The early twentieth century marked a big shift within the automotive business. Gasoline engines had surpassed steam and electrical motors as the first supply of energy, resulting in an explosion of automotive producers and the fast improvement of engine know-how and key options, comparable to unbiased suspension and 4-wheel brakes. In 1908, Henry Ford’s Mannequin T, that includes the primary solid engine block and 2-speed transmission, hit the market, revolutionizing the business.
Marcel Leyat was born in France in 1885 and started his profession in aviation designing biplane wings. Nevertheless, lack of funding as a result of navy dominating the business led him to shift his focus to vehicles. Leyat acknowledged the complexities and inefficiencies of early automobiles and noticed the potential to simplify their design for improved reliability and effectivity.
To this finish, he connected a propeller on to the engine’s drive shaft, decreasing energy loss within the transmission and differential. Leyat additionally utilized light-weight plywood and curved panels to reduce drag and minimize wind resistance, naming his creation the Helica, after the French phrase for propeller.
Regardless of its spectacular efficiency, the Helica was not with out its flaws. The massive propeller obstructed the motive force’s view and produced a relentless wind gust over the passengers, whereas the spinning blades posed a security hazard within the occasion of a collision. Leyat made some modifications to the design, encasing the propeller in a cage and shutting the passenger compartment right into a cockpit-like construction.
Though Leyat solely offered 23 of the 30 Helica fashions he produced earlier than operating out of cash in 1926, his improvements impressed analysis into automotive aerodynamics and his plane expertise offered a recent perspective on automotive design past simply the engine.
