Fairey Rotodyne was a revolutionary 1950s British hybrid aircraft, often described as a "compound gyroplane" or "flying bus". Designed by Fairey Aviation, it combined the vertical takeoff capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and efficiency of a fixed-wing airliner. Key Features & Design Hybrid Propulsion: It used a large four-bladed rotor powered by tip jets for vertical flight. Once in the air, power transitioned to two wing-mounted Napier Eland turboprops for forward flight, while the r