From TU 265,but I don't understand why he called Germain Mercier;
MERCIER
In 1936, Germain Mercier, engineer of Arts et Métiers, formerly of Lioré and Olivier and Couzinet, working so at a motorist, tried to marry the qualities of
aircraft and autogyro in a concept called Helican. He had thought that to keep the qualities aerodynamics of the plane we had to use the propeller operating
in autorotation, not as a lifting element, but as the organ of stability and maneuverability, leaving the fixed wing with great finesse. A wing in loss of
speed is not dangerous in itself; it becomes so when stability is compromised by the sudden decline in the center of pressure. Control by "self-steering"
constituted for Mr. Mercier a fixed point that is missing from the plane. Mr. Mercier's device project included a lowered wing, a rear-mounted powertrain
in the propulsive position, the fuselage was extended forward to support a vertical axis propeller which replaced the classic empennages, like govemes of
a duck. This propeller, which rotates in autorotation, had very reduced dimensions: for an aircraft of 10 meters wide, it was about two meters in diameter. This
"self-steering" provided maneuverability in all directions as well than high lift. Its hub, mounted on a gimbal or ball joint on the fuselage frame, could be oriented
in all sense by the pilot by means of a handle with ordinary broom. Traction on the handle increased the incidence of the propeller, creating a nose-up torque.
Conversely, we was biting the device. A tilt at right of the handle produced the same displacement of the propeller giving birth to two simultaneous couples: a
couple of gyration that rotates horizontally the plane and a couple of rolls that tilt it as the fins do. And vice versa for the left handle. The presence of this roll
torque even allowed the Removed ailerons and reduced the piloting the maneuver from the single run to broom. The activation of the high lift device, such as
lower flaps or bending fins, was combined with a positive deflection of the front propeller, which also reinforced the high lift effect. At the time of landing, the
Helican first landed on its two rear wheels, slightly arranged behind the center of gravity; then he fell on its front wheel, tilting braked by the lift of the horizontal
propeller.
On these principles, Mr. Mercier studied a small passenger plane prototype two-seater sedan. It was a low wing monoplane, spar and ribs in spruce, coating in
plywood. The fuselage and the cabin was made of wood. The engine mount was in tubes welded and the horizontal wooden propeller.
The aircraft was equipped with curvature flaps over the entire width of the airfoil, since there were no fins. The vertical stabilizers were carried by two beams which surrounded the propeller. The engine selected was a Salmon or a Train of 40/50 hp. This project was not carried out.
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