A word or two on
Augusto Cicare
by Glen Ryerson

Updated

I consider my self-quite fortune to have had met Augusto Cicare in the fall of 1992. My chance meeting him was during my first visit to the EliSport factory in Torino Italy. Mr. Cicare being from South America and I from North America caused the obvious problem... language.. Obviously I found Mr. Cicare an intelligent and talented man, to spite the language differences, and I also found Mr. Cicare to be a friendly and happy person that was eager to explain/talk helicopter with a gringo like me.

During the short period of time I spent at the air field with Mr. Cicare, it was interesting to note how he would find something BIG to hide behind, than peer out of the edge of when I first flew his CH-7 Angel prototype. Later, to my relief, I noticed on the video tape my buddy and I were taking turns at making/handling the camera, I noticed Mr. Cicare also hid behind a Hughes 269 when it was my friends turn to flying the proto type. Also, after returning to my Pennsylvania home and viewing the tape, I am happy to have discovered that my friend had inadvertently recorded on the video tape Mr. Cicare asking the interpreter if I was a Viet Nam hilo pilot, because of the way I took to his bird. To me, a priceless compliment on my flying skills by my hero don Augusto. Incidentally, I was in Viet Nam (30th Trans-LEMCo, Bien Tuy Army Airfield in the delta, near Cantoe), but not as a pilot. I was a 41G20; Combat Surveillance and Photographic Equipment Repair (the camera systems on the Mohawk). As is often the case in the military, not once did I operate a camera in the US Army's OV-1 Mohawk after my 180 days of training at Ft. Monmouth NJ nor did I take any photos other than for my self during my enlistment in the US Army...Oh Well...

Since that week in November of 1992, Mr. Cicare and I have become casual friends via the fax machine. I have sent him things in Argentina a few times via the mail (the custom made CH-7 Angel T shirt I especially had made for him never arrived (the container did, open/empty). He has sent me many articles on his past creations (most of them in Spanish) and a photo of each of his 7 helicopters. All I must add are treasured items. My next package to Mr. Cicare is a copy of the October PRA helicopter issue containing the "Life with an Angel" article in it and a big poster size photo of Miss Nina (my Angel).

One day in the not too distant future I intend to plan my vacation and make a trek south of the equator to Mr. Cicare's in Argentina. Naturally if I feel my experience is note worthy I will write something up and post it here or there. But, until then, I will do my best and condense what I have learned via the various articles Mr. Cicare has sent me and from my limited personal experiences knowing him...

Mr. Cicare was born; raised and still resides in a rural village of Saladillo, Argentina, a region called the "Pampas", a grassy plains area. Somewhat difficult to believe is the fact that Mr. Cicare remarkable talents sprouted from the education he received from his village school system. Obviously this single fact allowed Mr. Cicare to one day have a totally un influenced new look and approach to the design of the mechanism that changes the pitch/direction of lift in a set of whirling rotor blades.

Before helicopters, one of Mr. Cicare's early creations was a washing machine for his mother. Seems the young Augusto just wasn't content help his mom with the daily workload of a large family. Instead of just helping out around the house, the then 13-year-old Augusto designed and built her a washing machine out of scavenged parts.

It also seems the young Augusto continued his mechanical education via the OJT (On the Job Training) method. As a young boy, Mr. Cicare would assist the local long distance truck drivers in his village by helping maintain their equipment. The truckers would reward the young Augusto with all sorts of used parts they gathered for him during their road trips. The young Augusto also began to design and built the machine tools needed to create his innovations such as a motor cycle engine, automatic gearboxes and diesel engines.

At 17 years old Mr. Cicare began to develop a fascination for aviation, perhaps by his trucker friends giving him an appetite via aviation magazines. It took the young Augusto only six years to go from simple fascination of flight to designing, building and piloting his first helicopter.

In those early days (late 50s, early 60s), Mr. Cicare was not aware of gyroscopic procession (the need to apply the appropriate input 9o degrees in rotation before the desired reaction takes place in the rotor blade system). Mr. Cicare learned this and many other aerodynamics principals via the trial and error method. However, once again, this lack of formal training by a talented and observant innovator caused the now 20ish Augusto Cicare to devise new methods of accomplishing the same end result but using considerable less components as was being used by others.

The young Augusto's first helicopter (now called the CH-1, Cicare's Helicopter # 1) was first flown in 1961. The CH-1 was a coaxial design. As you know, the blades rotate in the opposite directions (hence the name coaxial evolved) eliminates the needing for an antitorque tail rotor system.

The latest helicopter innovation from the mind of Augusto Cicare is the SVH3. In October of 1994, Cicare began development and testing of a helicopter flight simulator in Argentina. The flight simulator is not just a electronic flight simulator as most are. The SVH3 is actually a helicopter that is safely tethered to the ground by a device that allows all 3 dimensional of normal helicopter flight to be safely practiced. Since a helicopter can do so much more than an air plane, there are many more skills a student helicopter pilot must learn and become proficient at before becoming a competent pilot. The SVH3 allows the student pilot the opportunity to learned, practiced safely and economically many of the skills required to be mastered before becoming a licensed pilot.

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Av M I Frocham S/N
7260 - Saladillo
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Telephone:
From Argentina: 0 2344 45 0222
From Overseas: 54 2344 45 0222
aucicare@rcc.com.ar
Official Site of Cicare Helicopteros

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