Fred Landgraf formed the Landgraf Helicopter Company in September 1943 to develop and manufacture the H-2. It had an enclosed structure for one pilot and an 85 hp (63 kW) radial engine driving two rotors, each rotor fitted to a short boom on each side of the fuselage. It had a fixed tricycle landing gear. The H-2 first flew on 2 November 1944 and the company was awarded a development contract by the United States Army. It was not developed or bought and the company ceased operations by the end of the 1940s.

Unlike conventional helicopters, the H-2 used a tension-rod drive system to drive the side-by-side rotors.^[1] Control of blade pitch was also unconventional, with the blade shells rotating freely about the spars, controlled by ailerons near the tips.^[2]

Data from ^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Capacity: 186 lb (84 kg)
• Length: 15 ft (4.6 m) fuselage only
• Wingspan: 12 ft 2 in (3.7 m) outrigger wings
• Width: 29 ft 10 in (9.1 m) including rotors
• Powerplant: 1 × Pobjoy R 7-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 85 hp (63 kW)
• Main rotor diameter: 2 × 18 ft 1 in (5.5 m)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Firth Helicopter

Related lists

• List of rotorcraft
• Transverse rotors

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing. p. 2280.

• PCAM (June 2013), Of Fleets, Luscombes, and a Plywood Helicopter (PDF), vol. XVIII, Pacific Coast Air Museum, pp. 2–3