Flip to Harold Pitcairn and assistants preparing for the flight of his "Windmill autogiro" to Washington D.C., May 14, 1929.
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Credit: Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann
Harold F. Pitcairn, President of Pitcairn Aviation Company, standing in front of strange, Windmill autogiro plane that he piloted on first long trip from Philadelphia to Washington. The plane is radically different from usual flying craft in the fact that it has only wing stubs used for stabilization. Lifting power is furnished by four long horizontal vanes which whirl around post above fuselage causing plane to be nicknamed the Windmill. May 14, 1929