aircraft of the United States

References

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