As a result of its light weight, this five cylinder engine was selected by Emile Berliner, an inventor possibly better known in the acoustics field, to drive a helicopter's vertical shaft in a 1908 "test rig." It was reported by the New York Times on July 1, 1909 that a helicopter jointly designed by Berliner and J. Newton Williams, using two of these engines, successfully lifted a few feet off the ground in the last week of June 1909 with Williams aboard. Highlighted in this image is a gear of the Adams-Farwell Rotary 5 Engine. Created by Eric Long Date Created 07/17/2017 Source Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Keywords Aviation; Engines; Piston; Pre-WWI; Propulsion Rights and Restrictions CC0
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