Corradino D'Ascanio's helicopters

Wurger · 28 November 2009

Hi guys,

I came across this reference to a project being developed by helicopter pioneer Corradino D`ascanio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Campini_Ca.183bis

It relates to a desire to employ a BMW 003 turbojet into an helicopter before WW2 ended. Does anyone could come up with more on this?

Bailey · 28 November 2009

Hi, the only information I've ever come across, was a reference to Piaggio PD1, PD2, PD3 and PD4 helicopters designed by D'Ascanio in that time period. I think that only the PD4 actually flew. Hope this might point you in the right direction.

Regards Bailey.

walter · 28 November 2009

Hi Wurger,
The PD-2, PD-3 and PD-4 helicopters were built by (for) Piaggio. The PD-2 was tested during the closing stages of WW2. The PD-3 was an improved PD-2 of 1949/1950 (still try to figure our what the improvements were) and the PD-4 tandem rotor heli flew in 1952.
The single rotor type is, according to the caption, the PD-3 although I have my doubts. The other one is the PD-4 for sure
Rgards, Walter

Wurger · 29 November 2009

Hi guys,

many thanks for your help. But I`m afraid the mistery remains about this turbojet ( turboshaft?) project. Probably Skybolt knows something about it? Cheers.

fabulousfour · 4 March 2016

Hi guys, only my third post here at your wonderful Forum.

User boxkite, whom I know from the German Flugzeugforum has convinced me, to show you a document about the Piaggio PD.3 that I found recently.
Though it is in Italian, I thought it would be interesting to this board.

I have edited the pictures a bit for a better reading.

Enjoy.

Source of the document is this site

fabulousfour · 4 March 2016

Part 2

fabulousfour · 4 March 2016

Last part.

hesham · 4 March 2016

Wow,nice find Fabulousfour,many thanks.

hesham · 27 April 2016

Hi,

http://www.avia-it.com/act/la_tecnica/la_tecnica_di_ieri/Tecnica_ieri_2016/Seg_art_febb_16/Ling_D_Ascanio_dall_elicottero_alla_Vespa.pdf

hesham · 17 May 2016

Hi,

here is a patent for D'Ascanio in 1930.

L'invenzione-dell'elicottero

hesham · 4 October 2016

Hi,

here is some of D'Ascanio helicopters and patents,some of them were a Projects only.

49- great powered helicopter of 1925
56- patent for a helicopter with two coaxial rotors of 1925
63- patent for a helicopter of 1926
66- D'Ascanio A.T.2 helicopter of 1926
86- patent for a helicopter of 1929
90- D'Ascanio A.T.3 helicopter of 1928
99- D'Ascanio development of A.T.3 helicopter of 1930
121- D'Ascanio helicopter Type of 1931

http://www.archivi.beniculturali.it/dga/uploads/documents/PIA/5225af74721dc.pdf

hesham · 4 October 2016

Hi,

122- D'Ascanio Type-1931 in side view with addition enclosed cabin version
134- D'Ascanio Type-II of 1932 helicopter
145 D'Ascanio Type-III of 1934 helicopter
155- D'Ascanio 1934 helicopter,powered by one 130 hp Colombo engine
164- D'Ascanio 1934 helicopter (anther one),powered by one 390 hp Stella engine
192- PD.1
193- PD.2
204- PD.3

hesham · 4 October 2016

Finally;

227- PD.4

hesham · 19 November 2018

Hi,

here is again a drawings to 1925 Project,and D'A.T.3,and that make us asking if there
was D'A.T.1 ?.

http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/libri/PDF_Libri_By_AVIA/Marinai-in-volo.pdf

hesham · 6 September 2019

From ,Quando volare Era Difficile - Ereno A.

!Mark · 27 October 2020

Great info!
I have one question, I read pretty much everywhere that he also designed some helicopter drones to use in irrigation, does anybody have any info or images?

hesham · 28 October 2020

!Mark said:
Great info!
I have one question, I read pretty much everywhere that he also designed some helicopter drones to use in irrigation, does anybody have any info or images?

Strange Info Mark,but I will search.

!Mark · 28 October 2020

"D'Ascanio remained in Piaggio until 1961 year of his retirement, he remained as consultant for the company for what concerned the Vespa. Officially he would never make helicopters for Piaggio anymore but in the garage of his home (often using the Piaggio workshops) he carried on the construction of a tiny helicopter for agricultural use, for field irrigation, cheap and available to everybody: the Vespa of the air. This helicopter was ready July 20th 1970, it had innovative features like fiberglass propellers but even this small jewel of the abruzzese inventor didn't find clients and only flew in the garden of D'Ascanio's house."
-from italian wikipedia

"...let's remember that between 1960 and 1970 he projected and built some ancestors of the drones, authentical Vespas of the air, in his garage: they were mini-helicopters, drones, conceived for irrigation of the fields, cheap and available to everybody. Unfortunately not even this object found interest and so it remained in the garage of the engineer"
-from secoloditalia.it

"... Genius were also the "mini-helicopters" of D'Ascanio for field irrigation, progenitors of today's drones, in which nobody believed at first."
-from italiani.it

Aerohydro · 31 October 2020

Hello All,

The attached image might help to cast some light onto the matter. It's from the book "Flying Machines of Corradino D'Ascanio" by Alberto Bassi (ISBN 978-8843573042).

As per the text, this particular helicopter design was a post-retirement project for Corradino D'Ascanio. It's referred to as an "eliante for primary training", though I'm not sure what "eliante" actually means. (Google Translate failed me.) The design - at least at the point at which the photograph was taken - has that it's a small, tethered, helicopter, powered by compressed air which presumably would have been fed to it via the tether. D'Ascanio retired in 1961, and the last sentence of the text mentions that it "took ten years for the prototype ... to be completed" and during that time "it had been converted for possible agricultural use."

It's quite possible that the eliante, as seen in the photo, was a predecessor to the machine that flew in D'Ascanio's garden in 1970.

Cheers,
Paul

!Mark · 1 November 2020

They either misspelled a word or its a fantasy name.
But yes that should be it! Thank you very much

hesham · 1 November 2020

Amazing,thank you Aerohydro,

and if in the book any helicopter or Project was never mentioned here ?.

Livio Garbassi · 31 December 2020

Hallo. "Eliante" is for sure a mispelled "Aliante", italian word for "glider"...

LG

archipeppe · 1 January 2021

Livio Garbassi said:
Hallo. "Eliante" is for sure a mispelled "Aliante", italian word for "glider"...

LG

I don't think that this is a misspelled word rather than an actual joint between "Elicottero" (Helicopter in Italian) and "Aliante" (Glider in Italian), so "Elicottero+Aliante" = "Eliante".

archipeppe · 9 August 2021

Here there are two artworks dedicated to D'Ascanio's helicopter P.D. 3.

Corradino D'Ascanio's helicopters

ACCESS: Top Secret

ACCESS: Secret

ACCESS: Secret

Attachments

ACCESS: Top Secret

ACCESS: Confidential

Attachments

ACCESS: Confidential

Attachments

ACCESS: Confidential

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: USAP

Attachments

ACCESS: Restricted

ACCESS: USAP

ACCESS: Restricted

Early aviation enthusiast

Attachments

ACCESS: Restricted

ACCESS: USAP

ACCESS: Restricted

ACCESS: Top Secret

ACCESS: Top Secret

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.