Gyrodyne Company of America
A Long Island firm built the world’s first operational drone helicopter to hunt submarines from small destroyers; when the Navy dropped it, Gyrodyne turned its factory into a real-estate business.
Gyrodyne Company of America: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Built on Bendix’s ruins
Peter Papadakos founded Gyrodyne in 1946 with the assets of the bankrupt Bendix Helicopters, carrying on its work on a coaxial helicopter with two contra-rotating rotors and no tail rotor. Starting at Massapequa and moving to St. James on Long Island in 1951, the company spent the next 24 years on coaxial machines, among them the tiny one-man RON Rotorcycle developed for the US Marine Corps.
Torpedoes without a pilot
The Rotorcycle became the QH-50 DASH, the Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter. The Navy’s FRAM programme was modernising Second World War destroyers that had good sonar but no room for a manned helicopter. DASH could fly 22 miles from the ship under remote control and drop two Mark 44 torpedoes on a submarine. Some 755 were built from 1962 to 1969. But its cheap, unduplicated electronics failed often, and more than half the Navy’s 746 drones were lost at sea.
From rotors to rent
The Navy cancelled DASH in 1969. Fitted with TV cameras, some flew on as artillery spotters off Vietnam; Japan flew 20 until 1977, with far fewer losses, and the US Army used a few at White Sands until 2006. Gyrodyne itself began turning its factory into rental space in 1975, and has been a real-estate company ever since.
Gyrodyne Company of America in numbers
Společnost
- Stručně řečeno
- Založeno 1946
- Founded by Peter Papadakos on Bendix Helicopters’ assets
- Moved from Massapequa to St. James in 1951
- Coaxial helicopters only
Výroba
- Nejznámější pro
- QH-50 DASH
- 755 QH-50 drones, 1962–1969
- RON Rotorcycle for the Marine Corps
- GCA convertiplane and Gyroliner projects
Dnes
- Teď
- Real-estate company
- Stopped aircraft work in 1975
- Former Flowerfield factory site now leased property
The corporate entity survives in property, not aviation.
Čísla
- QH-50 drones built
- 7551962–1969
- US Navy DASH drones lost at sea
- over half of 746
- Eminent-domain award, Stony Brook land
- 125 million US dollars2010
Every notable Gyrodyne Company of America aircraft
| Letadlo | Role | První let | Postavený | Postavení | Poznámka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle | One-man coaxial helicopter | V důchodu | Developed for the US Marine Corps; basis of DASH | ||
| Gyrodyne QH-50A / B | Drone helicopter (pre-production) | 1959 | 12 | V důchodu | Porsche piston engines |
| Gyrodyne QH-50C | Anti-submarine drone helicopter | 373–378 | V důchodu | Boeing T50 turboshaft, two Mark 44 torpedoes | |
| Gyrodyne QH-50D | Anti-submarine drone helicopter | 377 | V důchodu | Used by the US Army at White Sands until 2006 | |
| Gyrodyne GCA-2 | Coaxial helicopter | V důchodu |
Where Gyrodyne Company of America built, who led it, what it achieved
Továrny
- Flowerfield · St. James, New York — Helicopter works from 1951; most of the land taken by Stony Brook University in 2005
Lidé
- Peter J. Papadakos · zakladatel
Rekordy a prvenství
- First drone helicopter in operational naval service, QH-50 DASH
Gyrodyne Company of America, year by year
Gyrodyne founded on Bendix Helicopters’ assets
Moves to St. James, Long Island
QH-50 DASH first flight
DASH series production designations adopted
QH-50C production ends
DASH programme cancelled
Factory converted to rental space
Japan retires its DASH drones
Everything people ask about Gyrodyne Company of America
What was the Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH?
How many QH-50s were built?
Why was DASH cancelled?
Does Gyrodyne still exist?
Around Gyrodyne Company of America
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Ověřeno 2026-10-03.