Or autogyro; Heavier-than-air craft that supports itself in the air with a rotary wing, or rotor. The Spanish aviator Juan de la Cierva designed the first successful autogiro 1923. The autogiro's rotor provides only lift and not propulsion; it has been superseded by the helicopter, in which the rotor provides both. The autogiro is propelled by an orthodox propeller.
The three- or four-bladed rotor on an autogiro spins in a horizontal plane on top of the craft, and is not driven by the engine. The blades have an airfoil cross section, as a plane's wings. When the autogiro moves forward, the rotor starts to rotate by itself, a state known as autorotation. When traveling fast enough, the rotor develops enough lift from its airfoil blades to support the craft.
An aircraft that is supported in flight by unpowered rotating horizontal wings (or blades); forward propulsion is provided by a conventional propeller; SYN. autogyro, gryoplane. + prikaži više

Autogiro.