Cierva C.8

The Cierva C.8 was an experimental autogyro that Juan de la Cierva built in England in 1926 in association with Avro. Like his earlier machines it was based on an existing fixed-wing fuselage, here the Avro 552, and Avro knew the first variants by type numbers including 587 for the C.8R rebuild of a C.6D and 575 for the definitive C.8L prototype. The Mark II was based on the Lynx-engined Avro 504N two-seat trainer. Buyers began to take notice: the British Air Ministry ordered a machine in 1927, test flown by Bert Hinkler and delivered to the Royal Aircraft Establishment in what was called Britain's first cross-country rotorcraft flight, and one example went to the American Harold Pitcairn, whose C.8W made the first autogyro flight in the United States in December 1928. Two examples survive, one at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris and one at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.