Personal Helicopters.

Gallery opened: 22 July 2004

Updated: 12 May 2026

The MEG-1X Helicopter updated here

By the end of the Second World War, helicopters had proved themselves useful despite the drawbacks of low speed and demanding maintenance requirements. The essential technical advances were:

Collective pitch control of rotor blades for responsive control of lift.
Cyclic pitch control of rotor blades for controllable movement in any direction.
Flexibility of rotor blade hinges to control vibration.

The US army was experimenting with one-man helicopters in the hope that this would give infantry hugely enhanced mobility over the usual trucks and feet. It was widely anticipated that there would be a huge civilian market in the US for tiny helicopters, with sales of 70,000 units a year projected. There is a Wikipedia page listing no less than 30 one-man helicopter designs
It never happened. Extensive tests showed that mini-helicopters were almost as expensive to make and maintain as full-sized ones, had virtually zero payload, and required, if anything, even more skill to fly. It was said that anyone who was bright enough to learn to fly one would have the sense not to...
This page deals only with the smallest of the projected helicopters; what I can only call... er... strap-ons. These are helicopters you fasten to your back rather than sit on.

A FRENCH STRAP-ON HELICOPTER BY GEORGES SABLIER

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by George Sablier: 1954
The "safety" helmet worn by the pilot is a First World War French infantry helmet.
It is not known if this machine ever flew, but from the photograph it seems highly unlikely. It lacks all three of the essential features of helicopters listed above. There also seems to be no means of dealing with the torque reaction which would make the wearer rotate in the opposite direction from the rotor, unless you count the rather small-looking rudder.
What can be said is that it is not shown in a flyable condition. Above the pilot's head is a set of pulleys apparently intended to make the ratio between engine and rotor rpm adjustable; however, there appears to be no belt on the pulleys.

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by George Sablier: 1954
This is a much better version of the picture, but it raises more questions rather than answering any. Here only the bottom edge of the rudder is visible, probably because of some over-enthusiastic photographic retouching. The rotor blades are blurred, as if they were rotating, but the effect is unconvincing and I think this may be more retouching. There is no smoke to indicate that the engine is running.
The lever in M. Siblier's right hand carries what looks like a throttle control attached to a Bowden cable running to the carburettor on the top of the engine. His left hand is on another lever that is presumably some sort of directional control. The helicopter weighed 60 pounds, about the same as a military pack. The engine developed 6 HP. The machine was called the PHÉLY SABLIER which suggests he had a confederate.
Georges Sablier was a french engineer who designed dozens of gliders and light aircrafts intended for amateur plane-builders. He never built them himself but published his designs in books and many magazines. Many were built and flown. There is more info on the aeroplanes here, and on Georges Sablier himself here. He does not currently have a Wikipedia page.
Several sources say he won a special award at the International Meeting of Individual Helicopters competition and show at Saint Etienne, Central France, on 25 Seotember 1954. However I have so far found no statement that this machine actually flew, nor have I found out what the prize was actually for. Pilot least likely to survive, perhaps?
I would dearly like to get to the bottom this.

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by Georges Sablier: 1954
In this picture the rotating blades look a bit more convincing but there is still no sign of smoke from the engine.
The rudder is just barely visible.

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by Georges Sablier: 1954
Unfortunately this picture gives us no extra information.
Clearly taken at the same location as the picture above.

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by Georges Sablier: 1954
This appears to be an early protoype with just two rotor blades.

Left: A French Strap-On Helicopter by Georges Sablier: 1954
The last sentence of the Spanish text says: 'It is not known if it ever flew.'
I think it unlikely.

THE HILLER ROE ROTORCYCLE

Left: The Hiller ROE Rotorcycle One-Man Helicopter : 1956
This one-man helicopter was designed in 1953 and first flew in 1956. Two prototypes were built, and a production run of 10 were made for evaluation by the United States Marine Corps. They did not accept it because of poor flying performance, and great vulnerability to small-arms fire. Seven examples still exist in museums.
Unlike Sablier's amchine, this design has a proper tail-rotor to deal with the main rotor torque reaction.
The Hiller Rotorcycle has a Wikipedia page.

Left: The Hiller ROE Rotorcycle One-Man Helicopter : 1956
The helicopter was powered by a 4-cylinder air-cooled 2-stroke horizontally-opposed piston engine that initially gave 40 HP (30 kW), later increased to 43 HP. If that only gave poor performance, in what looks like a proper engineering job, it seems unlikely that the 6 HP of Georges Sablier would have lifted him off the ground.

Left: The Hiller ROE Rotorcycle One-Man Helicopter : 1956
The Hiller helicopter hovering in front of an aircraft hangar.

THE MEG-1X HELICOPTER

Left: The Meg-1X Helicopter: 1956
This machine was constructed by Eugene Michael Gluhareff in 1956. It takes the radical route of a one-blade rotor, driven by a single 'pressure jet' (whatever that is) at the outer end of the rotor blade. This means there is no rotor torque-reaction to counter, and so no complicated and possibly unreliable tail rotor is required. However, there must be some friction in the rotor bearing, and you would think that woould make the pilot rotate.
You will note that there is not just a single rotor blade, but also a thin boom on the opposite of the rotor axis, carrying a spherical weight so the rotor is balanced when it rotates. This must be about as minimalist as helicopters get. (I exclude George Sablier and his machine as it seems most unlikely it ever flew)
The fuel was propane, carried in a cylinder on the pilot's back. Maximum flight time was said to be 18 minutes, which is a lot better than the 30 seconds you'd get with a jet-pack. No commercial development was undertaken.
There is a good deal more info here. Clicking on the pictures can take you to unrelated sites; be careful.
There is a website called gluhareffhelicopters.com, but it just leads to a bunch of unrelated adverts. I'm starting to think there's a curse on this helicopter.

Left: The meg-1X Helicopter: 1954
This image gives the specifications for the Meg-1X machine, and appears to be derived from the photograph above, down to the exact route ing of the control cable. Note that a sizable rudder has appeared, presumably to deal with torque issues.
There seems to be some sort of air intake on the rotor blade adjacent to the 'pressure jet' whatever that means.