On some post somewhere I have an image of the flying jeep. I recently found a trove of information and images of the Rotabuggy, (actually, I just did a google image search of a rotabuggy) including pictures of a recreated model. One of the more unusual images is an interior shot, which I show to the right.
From the willys-mb.ru website:
"In the early 1940s flight tests had been carried out on a number of one-man gliders known as Rotachutes. During this time Raoul Hafner decided to apply the same principle on a larger-scale military vehicle. On 3 April 1942 the Rotary Wing Section of the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment AFEE) at Ringway, Manchester, submitted a proposal for the application of the system to the Blitz Buggy or Jeep."
The Unreal Aircraft website records an eye witness account of one flight, which left the driver exhausted.
Here's an image of the Rotabuggy Replica
- Visit the willys-mb.ru website and it's Rotabuggy information
- Information from the Unreal Aircraft website
- Construction pictures of a Rotabuggy from a Japanese website
- The Rotabuggy on Wikipedia
- Here's a page with Rotabuggy and some great images from WWII, including a rocket launcher(?) mounted to an MB
- Purchase a model kit for only $5.50 here
- http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/hafner_rotabuggy.php
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