Karman-Petroczy Captive Helicopter


I don't normally pick on rotary-wings but this picture is priceless. This Austrian machine was built to be a substitute for Army observation balloons. Amazingly, the twenty foot co-axial rotors carried the craft to several hundred feet! There were no flight controls, it was winched up and down by cables. It crashed on its 15th flight. Note the jolly expression of the lucky guy in the basket.