The First Kay Gyroplane (Type 32/1) was designed by David Kay of Blackford and John Grieve of Scone. (Kay was, with his brother Andrew, partners in Kay’s Garage, located in Moray Street, Blackford.) The gyroplane was built at Shields Garage on Perth’s Dunkeld Road and was powered by an ABC Scorpion engine. Testing of the aircraft began in August 1932 at RAF Leuchars. In April 1933, Kay’s Type 32/1 gyroplane was damaged during a heavy landing. Kay Gyroplanes Ltd was formed as a commercial concern at Edinburgh in 1934 and Oddie, Bradbury & Cull Ltd of Southampton, England (with previous experience of Cierva Autogiro rotor construction) was ordered to construct 2 airframes, c/n 1002 and 1003. Both were conveyed to Kay for finishing, however, only G-ACVA was completed and registered (26 June 1934).
The newly constructed Kay Gyroplane (Type 33/1) flew for the first time on 18 February 1935 taking off from Eastleigh (Southampton) Airport. It was driven by a 75 horsepower, 7-cylinder Pobjoy ‘R’ engine driving a coarse-pitch 4-bladed wooden propeller: its body, a welded tubular steel fuselage. The design of the Kay Type 33/1 was way ahead of its time. It was the first rotorcraft to use variable incidence rotors, a feature that would become orthodox for all helicopters. The increased lift added by fitting a 4-bladed rotor was an additional significant feature.
Testing of the aircraft was undertaken by Flight Lieutenant A. H. C. Rawson whose flights corroborated the usefulness of the Kay’s variable incidence arrangement for take-off and landing.
Although the aircraft impressed Air Ministry officials, no orders were placed for a production version. Film footage of the Kay gyroplane at Southampton in 1938 can be viewed on the British Pathé website – Demonstration of Kay Autogyro at Southampton (1938).
In 1935, the Lord Provost of Perth, Thomas Hunter, indicated that discussions were in progress between Perth Town Council and David Kay with the view to the establishing of a gyroplane manufacturing plant as an adjunct to Scone Aerodrome. The company subsequently stored their gyroplane at Perth Aerodrome for many years, where it was latterly refurbished. The restoration was concluded in 1967 and the Kay Gyroplane was loaned to Glasgow Museums. It was afterwards sold to National Museums Scotland and is today on display at the National Museum of Scotland. Regrettably, the first 1932 prototype is no longer in existence.
Kay was called up to serve with the RAF during the Second World War and sent to Canada as a flight instructor. During this time, Kay’s invention patents ran out so that others were freely able to capitalize on his ideas. It is alleged that Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky asked to see Kay’s patents for his variable pitch rotor head. Following the war, Kay returned to Scone where he continued as a flight instructor.
Note: I must confess that as a fanatical young lad, I often deliberately walked up and down the Lade path into town, just so I could get a glimpse of the Kay’s gyroplanes through the back door of Shields Garage. I don’t recall exactly when this was – probably in the late 1960s, early 1970s.
Research by Ken Bruce
