Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri

The Kolibri ("Hummingbird") was a small, one- or two-person helicopter designed for shipboard reconnaissance missions and submarine detection. Trials of the helicopter began in 1942, and the copter was found to be reliable, extremely maneuverable, and stable in poor weather conditions. It's hovering capability made it ideal for submarine spotting in the clear waters of the Mediterranean, especially in low-light conditions when airplanes were less capable because of their airspeed.

By 1943, 20 of the 24 prototypes were in use. An order was placed for another 1,000 of the machines, but Allied bombing and VE-day prevented any from being built. Only three helicopters survived the war, the rest being destroyed by the Nazis to prevent their capture.

Since all of the active helicopters were essentially prototypes, there was no fixed design plan. Some featured fully enclosed, partially enclosed, and open cockpits; some had room for a rear-facing observer; others carried a pair of small bombs for attacking submarines, as well as smoke buoys.

The Fl 282 burns 6 gallons of aviation fuel per hour of routine usage. A full load of fuel costs $5.60.

Subassemblies: Small Helicopter chassis +2; Rotor -1, three fixed wheels -1.

Powertrain: 119-kW Aerial HP gasoline engine with 119-kW Helicopter transmission and 28-gallon fuel tank [Body], 4,000-kWs battery.

Occ.: 1-2 XCS Body

Cargo: 1.8 Body.

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5

Rotor: 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10

Wheels: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5

Equipment:

Body: Medium radio transmitter and receiver, navigation instruments.

Weaponry:

2x5 kg Bombs.

Statistics:

Size: 21'x8'x7' Payload: 0.26 tons Lwt.: 1.1 tons

Volume: 72 Maint.: 101 hours Cost: $3,961

HT: 10. HPs: 56 Body, 16 Rotor, 2 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 93 aAccel: 2 aDecel: 6 aMR: 2 aSR: 2

Stall Speed: 0 mph.

Design Notes:

Design weight is 21% lighter than historical weight, but many of the prototypes experimented with adding the observer position, adding light ordnance, changing the pilot's position to an enclosed cockpit, and other options that indicated a surplus of lifting power. In both cases, loaded weight far exceeds the power plant's lifting power of 1,190 lbs. (per GURPS design rules), with no obvious way to rectify historical data vs. game design. Calculations were made using the historical empty weight of 1,676 lbs. plus one pilot and a full tank of fuel (Lwt. 2,058 lbs.), as this seemed to be the typical operating scheme. Fuel capacity is 30 gallons but the design purchases the historical 28 gallons. Design aSpeed was 112 mph, and was reduced 17% to the historical value. aSR was arbitrarily increased by 1 to reflect the chopper's impressive handling in poor weather conditions.

Variants:

The Fl 282 B-0 had an open cockpit.

The Fl 282 B-1 had a glazed plexiglass cockpit.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS