Photographed at the New York Aviation Show, New York City, New York, USA, February 1947, source unknown
10/31/2023. Remarks by
Johan Visschedijk: "This light two-seat tandem-rotor helicopter was designed by Donald de Lackner, co-designer of the pre-WW II
Granville R-6C Racer.
The Cloudster had an almost cylindrical fuselage that consisted of a bodywork of tubes, carried by a four-leg undercarriage. The two three-bladed rotors were driven by an 135 hp Lycoming O-290 engine fitted at the end of the fuselage, the forward rotor driven by a longitudinal shaft running through the fuselage.
(
Johan Visschedijk Collection)
Registered NX14879 it was first flown in fully uncovered form in 1946. After a number of modifications, the fuselage was covered partly in fabric and partly in a light alloy, the two-seat cockpit was covered with a canopy. In late January 1947 the Cloudster was shipped to New York City where the National Air Show was held in the first week of February.
(
Johan Visschedijk Collection)
Apparently the Cloudster was barely finished before it was shipped to New York, as it arrived without marking as seen in the photo above.
The Cloudster was mainly used for test and research purposes, and no further development took place.
(
Johan Visschedijk Collection)
Presently the remains of the Cloudster are in the Classic Rotors Museum in Ramona, California and is being restored.
The manufacturer's name de Lackner has been noted in several publications written as deLackner, De Lackner and DeLackner, while the aircraft's name has been written as Clouduster, Cloud Duster and Cloud Buster."
