Reaching position number four on our list of prominent designers we find a Spaniard, Juan de la Cierva y Codorniú (1895 – 1935). This great engineer faced the problem of designing a rotorwing aircraft with self sustaining capability (autogyro) that he made in 1922 in his first prototype, the C-1. After several unsuccessful models, C-4 flied successfully flew in January 1924 in Getafe’s airfield, piloting Lieutenant Alejandro Gómez Spencer. In later models he introduced the flapping hinges to avoid the asymmetric lift by the rotor. In 1925 after a successful show in England with the C-6 model, he started the Cierva Autogyro Company Ltd. to manufacture his aircrafts. The implementation of his innovations contributed significantly to the development of the helicopter.
Therefore I grant La Cierva with my number 4.
This week we will relax a little bit and talk about how technology affects our daily work and our customs and behavior. Today we will think about the e-mail.