History School Project

Overview More 1910-1919 (WW1) 1920-1929 (Cars) 1930-1939 (Helecopters) 1940-1949 (Computers)

1930-1939 (Helecopters)

“The automobile was first invented and perfected in Germany and France in the late 1800s, though Americans quickly came to dominate the automotive industry in the first half of the twentieth century.” [3] Henry Ford had innovated mass-production techniques, which later became the standard [3]. Manufacturers funneled their resources to their military during WW2, which led to the automobile production in Europe and Japan growing afterwards. [3] The number of active automobile manufacturers dropped from 253 in 1908, and all the way to 44 in 1929, with around 80% of the industry’s output accounted by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. [3] In 1926, Germany was working on the Focke Achgelis Fa 61, which had two 3-bladed rotors mounted on outriggers and was powered by a 160-horsepower radial engine. [4] It set numerous records. [4] For example, in 1938, it had set a record for an altitude flight of 11,243 feet and a cross country flight of 143 miles. [4] In that same year (1938), the German aviator Hanna Reitsch became the world’s first female helicopter pilot by flying the Fa 51 inside Deutschland-Halle in Berlin. [4] Germany continued helicopter development during WW2 and had become the first to place a helicopter (the Flettner Kolibri) into mass production. [4]