The Flying Car of WWII

the jeep was definitely one of the best assets to the Allied war effort The Versatile vehicle allowed soldiers to cover large distances and travel over a range of difficult types of terrain but getting this car into combat wasn't easy Germany had already advanced in the areas of gyrocopters and helicopters which allowed transport of vehicles into hard to- reach places so what if there was a combination of the two meet the hner rotor buggy this Jeep conver version would allow Allied soldiers to fly their transport straight into battle but why wasn't it mass produced in today's video we look at the Flying Car of World War II if you enjoy this video and want to see more hit that subscribe button it's free and really helps the channel reach more history lovers like you with the exception of amphibious Landings or cross country travel the only way to bring transport Vehicles into combat was by glider the glid gliders were more than capable of transporting Jeeps but these gliders were difficult to maneuver into a small Target area and often had hard Landings resulting in vehicles and Equipment being damaged on impact prior to the war an Austrian named Raul rafner moved to England and offered his services in their time of need he had made significant advancements with gyrocopters and believed a car could be retrofitted with propellers to fly into a designated area his idea had Merit as financially it was determined he could create seven of these flying cars for the cost of one British horer glider so in early 1942 the rotor buggy project was born testing initially began with Jeeps dropped from various Heights to test their structure and suspension this testing determined the jeep was more than adequate for the role and the rest of the design was fitted around the shape of the vehicle an extended windscreen connected to a large tail featuring a plate on either side was attached for directional stability finally a rotor with two blades was mounted on top and driven by the vehicle's engine a crew of two were required to fly the rotor buggy one in the driver's seat and one in the front passenger seat the driver would drive the Jeep as normal along the runway until it was time for takeoff then the pilot in the passenger seat would engage the rotors and fly the vehicle in the air after landing the entire t tail portion could be removed and the vehicle could be used in combat as normal by late 1943 the vehicle was ready for toad testing initially a truck was to be used but deemed not powerful enough to pull the buggy so a Bentley racing car was used however in this testing the buggy was only able to be airborne for very short periods and almost hopped down the runway next a British whitly bomber was used to tow it with the bomber staying on the ground this was more successful ful but showed the prototype to have heavy vibrations and ultimately it damaged its rotors on Landing delays then set in as new rotor blades were needed to be manufactured it wouldn't be until September 1944 that the rotor buggy would be able to take its first proper toad flight again a Whitley bomber toed along the runway until both the Whitley and the rotor buggy were airborn but again heavy vibrations were felt by the two crew members as the air speed increased the tail of the Prototype was also very heavy with a pilot not being able to level off the Whitley had to reduce its speed to nearly stalling but this still didn't fix the issue luckily both landed safely but this would be the first and last flight for the buggy by this stage the Allies were already in Europe and gliders had more than proved themselves by bringing in transport for ground troops the end of the war was in sight so diverting time and resources into this project ultimately wasn't a good idea the buggy would be taken apart and the Jeep used as a motorpool vehicle a replica of the vehicle exists today but the original is long gone Al though it wasn't a successful undertaking it was still a very interesting design to see a flying car in World War II had you ever heard of the rotor buggy before what did you think let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below as always guys thanks for watching be sure to hit that subscribe button if you want to expand your knowledge and join the growing Premier history community