EARLY ROTORCRAFT FLIGHT IN DURBAN
By Alan Taylor
Though the SAAF operated the South Africa's first helicopters in Natal - three Sikorsky S-51s that were acquired in 1948 - rotorcraft flight had actually taken place locally some sixteen years previously.
On 19 June 1932 the first gyrocopter to come to South Africa was off-loaded from the RMS "Arundel Castle" berthed in Durban Harbour and transported to Stamford Hill Aerodrome. This aircraft, a Cierva C.19 Autogiro, was imported by Niall Coughlan, a well-known personality in Durban at the time.
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