Grigore Brișcu

Grigore Brișcu (1884 in Bârlad – 1965 in Bucharest) was a Romanian engineer and inventor.

Biography
At age 19, he enrolled in the National School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest. While pursuing his engineering degree, he took some technical courses in Paris and also earned a law degree from the University of Iași.

Inventor of the helicopter
In 1909, Brișcu was the first engineer to begin experimenting with the cyclic variation of rotor blade pitch to ensure horizontal flight and stability in helicopters. He invented a prototype "air-carriage" with all the features of a helicopter-like flying-machine: horizontal, vertical and lateral movement and fixed-point landing. It was equipped with two coaxial propellers rotating in opposite directions. This was flown experimentally by the French aviator Paul Cornu, who built a prototype with an Antoinett engine. The Brișcu rotary engine was patented by the Romanian Office for Inventions (patent no. 2323/2046 of 1912).