Panamarenko
(c)image: Luc Schrobiltgen, Courtesy Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery
Maquette van Scimitar [Model of the Scimitar], 1992
This model for the Scimitar is a small helicopter with a single rotor and three curved rotor blades. A small stabilizing tail rotor is fitted at the back with a rod. The main rotor is positioned at the aircraft’s centre of gravity, above the pilot. Panamarenko named the machine with the curved wings after the curved sword of Saladin, who had a scimitar made of Damascus steel. Panamarenko made his helicopter’s bent rotor blades from polystyrene around a balsa-wood armature that narrows towards the tips. The wings were coated with liquid putty and then covered with silk. To operate the machine, the pilot lies on a balsa-wood seat. The helicopter is powered by a combination of arm and leg movements. A lever on the pilot’s left-hand control rod adjusts the position of the tail rotor and hence the direction
of the aircraft. The original flying machine, with a span of 11 meters, has hung in the arrivals lounge at Brussels International Airport.