Flettner Fl-282 Kolibri: 

150km/h vMax



George "Geo" Lekko October 14, 2002




The Kolibri "Humming Bird" was the first
helicopter put into mass production and the only helicopter to make
any significant contributions in World War II. Flettner had developed
the idea of counter-rotating, intermeshing twin rotors. Many of his
advisers thought that the airflow disturbed by the intermeshing blades
would make this system less efficient than one using a single rotor;
but Flettner believed that any problems thus encountered would be more
than offset by the reduced drag resulting from having no external
rotor-carrying structure. The RLM ordered thirty prototypes and fifteen
pre-production aircraft in spring 1940. Maiden flight was made in 1941.
The Fl 282 underwent exhaustive service trials, and several were used
operationally from 1942. They often flew in extreme weather conditions,
and revealed control and performance qualities well above expectations.
  By 1943, twenty Fl-282s had been built and they were routinely being
used by the Kriegsmarine for convoy protection and reconnaissance
from ships in the Aegean, Baltic, and Mediterranean Seas. The
helicopter was found to be especially valuable at dawn and dusk when
pilots of fixed wing aircraft did not have good visual contact in the poor
light. During the day observation was especially favorable in the
Mediterranean where the clear water allowed the helicopter crews to
'see' submarines as deep as 130 feet. Once a sub was spotted the
Kolibri could easily match the speed and course of the submarine task
which was impossible for the fixed wing aircraft with stall speeds higher
than the cruise speed of a submarine. The Fl-282 would then radio the
sub's position to the convoy, and if a warship was dispatched to attack
it, the helicopter would mark the target's position with a magnesium
flash bomb or a smoke bomb.
 The German Army also appreciated the usefulness of the helicopter.
The Fl-282 was used for such military tasks as directing artillery fire
and guiding tanks over rough terrain. Beginning in 1944, the army
began to implement a program to provide a helicopter to each
independent artillery brigade. Luft-Transportstaffel 40 based
at Ainring in April 1945, had at least three Fl-282s (and also three
Focke Achgelis Fa-223s) at its disposal. During the last few months of
the war this unit made many flights into and out of besieged and
encircled towns transporting dispatches, mail, and key personnel.
