The Gyro kite !!

[Cabrestante]

The "gyro-kite" (or FA330 Bachtelze) was a secret and very useful development that served to increase the field of vision of submarines. More than 200 of these small devices were built.

Similar to a tiny helicopter or autogyro (but without an engine), it could climb more than 100 m above the surface. It was towed by the Uboat, sailing at full speed against the wind.

You can see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NtI-KS45xk

It would be very interesting if the developers included this artifact in the game (but in a later edition, we don't want any more delays!!)

Did you know about the existence of this gadget?

[tequilatibbs]

Ha, first i heard of it. Looks like an absolute liability!

[Wyzard]

cool Gimick device - end result was a waste of time

[Wrath of the North]

Originally posted by Cabrestante:

The "gyro-kite" (or FA330 Bachtelze) was a secret and very useful development that served to increase the field of vision of submarines. More than 200 of these small devices were built.

Similar to a tiny helicopter or autogyro (but without an engine), it could climb more than 100 m above the surface. It was towed by the Uboat, sailing at full speed against the wind.

You can see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NtI-KS45xk

It would be very interesting if the developers included this artifact in the game (but in a later edition, we don't want any more delays!!)

Did you know about the existence of this gadget?

Meh, it was junk and thus they hardly used it.

Marius (guy who made the diesel exhaust mod before it was "official" in the game) worked on a gyrocopter mod before jumping ship for his failed Crush Depth project.

[cato]

Ha that's mad I've never seen that before. Was that the 1st ever helicopter then?

[FlashBurn]

This would be a worth while addition. Just because it existed even if often questionable. IE.,.. if you can use your hydrophone to hear a convoy way beyond the horizon why on earth would an auto-gyro be all that useful to extend the visual range that still ends up being short of what a hydrophone will do? Of course, the answer is dashing on the surface in daylight which got super dangerous right quick. Which defeats this thing. BUT this is a game, its historical, and it makes things more interesting.

[Wrath of the North]

Originally posted by cato:

Ha that's mad I've never seen that before. Was that the 1st ever helicopter then?

It's a gyrocopter and there were others before it

[El Rushbo]

Originally posted by cato:

Ha that's mad I've never seen that before. Was that the 1st ever helicopter then?

Not quite, The Germans had one that they used early in the war. Production was cut short and its use was brief, but some could argue that was the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.

As far as the FA 330, it was used exclusively by type IX U-boats, and mostly in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Since that left the boat extremely vulnerable to air attack, it only made sense to use it in an area where Allied air cover was limited at best.

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by cato:

Ha that's mad I've never seen that before. Was that the 1st ever helicopter then?

Gyrocopters where build since the 1920s, the Fw61 the first functional helicopter
Gyrocopter unpowered rotor, autorotation; Helicopter powered rotor

[OldFrenchy]

How was it powered? The video shows it spinning up before takeoff.

[cato]

All very interesting, I've got a fairly healthy obsession with aircraft as well subs and ships.

Looks like Russia had the 1st ever workable chopper in 1932, the TsAGI 1-EA.

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by OldFrenchy:

How was it powered? The video shows it spinning up before takeoff.

It was "powered" by the wind and the speed of the u-boat, draging it on a line

[razorex]

not the first time i've heard of it... though it was used successfully in combat, this happened only once, and resulted in the sinking of a 4,195 ton Tramp Steamer. By the time it was available for widespread service, it was too much of a liability to be employed effectively against any targets due to the increased ASW capability of the allies. I had to go digging - but it looks like only a few u-boats ever deployed with it.

It was unpopular because you either had recover it and then dive if spotted, thus delaying your escape to safety, or dive without the pilot and try to find him after the danger had passed. By numerous accounts, in a perfect sea state the thing could be set up in 3-5 minutes and launched. If the sea was moderate to rough, this process could take 20-30 minutes, so to both assemble and launch the device, the weather had to be ideal.

If it were to be added to UBOAT i think it should be done under the following constraints.

1. at least three crewman has to go to special training to acquire the skill to use it (30 days) one crewman to fly it, and two additional crewman to set it up

2. it would require modification to your boat to use it

3. it cannot be launched in certain weather

4. the amount of time required to set it up would be dependent upon the sea state (3 minutes in perfectly calm seas, 10 minutes in moderate seas, 25 minutes in rough seas) also - if one of the crewman trained in the skill is unavailable due to WIA KIA etc - the device set up times increase 33%

5. if ambushed while in use you have the option to abandon the crewman and the device and dive, or delay the dive and recover the gyro. (abandoning the device costs you twice the reputation points as it cost to acquire it)

6. When in use, it vastly increases the chances that a ship or airplane operating nearby that is equipped with radar can detect you BUT it increases your sight range by double

7. Finally, it is only available after August of 1942 or some other historically accurate date

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by razorex:

6. When in use, it vastly increases the chances that a ship or airplane operating nearby that is equipped with radar can detect you BUT it increases your sight range by double

You could almost double the sight range by tying one crewmen to the periscope and raise it.
A gyrocopter flying 100-120m above the u-boat gives far more than just double the sight range, the distance to the horizon from the conning tower is around 5-8km, from the gyrocopter it would be 30-40km

[razorex]

Originally posted by wolf310ii:

You could almost double the sight range by tying one crewmen to the periscope and raise it.
A gyrocopter flying 100-120m above the u-boat gives far more than just double the sight range, the distance to the horizon from the conning tower is around 5-8km, from the gyrocopter it would be 30-40km

I've read numbers of around 25-30km on a good day. So about that, yes

[Cabrestante]

I agree with almost all the conditions that razorex proposes, but not with the following:

-The gyro copter is very small, with little iron and no flat surfaces, the blades were made of wood and fabric. I think it must be undetectable by radar (at least for the first radars). Visually it should also be difficult to detect.
-Abandoning it should have no cost, but you must return to port and buy another one (such as torpedoes, spare parts...).
-In case of abandonment, the pilot must remain in the water and be able to be rescued, with one day of survival.