Successor Gyro Company (1917) Founded 1909 | Headquarters Washington, D.C. | |
Key people Emile Berliner, Joseph Sanders | ||
Gyro Motor Company was an American aircraft engine manufacturer.
The Gyro motor company was formed in 1909 by Emile Berliner to pursue production of rotary engines. His designs were improvements of the Addams-Farwell rotary engine Berliner used in early helicopter experiments. The engines at the time of his 1901 experiments were 20 lbs per hp. Addams-Farwell built a custom engine that weighed 3-4 lb per hp. Berliner donated the engine to the National Air and Space Museum, and pursued his own advanced version. He built a small factory on 744 Girard Street in Washington D.C. next to another small factory for his Victor record players. Gyro incorporated with $100,000 in stock in 1911 and manufactured three varieties of the rotary engine. A Three, Five and Seven cylinder model each with the same bore and stroke. His engines featured a 40 lb cast nickel-steel cylinder assembly that was machined down to just 6 1/2 pounds with spiraling cooling fins adding strength. Emile experimented with graphite powder suspended in the fuel as a method of light-weight lubrication. A monoplane built by the Washington Aeroplane Company set an American endurance record with a Gyro Seven cylinder engine of 4 hours and 23 minutes in the air.
In December 1912, Berliner traveled to Germany and set up a German manufacturing component in Adlershof to market the Gyro engines with a $500,000 capitalization. In London, pilot Beatty demonstrated a Wright aircraft retrofitted with a 50 hp Gyro engine. The Gyro progressed to 80 hp in the seven cylinder model by 1913, and up to 110 hp in the Model L nine cylinder "Duplex" with a uniqure cam driven exhaust valve. The French Gnome Omega and future variants proved to be more popular in sales. Motorenfabrik Oberursel developed its own rotary from the Gnome Monosoupape that would power many World War I fighters. In June 1914, Berliner's nephew, Joseph Sanders became the general manager. He purchased the assets in May 1917, forming the Gyro Company. Gyro motor production did not continue past World War I, when a flood of advanced designs were introduced to the market.