Jane's All the World Aircraft 1947 / All the world's aeroplanes

The S.O.1100 Experimental Rotating-wing Aircraft.

Air-Britain Archive 1992-03 / Extracts. Paris 1946 (2)

The prototype SO.7010 Pegase on the left had a large cabin for up to 6 passengers and a retractable tricycle undercarriage. Its 400 hp Mathis G16R engine was an 'X' in-line with 4 rows of 4 cylinders and its design was based on the 8-cyl G8R inverted vee in-line with a new crankcase having another vee 8 mounted upright on top. It appears there was no market for the Pegase as no production is known.
On the right is the SO.1100 Ariel which was basically a helicopter with a pusher propeller added. It was a compact egg with a bright orange paint scheme. The three jet-tipped rotor blades were driven by a Turbomeca compressor powered by its 170 hp 7-cyl Mathis G7R radial engine. This also supplied shaft drive for a wooden 3-blade fixed pitch pusher propeller inside an annular ring, replaced by an orthodox tail boom on the SO.1110 and SO.1120.

Другие самолёты на фотографии: Another planes on the photo: Sud-Ouest SO.7010 Pegase - ФранцияFrance - 1948

Air-Britain Archive 1993-02 / Extracts. Paris 1946 (5)

The SO 1100-01 Ariel helicopter (originally called Giravion) had a Mathis piston engine driving a compressor which supplied the cold-air jet-tipped rotor blades. These gave no torque reaction so no anti-torque tail rotor was fitted. However the rudder vanes behind the Mathis-driven pusher propeller gave inadequate directional control and the prototype was modified to have a tailboom and elevators with endplate fins.

Air-Britain Archive 1993-02 / Extracts. Paris 1946 (5)

Further trials were made with a large fuselage underfin and compressed air over a boom-end rudder.

Air-Britain Archive 1993-02 / Extracts. Paris 1946 (5)

Регистрационный номерRegistry number: F-WFUY   [2]

With the cooperation of Austrian designer Friedrich Doblhoff a burner jet-tipped rotor was then fitted with electric plug ignited combustion chambers on the tips and it became SO 1110-01 Ariel II F-WFKM. A second prototype was SO 1110 F-WFRQ and this was followed by SO 1110-02 F-WFUF. These experimental prototypes led to the SO1120-01 Ariel III F-WFUY (photo) and the SO 1120-02 F-BBBL. The Ariel III was considerably revised and was a three-seater with a 275shp Turbomeca Artouste II turbine compressor providing air for the jet-tipped rotor and to a flux-gate vane system at the boom end to control heading when hovering. For directional control in forward flight it had a tall oval rudder above the boom end. This version was just as controlable as a conventional helicopter.

Air-Britain Archive 2005-03 / M.Best - A History of the SO1221 "DJINN" Helicopter (1)

Регистрационный номерRegistry number: F-WFUY   [2]

The Sud-Ouest S.O. 1120 Jet-driven helicopter (Turbomeca Arius turbo-compressor unit).
The world's first turbine helicopter was the SO1120 Ariel 3 F-WFUY which first flew in the spring of 1951. This very modern-looking machine even made use of air fed through a nozzle at the end of the tail boom to counter the yaw generated by the rotation of the main rotor, the principle on which today's NOTAR helicopters are based. Unfortunately, although ahead of its time, the Ariel III's Turbomeca Artouste turbine suffered from high fuel consumption and this led to French helicopter research and development taking a different path.