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The helicopter was completed by the end of 1949. During the first flight trial on 14 January 1950, it was overturned by a wind gust and had to be repaired. The test pilot was Bronisław Żurakowski, who taught himself to fly a helicopter. The helicopter first flew on 4 April 1950, restrained on tethers
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In 1956, the helicopter was repaired and used for training flights. On 28 June 1957 a tail rotor gear (originally from a motorcycle) broke and it could not be replaced, consequently, the helicopter never flew again, being written off on 28 October 1960. During 1956–1957 it had completed 185 flights,
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During 1950–1953, it underwent a test program and was often modified. At first it had elastic rotor blades. In 1950, it was fitted with rigid blades and an efficient simple custom-designed resonant vibration eliminator, similar to later
122:, constructed in 1950. Developed by the Main Aviation Institute (Warsaw), the only constructed GIL saw service until 1960 when it was irreparably damaged and subsequently decommissioned. The prototype aircraft currently resides at the
240:). On 16 November 1953, the helicopter was damaged when the main rotor was bent by the wind and cut off the tail boom, thus ending the test program. By then, the prototype had completed 169 flights, in 20 hours 21 minutes in total.
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Initially, the helicopter had no name. It only received the registration letters SP-GIL, from the institute abbreviation, and hence it soon became known as GIL or Gil (
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designs. During tests, it crashed or was damaged without casualties at least seven times, for different reasons, and was repaired each time.
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airfield (it was the first public presentation of a helicopter in Poland and one of first presentations in the
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Despite severe material shortages, work on experimental design started in 1948, and the main designer became
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rotor type, with two auxiliary blades. A fuselage structure, tail boom, auxiliary rotor and tricycle
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4-cylinder air-cooled in-line piston engine, 78 kW (105 hp) vertically mounted
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On 20 July 1952, the BŻ-1 GIL was first displayed to the public, during an air show at
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in Polish). Later it was also given the designation BŻ-1, from Żurakowski's initials.
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was the only person in a team, who had ever seen a helicopter (
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by two men (Fiszdon and Chyliński) for a measure of safety.
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530:Żurakowski, Bronisław. "SP-GIL - wspomnienia konstruktora"
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The helicopter was designed at the research institute
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Witkowski, Ryszard. "Powrót GILa i jego dalsze losy"
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Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
185:(re-configured for vertical use), rear gear from a
465:"Polish Aviation Museum Cracow:Helicopter: SP-GIL"
247:Currently, the sole BŻ-1 GIL is preserved in the
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177:. A power unit and final drive were designed by
266:Lotnictwo : Powrót GILa i jego dalsze losy
509:. London: Fredrick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1958.
507:The Observer's Book of Aircraft, 1958 edition
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341:140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn)
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514:Helicopters and Autogyros of the World
494:Glass, Andrzej. "Śmigłowiec BŻ-1 GIL"
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505:Green, William and Gerald Pollinger.
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193:glider's jettisonable landing gear.
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565:1950s Polish experimental aircraft
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320:8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
286:8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
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585:Single-engined piston helicopters
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326:60.8 m (654 sq ft)
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575:Aircraft manufactured in Poland
471:from the original on 2011-07-24
292:3 m (9 ft 10 in)
502:, 2(47)/2005. ISSN 1732-5323.
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353:4.5 m/s (890 ft/min)
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538:, 2(47)/2005. ISSN 1732-5323.
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189:motorcycle and wheels from a
138:- Main Aviation Institute in
580:Aircraft first flown in 1950
347:2,000 m (6,600 ft)
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304:610 kg (1,345 lb)
298:510 kg (1,124 lb)
244:for a total of 12.5 hours.
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454:Witkowski 2005, pp. 49–51.
440:Żurakowski 2005, pp.45–49.
136:Główny Instytut Lotnictwa
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57:Główny Instytut Lotnictwa
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570:1950s Polish helicopters
516:. London: Cassell, 1958.
271:General characteristics
161:(brother of test pilot
431:Glass 2005, pp. 44–45.
249:Polish Aviation Museum
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130:Design and development
124:Polish Aviation Museum
32:Polish Aviation Museum
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318:Main rotor diameter:
159:Bronisław Żurakowski
391:Vought-Sikorsky 300
386:Gazda Helicospeeder
363:Related development
208:Operational history
39:General information
512:Lambermont, Paul.
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175:Tadeusz Chyliński
173:were designed by
163:Janusz Żurakowski
148:Władysław Fiszdon
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179:Zbigniew Brzoska
30:BŻ-1 Gil at the
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144:World War II
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94:4 April 1950
91:First flight
78:Number built
70:Primary user
65:Experimental
53:Manufacturer
532:(in Polish)
521:(in Polish)
496:(in Polish)
332:Performance
308:Powerplant:
191:DFS Kranich
559:Categories
475:2010-06-25
399:References
381:Aero XE-II
120:helicopter
47:Helicopter
19:BŻ-1 "GIL"
536:Lotnictwo
525:Lotnictwo
500:Lotnictwo
264:Data from
202:bullfinch
550:BŻ-1 Gil
480:backup:
469:Archived
369:BŻ-4 Żuk
358:See also
227:Sikorsky
216:BŻ-1 GIL
200:means a
112:BŻ-1 GIL
290:Height:
284:Length:
187:Zündapp
99:Retired
86:History
253:Kraków
234:Okęcie
167:Hiller
140:Warsaw
116:Polish
73:Poland
62:Status
404:Notes
278:Crew:
310:1 ×
110:The
103:1960
44:Type
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251:in
198:gil
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445:^
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280:1
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